5,604 research outputs found
Subjectivation and performative politicsâButler thinking Althusser and Foucault: intelligibility, agency and the raced-nationed-religioned subjects of education
Judith Butler is perhaps best known for her take-up of the debate between Derrida and Austin over the function of the performative and her subsequent suggestion that the subject be understood as performatively constituted. Another important but less often noted move within Butlerâs consideration of the processes through which the subject is constituted is her thinking between Althusserâs notion of subjection and Foucaultâs notion of subjectivation. In this paper, I explore Butlerâs understanding of processes of subjectivation; examine the relationship between subjectivation and the performative suggested in and by Butlerâs work, and consider how the performative is implicated in processes of subjectivation â in =whoâ the subject is, or might be, subjectivated as. Finally, I examine the usefulness of understanding the subjectivating effects of discourse for education, in particular for educationalists concerned to make better sense of and interrupt educational inequalities. In doing this I offer a reading of an episode of ethnographic data generated in an Australian high School. I suggest that it is through subjectivating processes of the sort that Butler helps us to understand that some students are rendered subjects inside the educational endeavour, and others are rendered outside this endeavour or, indeed, outside student-hood
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A culture of silence: modes of objectification and the silencing of disabled bodies
Throughout history different practices have attempted to silence the experiences of disabled people. In this paper we explore some of these practices including the medical, familial, and self-subjugating practices English-speaking Canadian polio survivors experienced throughout their lives. We analyze participantâs experiences of silence and silencing through a Foucauldian lens, drawing on the three modes of objectification to explain the institutional and cultural discourses around polio subjects that acted upon and through the polio body to silence it. Participantsâ oral history accounts demonstrate how sociocultural and medical practices effectively silenced survivors from speaking about their polio experiences. However, the trope of silence is also uprooted within oral history traditions. We will demonstrate how participants broke their silence and shifted their perspectives on polio and disability, and how this process contributed to their resistance of hegemonic conceptualizations of disability as defective
Performativity, fabrication and trust: exploring computer-mediated moderation
Based on research conducted in an English secondary school, this paper explores computer mediated moderation as a performative tool. The Module Assessment Meeting (MAM) was the moderation approach under investigation. I mobilise ethnographic data generated by a key informant, and triangulated with that from other actors in the setting, in order to examine some of the meanings underpinning moderation within a performative environment. Drawing on the work of Ball (2003), Lyotard (1979) and Foucault (1977, 1979), I argue that in this particular case performativity has become entrenched in teachersâ day-to-day practices, and not only affects those practices but also teachersâ sense of self. I suggest that MAM represented performative and fabricated conditions and (re)defined what the key participant experienced as a vital constituent of her educational identities - trust. From examining the case in point, I hope to have illustrated for those interested in teachersâ work some of the implications of the interface between technology and performativity
CaractĂ©ristiques structurales et Ă©cologiques des phytocĂ©noses forestiĂšres de la forĂȘt classĂ©e dâitchĂšdĂš (dĂ©partement du plateau, sud-est bĂ©nin)
Notre Ă©tude phytosociologique a Ă©tĂ© menĂ©e dans la forĂȘt classĂ©e dâItchĂšdĂš (6°59â-7°00âN et 2°37â-2°38â E). Elle a pour objectif de mieux connaĂźtre la forĂȘt pour un meilleur suivi de sa dynamique en vue dâasseoir Ă terme, une base fiable de son amĂ©nagement et de sa gestion durable. Nous avons utilisĂ© lâapproche synusiale intĂ©grĂ©e pour identifier et caractĂ©riser les communautĂ©s vĂ©gĂ©tales. La topographie et les sols ont Ă©tĂ© Ă©tudiĂ©s Ă travers la mesure des pentes, lâapprĂ©ciation de la texture tactile Ă travers des profils texturaux effectuĂ©s sur 50 cm de profondeur, la descriptionde profils pĂ©dologiques complĂ©tĂ©e par des analyses dâĂ©chantillons de sol au laboratoire. LâĂ©tude des paramĂštres dendromĂ©triques et sylvicoles sâest faite Ă lâintĂ©rieur de placettes circulaires couvrant chacune 0,0314 ha pour les plantations forestiĂšres et 0,0615 ha pour la forĂȘt naturelle.Les rĂ©sultats ont rĂ©vĂ©lĂ© la prĂ©sence de six phytocĂ©noses dont quatre phytocĂ©noses non pionniĂšres de sous-bois. Les caractĂ©ristiques dendromĂ©triques des phytocĂ©noses permettent de dĂ©duire que la forĂȘt naturelle dâItchĂšdĂš est une formation secondaire assez dĂ©gradĂ©e mais relativement riche en sujets de grands diamĂštres en comparaison avec les autres forĂȘts du BĂ©nin.Mots-clĂ©s : phytosociologie synusiale, phytocĂ©noses, stations forestiĂšres, ItchĂšdĂš, BĂ©ninThe main purpose of the phytosociological study in ItchĂšdĂš forest reserve (6°59â to 7°00â N and 2°37â to 2°38â E) was to contribute to the sustainable management of the forest. Phytosociological survey was done using the synusial approach. Soils and topography were studied through textural profiles appreciation in the first 50 cm of the soil, pedological profiles description and laboratory analysis. Dendrometric and sivicultural parameters were studied inside circular plots of 0.0314 ha for plantations and 0.0615 ha for natural forest. The study revealed the existence of six plant-communities including four non pioneer plant-communities were identified and described. Based on dendrometric parameters of the natural forest, we assume that ItchĂšdĂš forest reserve is a secondary degraded forest but somewhat rich in trees with high diameters in comparison with other natural forest in Benin
Ecological and silvicultural indicatory value of plant-communities of Koto forest reserve (Centre-Benin)
A study was carried out in Koto forest reserve in central Benin (6°56â to 7°02â of north lat. and 02°03â to 02°09â of east long), in order to contribute to the sustainable management of the forest. Phytosociological inventory was done using the synusial approach. Soils were studied through texture surveys, pedological profiles description and laboratory analysis. Silvicultural parameters of plantations were studied using temporary sample plots of 300 mÂČ. The study helps to identify and describe twenty-two basic plantcommunities named synusia. Based on their relationships, the synusia have been combined to describe seven phytocoenoses (plant-communities). Each non pioneer phytocoenose is an expression of specific ecological conditions. The study of plantation productivity has shown remarkable homogeneity of productivity level within each non pioneer phytocoenose. Analysis of variance reveals a significant difference at 5% of probability level between the productivity levels of the phytocoenoses. Three productivity levels are identified according to phytocoenoses. The study leads to the conclusion that phytosociology is a reliable tool for forest management
Embodied learning: Responding to AIDS in Lesotho's education sector
This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Children's Geographies, 7(1), 2009. Copyright @ 2009 Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14733280802630981.In contrast to pre-colonial practices, education in Lesotho's formal school system has historically assumed a Cartesian separation of mind and body, the disciplining of students' bodies serving principally to facilitate cognitive learning. Lesotho has among the highest HIV-prevalence rates worldwide, and AIDS has both direct and indirect impacts on the bodies of many children. Thus, students' bodies can no longer be taken for granted but present a challenge for education. Schools are increasingly seen as a key point of intervention to reduce young people's risk of contracting the disease and also to assist them to cope with its consequences: there is growing recognition that such goals require more than cognitive learning. The approaches adopted, however, range from those that posit a linear and causal relationship between knowledge, attitudes and practices (so-called âKAPâ approaches, in which the role of schools is principally to inculcate the pre-requisite knowledge) to âlife skills programmesâ that advocate a more embodied learning practice in schools. Based on interviews with policy-makers and practitioners and a variety of documentary sources, this paper examines a series of school-based AIDS interventions, arguing that they represent a less radical departure from âeducation for the mindâ than might appear to be the case. The paper concludes that most interventions serve to cast on children responsibility for averting a social risk, and to ânormaliseâ aberrant children's bodies to ensure they conform to what the cognitively-oriented education system expects
Mathematical stories: Why do more boys than girls choose to study mathematics at AS-level in England?
Copyright @ 2005 Taylor & FrancisIn this paper I address the question: How is it that people come to choose mathematics and in what ways is this process gendered? I draw on the findings of a qualitative research study involving interviews with 43 young people all studying mathematics in post-compulsory education in England. Working within a post-structuralist framework, I argue that gender is a project and one that is achieved in interaction with others. Through a detailed reading of Toni and Claudiaâs stories I explore the tensions for young women who are engaging in mathematics, something that is discursively inscribed as masculine, while (understandably) being invested in producing themselves as female. I conclude by arguing that seeing âdoing mathematicsâ as âdoing masculinityâ is a productive way of understanding why mathematics is so male dominated and by looking at the implications of this understanding for gender and mathematics reform work.This work is funded by the ESR
Troubling "understanding mathematics-in-depth": Its role in the identity work of student-teachers in England
Copyright @ The Author(s) 2013. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.comThis article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.In this paper, we focus on an initiative in England devised to prepare non-mathematics graduates to train as secondary mathematics teachers through a 6-month Mathematics Enhancement Course (MEC) to boost their subject knowledge. The course documentation focuses on the need to develop âunderstanding mathematics in-depthâ in students in order for them to become successful mathematics teachers. We take a poststructural approach, so we are not interested in asking what such an understanding is, about the value of this approach or about the effectiveness of the MECs in developing this understanding in their participants. Instead we explore what positions this discourse of âunderstanding mathematics in-depthâ makes available to MEC students. We do this by looking in detail at the âidentity workâ of two students, analysing how they use and are used by this discourse to position themselves as future mathematics teachers. In doing so, we show how even benign-looking social practices such as âunderstanding mathematics in-depthâ are implicated in practices of inclusion and exclusion. We show this through detailed readings of interviews with two participants, one of whom fits with the dominant discourses in the MEC and the other who, despite passing the MEC, experiences tensions between her national identity work and MEC discourses. We argue that it is vital to explore âidentity workâ within teacher education contexts to ensure that becoming a successful mathematics teacher is equally available to all.Kingâs College Londo
Appreciative inquiry as a method of transforming identity and power in Pakistani women
This paper describes a three-year action research project that used Appreciative Inquiry to work with marginalised Pakistani women living in Sheffield. The research encountered many of the difficulties and dilemmas that have been previously identified in the theory and practice of Appreciative Inquiry. However, it also empowered the participants to develop critical thinking, particularly around issues of power and identity. Through generating authentic and untold stories, Appreciative Inquiry enabled participants to discuss, subvert and challenge the identities that had been constructed for them by sources of power within their community and culture. The paper describes the innovative application of Appreciative Inquiry, offers a theoretical response to criticisms of Appreciative Inquiry and suggests how it may be effective in enabling marginalised people to critically address issues of powe
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