- Title
- A genealogy of Australian educational revolutions
- Creator
- Baker, Phillip
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2018
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- After 50,000 years of Indigenous education prior to colonisation in 1788, Australian education history emerged as a socio-political narrative of two parts, pre-Federation (colonisation to 1901) and post-Federation (1901 to the present). Overlapping both phases was the dominant discourses of liberalism that emerged between the state and its citizens, from the 18th century to the present, with the protection and enhancement of an individual’s freedoms as an emerging socio-political objective. By applying Foucault’s tools alongside a policy discourse analysis to Australia during 2007-2013, and tracing the socio-political changes back to the 19th century, this analysis opens up new possibilities of understanding on the “Education Revolution” idea that reveal how what is accepted in the present came to be acceptable. This qualitative-poststructuralist study begins by outlining Foucault’s genealogical approach, as discussed in his texts Nietzsche, Genealogy, History (1977d) and demonstrated in Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (1977a), The Use of Pleasure (1985) and The Care of the Self (1986). An emphasis is placed on Foucault’s (1980, p.194) notion of the dispositif, ‘the apparatus,’ and the relationships between power-knowledge and discourse. A “how” question in the present is postulated in order to trace the conditions of possibility (the discursive forces) that made it possible to think, speak and act in accepted ways on the Education Revolution idea as it emerged during the 21st century (2007-2013). There are three parts to the analysis. It begins by tracing the socio-political changes during the pre-Federation phase to identify key discursive forces and apply Foucault’s definition of ‘revolutionary action’ (1977e, p. 228). This also involves articulating the discourse on liberalism as it transitioned from classical liberalism to social liberalism (an agitation of consciousness), as well as the deployment of disciplinary institutions (public schools) by the state. This ‘simultaneous agitation of consciousness and institutions’ (Foucault, 1977e, p. 228), provides the prelude to the main analysis and the emergence of a new moral economy focused on liberty and social justice. Within the main analysis, the focus is on the dominant discursive forces of globalization, neoliberalism, travelling policies, federalism and policy contestability amongst education stakeholders, as Australia increasingly responded to the competitive demands of the global marketplace to constantly improve student outcomes in a global intellectual race to the top. Between 2007 and 2013, the idea of an Education Revolution emerged as a construct of the Australian Labor Party’s (ALP’s) policy solution discourse in response to the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) discourses on Australia’s deteriorating education performances (2000-2012) and the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in 2008. In the final part of this analysis, this recent point of emergence is juxtaposed with the past (1880-1900), to identify key similarities and differences. Key understandings: 1) Idea – the idea of an Education Revolution can be understood as a neoliberal idea between 2007-2013, but as a social liberal idea between 1880-1900; 2) Similarities – the promotion of an individual’s self-improvement (self-care), social justice, equity and access to education; 3) Differences – protectionism (state intervention) versus the market to determine educational outcomes; and 4) Meaning – the idea of an Education Revolution can be understood as a ‘simultaneous agitation of consciousness and institutions’ (Foucault, 1977e, p. 228).
- Subject
- education; Foucault; neoliberalism; revolution; OECD
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1392043
- Identifier
- uon:33328
- Rights
- Copyright 2018 Phillip Baker
- Language
- eng
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 3 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 170 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |