As a Dispositif: Towards a Critical Ontology of Policy and Power
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"Tea~h First" as a Dispositif: Towards a critical ontology of policy and power Patrick L.J. Bailey veL Institute of Education, London PhD Thesis June 2015 . 1 Declaration I, Patrick Bailey, hereby declare that, except where explicit attribution is made, the work presented in this thesis is entirely my own. Word Count 99,854 words Copyright The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without the proper acknowledgement of the author. 2 Abstract This thesis is a study of power. More specifically, it is a study of some of the myriad forms and operations of power which animate and condition the present, and which can be observed in the governing of education policy. A material post-structural approach to policy sociology is developed and then deployed in exploring the ontology of the education state and the teacher. The thesis puts to work the 'methods' and 'sensibilities' of Foucauldian genealogy and critical ethnography, and in doing so attends to some of the history of power and its insinuations in the governing and administering of education. Drawing on Michel Foucault's methodological and analytical concept of the dispositif, education policy is conceptualised as an historical and contingent formation of material objects, discourses and practices - a policy dispositij. At the same time, dispositifis applied as an analytical device for investigating the 'micro-physics' and 'immanence' of power, or the different ways in which power operates in minute and molecular ways in individual and heterogeneous encounters. Dispositifis also applied as a critical tool for exposing the ways in which the present is conditioned and fabricated within, and by, multiple forces of enablement and constraint. The thesis explores some of these operations of power as can be observed in a particular site of policy performance and experience: the social enterprise and education charity Teach First. This contemporary policy organisation and its particular 'version' of the teacher are placed within a wider and historical field of practices. A number of different modalities of power are conceptually and empirically animated over the course of the thesis, all of which, it is argued, are relevant for understanding Teach First and the governing of policy and society today. These include what can be described as government, bio-power and sovereignty. 3 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor Stephen Ball, for his expertise, critical insight and support. I am particularly indebted to his endless encouragement and inspiration. I am also extremely grateful to Professor Alex Moore, who offered detailed and thoughtful comment on the first full draft of the thesis. I would also like to thank all of the students and staff who I have been fortunate enough to work with over the last three-and-a-half years. I am also grateful to the PhD students with whom I was able to explore a number of ideas in a reading group, and discuss my work in an open, friendly and intellectually stimulating environment. There are many people outside of academia who should be acknowledged, though suffice it to say that I am grateful to all of my friends and family, and especially for providing necessary distractions and being a constant source of amusement. And this extends to Iggy and Hector, my two cats, who kept me company and amused during the long and lonely days. I also thank Matthew for the books. Special thanks are reserved for my parents, Bridget and John, my sisters, Emma and Loma, and my brother, Chris. This PhD was funded by an ESRC Studentship. I am very thankful for the support, without which my studies would not have been possible. Special mention must also be reserved for the people who participated in the study. Their willingness to take part and to offer me their time and thoughts is greatly appreciated. I sincerely thank all of them. Finally, I would have had neither the will nor strength to complete this research without the constant love and support of my partner, Louise. She is a constant source of inspiration and strength, and has had to bear much of the burden of my struggle. 4 Contents DECLARATION •.•••••.•.•.••••.•••••••••••••••••••••.••••.•••••••••••••••••••.•••••••••••••••..•••...•••.•••.••••.•••••••• 2 ABSTRACT ••.••••••••••••••.••••••••••••••••••••••••••.••••••••••••••.•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••.•••••••• 3 ACKNO\VLEDGEl\fENTS ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 4 ABBREVIATIONS ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 8 LIST OF FIGURES •••••••••••••••••••••.