The dispositif: a Foucauldian metaphor for educational research

Authors

  • Diego Luna Universidad de Sevilla

Abstract

The ideas of Michel Foucault are still inspiring useful analysis tools to take educational research to new levels of depth in the 21st century From a brief overview of many authors having vindicated the potential of his ideas and methods in recent years, this paper argues for the application of the dispositif as an ideal category of analysis for qualitative research in education. Following a general characterisation of the dispositif from the perspective of ‘microphysics of power’, I move on to the identification of a specifically educational type and the techniques and technologies that would conform it. The paper concludes with a vindication of its potential to deconstruct the ‘regime of truth’ which sustains it. Faced with the deproblematized use of certain philosophical categories used in sociological investigation, I defend the utility and validity of a metaphor capable of reflecting the complexity of educational processes, whilst expanding on and summarising others which are already well established.

Keywords

Educational research, Theoretical research, Dispositif, Michel Foucault

References

Agamben, Giorgio (2007). Qu'est-ce qu’un dispositif? París: Éditions Payot & Rivages.

Asimaki, Anna; Koustourakis, Gerasimos & Vergidis, Dimitris (2016). Regulative Discourses of Primary Schooling in Greece: Memories of Punishment. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 26(1), 82-97. https://doi.org/10.1080/09620214.2016.1191367

Bartholomaeus, Clare (2016). Developmental Discourses as a Regime of Truth in Research with Primary School Students. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), 29(7), 911-924. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2016.1174896

Bazzul, Jesse & Carter, Lyn (2017). (Re)Considering Foucault for Science Education Research: Considerations of Truth, Power and Governance. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 12(2), 435-452. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-016-9800-2

Besley, Tina (2002). Social Education and Mental Hygiene: Foucault, Disciplinary Technologies and the Moral Constitution of Youth. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 34(4), 419-433. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2002.tb00517.x

Blair, Erik (2009). A Further Education College as a Heterotopia. Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 14(1), 93-101. https://doi.org/10.1080/13596740902717465

Bondy, Jennifer M. (2016). Negotiating Domination and Resistance: English Language Learners and Foucault's “Care of the Self” in the Context of English-Only Education. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 19(4), 763-783. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2015.1095171

Bowdridge, Michael & Blenkinsop, Sean (2011). Michel Foucault Goes Outside: Discipline and Control in the Practice of Outdoor Education. Journal of Experiential Education, 34(2), 149-163. https://doi.org/10.1177/105382591103400204

Bye, Jayne (2015). Foucault and the Use of Critique: Breaching the Self-Evidence of Educational Practices. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), 28(4), 394-414. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2014.916003

Chang-Kredl, Sandra & Wilkie, Gala (2016). What Is It Like to Be a Child? Childhood Subjectivity and Teacher Memories as Heterotopia. Curriculum Inquiry, 46(3), 308-320. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03626784.2016.1168262

Cohen, Lynn E. (2008). Foucault and the Early Childhood Classroom. Educational Studies: Journal of the American Educational Studies Association, 44(1), 7-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131940802224948

Deacon, Roger (2005). Capacity-Communication-Power: Foucault on Contemporary Education. Perspectives in Education, 23(2), 1-12.

Deacon, Roger (2006). Michel Foucault on Education: A Preliminary Theoretical Overview. South African Journal of Education, 26(2), 177-187. Recuperado de https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1150418.pdf

Deleuze, Gilles (1989/1999). ¿Qué es un dispositivo? En Balibar, Étienne (Ed.), Michel Foucault, filósofo (pp. 155-163). Barcelona: Gedisa.

Foucault, Michel (1968). Las palabras y las cosas: Una arqueología de las ciencias humanas. Buenos Aires: Siglo XXI.

Foucault, Michel (1969/1979). La arqueología del saber. México D. F.: Siglo XXI.

Foucault, Michel (1970/2004). El orden del discurso. Buenos Aires: Tusquets.

Foucault, Michel (1971/1999). Verdad y poder. En Estrategias de poder. Obras Esenciales vol. II (pp. 41-56). Barcelona: Paidós.

Foucault, Michel (1971-1977/1999). Estrategias de poder. Obras Esenciales vol. II. Barcelona: Paidós.

Foucault, Michel (1974/1999). La verdad y las formas jurídicas. En Estrategias de poder. Obras Esenciales vol. II (pp. 169-282). Barcelona: Paidós.

Foucault, Michel (1975/2012). Vigilar y castigar: Nacimiento de la prisión. Madrid: Biblioteca Nueva (Siglo XXI).

Foucault, Michel (1976/1998). Historia de la sexualidad 1: La voluntad de saber. Buenos Aires, México D. F., Madrid: Siglo XXI.

Foucault, Michel (1976/1999). Las mallas del poder. En Estética, ética y hermenéutica (pp. 235-254). Barcelona: Paidós.

Foucault, Michel (1978/1999). Diálogo sobre el poder. En Estética, ética y hermenéutica (pp. 59-72). Barcelona: Paidós.

Foucault, Michel (1978/2006). Seguridad, territorio, población. Curso en el Collège de France (1977-1978). Buenos Aires: Fondo de Cultura Económica.

Foucault, Michel (1980/2014). Del gobierno de los vivos. Curso en el Collège de France (1979-1980). Buenos Aires: Fondo de Cultura Económica.

Foucault, Michel (1983/2009). El gobierno de sí y de los otros II. Curso en el Collège de France (1982-1983). Buenos Aires: Fondo de Cultura Económica.

Foucault, Michel (1983/2015). El sujeto y el poder. En Michel Foucault: La ética del pensamiento. Para una crítica de lo que somos (pp. 317-341). Madrid: Biblioteca Nueva.

Foucault, Michel (1984/1999). ¿Qué es la Ilustración? En Estética, ética y hermenéutica (pp. 335-352). Barcelona: Paidós.

Glackin, Melissa (2018). “Control Must Be Maintained”: Exploring Teachers’ Pedagogical Practice outside the Classroom. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 39(1), 61-76. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2017.1304204

Hassett, Dawnene (2010). Technologies and Truth Games: Research as a Dynamic Method. Language Arts, 87(6), 457-464.

Hattam, Robert & Baker, Bernadette (2015). Technologies of Self and the Cultivation of Virtues. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 49(2), 255-273. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9752.12140

Hodge, Steven & Harris, Roger (2012). Discipline, Governmentality and 25 Years of Competency-Based Training. Studies in the Education of Adults, 44(2), 155-170. https://doi.org/10.1080/02660830.2012.11661630

Hope, Andrew (2015). Foucault's Toolbox: Critical Insights for Education and Technology Researchers. Learning, Media and Technology, 40(4), 536-549. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2014.953546

Huckaby, Francyne M. (2008). Making Use of Foucault in a Study of Specific Parrhesiastic Scholars. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 40(6), 770-788. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2007.00369.x

Journell, Wayne (2016). Teacher Political Disclosure as Parrhesia. Teachers College Record, 118(5), 1-36. Recuperado de http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=19370

Keller, Deborah B. & Keller, J. Gregory (2014). Politics and Transformation: Critical Approaches toward Political Aspects of Education. Policy Futures in Education, 12(3), 359-369. https://doi.org/10.2304/pfie.2014.12.3.359

Kollosche, David (2016). Criticising with Foucault: Towards a Guiding Framework for Socio-Political Studies in Mathematics Education. Educational Studies in Mathematics 91(1), 73-86. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10649-015-9648-5

Landahl, Joakim (2013). The Eye of Power(-Lessness): On the Emergence of the Panoptical and Synoptical Classroom. History of Education, 42(6), 803-821. https://doi.org/10.1080/0046760X.2013.832408

Leask, Ian (2012). Beyond Subjection: Notes on the Later Foucault and Education. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 44, 57-73. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2011.00774.x

Millei, Zsuzsa (2012). Thinking Differently about Guidance: Power, Children's Autonomy and Democratic Environments. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 10(1), 88-99. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718X11406243

Nicoll, Katherine, Fejes, Andreas, Olson, Maria, Dahlstedt, Magnus & Biesta, Gert. (2013). Opening Discourses of Citizenship Education: A Theorization with Foucault. Journal of Education Policy, 28(6), 828-846. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2013.823519

Nielsen, Klaus, Dalgaard, Susanne & Madsen, Sarah (2011). Pastoral Techniques in the Modern Danish Educational System. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), 24(4), 435-450. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2010.529837

Perryman, Jane, Ball, Stephen J., Braun, Annette & Maguire, Meg (2017). Translating Policy: Governmentality and the Reflective Teacher. Journal of Education Policy, 32(6), 745-756. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2017.1309072

Preston, Lou (2012). An Outdoor and Environmental Education Community of Practice: Self Stylisation or Normalisation? Australian Journal of Outdoor Education, 16(1), 32-42.

Ríos-Rojas, Anne (2018). Conditional Citizens, Suspect Subjects: Producing “Illegality” and Policing Citizens in a Citizenship Education Classroom in Spain. Curriculum Inquiry, 48(1), 70-94. https://doi.org/10.1080/03626784.2017.1409593

Rowan, Molly & Shore, Sue (2009). Foucault's Toolkit: Resources for “Thinking” Work in Times of Continual Change. Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 49(1), 57-74. Recuperado de https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ864432.pdf

Sharma, Ajay (2017). The Ontology of Science Teaching in the Neoliberal Era. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 12(4), 795-813. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-017-9835-z

Shenker, Susan S. (2008). Applying Foucault's “Archaeology” to the Education of School Counselors. Educational Studies: Journal of the American Educational Studies Association, 44(1), 22-29. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131940802224997

Siebert, Sabina & Walsh, Anita (2013). Reflection in Work-Based Learning: Self-Regulation or Self-Liberation? Teaching in Higher Education, 18(2), 167-178. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2012.696539

Skourdoumbis, Andrew (2016). New Directions in Education? A Critique of Contemporary Policy Reforms. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 36(4), 505-517. https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2014.961896

Stickney, Jeff (2012). Judging Teachers: Foucault, Governance and Agency during Education Reforms. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 44(6), 649-662. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2011.00752.x

Stickney, Jeff (2013). A Paradox of Freedom in “Becoming Oneself through Learning”: Foucault's Response to His Educators. Ethics and Education, 8(2), 179-191. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449642.2013.845959

Thompson, Christiane (2010). Education and/or Displacement? A Pedagogical Inquiry into Foucault's “Limit-Experience”. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 42(3), 361-377. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2007.00373.x

Woermann, Minka (2012). Interpreting Foucault: An Evaluation of a Foucauldian Critique of Education. South African Journal of Education, 32(1), 111-120. https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v32n1a560

Worthman, Christopher & Troiano, Beverly (2016). Capillary Discourses, Fissure Points, and Tacitly Confessing the Self: Foucault’s Later Work and Educational Research. Journal of Adult and Continuing Education, 22(1), 46-67. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477971416630126

Zink, Robyn (2010). Coming to Know Oneself through Experiential Education. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 31(2), 209-219. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596301003679727

Author Biography

Diego Luna, Universidad de Sevilla

Diego Luna es Doctor en Filosofía, con Mención Internacional y Premio Extraordinario, por la Universidad de Sevilla. Sus contribuciones a publicaciones, congresos y seminarios nacionales e internacionales abordan cuestiones de arte, política y educación, siempre desde una perspectiva transestética y mediológica. Compagina su actividad investigadora con la enseñanza de las Ciencias Sociales.

Published

2020-02-26

How to Cite

Luna, D. (2020). The dispositif: a Foucauldian metaphor for educational research. Athenea Digital. Revista De Pensamiento E investigación Social, 20(1), e-2486. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/athenea.2486

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.