•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••.•••••.•••••.••••••••••••••••••••.••••••••••.••.••• 9 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 11 SETTING THE SCENE ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 12 OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................. 13 CEREMONY ............................................................................................................ 18 MARKET ................................................................................................................ 25 ENTERPRISING/PEDAGOGICAL ACTIVITIES .............................................................. 28 THE DEPLOYMENT OF THE THESIS .......................................................................... 33 METHODOLOGY ••••••••.••••••••••••••••••••.••••••••••••••••••••.•••••••••••••••.••••.•••••.•••.••••••••••••••.•••••• 39 MATERIAL POST -STRUCTURALISM .......................................................................... 40 INITIAL CONSIDERATIONS ................................................................................... 40 DISPOSITIF ......................................................................................................... 46 CONCEPT ........................................................................................................ 46 THE CONTINGENCY OF EDUCATION AND THE MECHANICS OF POLICY REGULATION ......................................... ~ ........................................................ 50 AN ANAL YTICS OF POWER, SUBJECTIV ATION AND TRUTH ................................... 55 THE RESEARCH ...................................................................................................... 58 THE ETHNOGRAPHY ............................................................................................ 59. THE GENEALOGY ................................................................................................ 64 A CRITICAL GOVERNMENT ALITY PERSPECTIVE ................................................... 65 CRITIQUE AS AN 'ART OF LIVING': DISBELIEF, CONCEPT PRODUCTION AND A POLITICS OF REVOCABILITy .................................................................................... 68 PART ONE: DISPOSITION .............................................................................. ; ................. 72 A POLICY HISTORY OF THE PRESENT ••.•••••••••.••••.•••••••••.••••••••••••••••.••••••••••••••.•••.•••••• 73 INSCRIPTIONS IN THE REAL: HISTORICAL POLICY DISPOSITIONS AND THE ARTS AND CRAFTS OF GOVERNMENT ....................................................................................... 78 THE CHRISTIAN PASTORATE AND THE MONASTIC SCHOOL ................................. 78 PASTORAL POWER: MONASTIC EDUCATION AND A PASTORAL POLICY DISPOSITION ..........•......•....•••..................•...•••••.•.•.•.•.....................................• , 80 THE VOLKSSCHULE AND THE BIRTH OF STATE EDUCATION ................................ 86 >-~. 5 RAISON D'ETAT AND STATE POWER-A STATE POLICY DISPOSITION ............. 89 PRIVATE VENTURE AND VOLUNTARY EDUCATION -A DIVERSE AND DECENTRALISED EDUCATIONAL TERRAIN .......................................................... 94 LIBERAL GOVERNMENTALITY: DISCIPLINE, BIO-POWER AND A LIBERAL POLICY DISPOSITION •••.••.••••••.•••••.•..•..•••....•••.•..•..••••••••.••••••••••..•...••.••••••••••••.•••.••••••••••• 96 SOCIAL LIBERALISM AND STATE EDUCATION .................................................... 106 SOCIAL GOVERNMENT AND A WELFARE POLICY DISPOSITION •••••••••••••••••••••• 108 TOWARDS THE NEO-LIBERAL ............................................................................ 114 THE DISCOURSE ON POLICY •••••.•••.••••.•••••••••••••••..•••...•••.•.•••••••.•.••••.•••••••••••••.•.•••.••• 118 WHAT IS NEO-LIBERALISM? •••••••••.•••••.•••••••••••••.•••••••.•••••.••••••.•••••••.•••••••••••..•••••.••• 120 CONTINGENCY, MULTIPLICITY, COHERENCE ................................................. 120 ENTERPRISE AS DIAGRAM OF POWER •••••••••••••••.•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••.••••••••• 124 1. ENTERPRISE AS GOVERNMENTAL LOGIC ................................................ 125 2. ENTERPRISE AS MATERIAL, TECHNICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL FIELD ....• 128 3. ENTERPRISE AS SUBJECTIVITY ............................................................... 132 A NEO-LIBERAL POLICY DISPOSITION: A HYPER-PERFORMATIVE REGIME •••••••••••••• 136 PART Two: TRANSFORMATION ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••.••• 144 TEACH FIRST, THE EDUCATION STATE, AND THE MAKING AND SHAPING OF THE NEO-LIBERAL TEACHER •••••.•••.•..•....•••••••••••••••••..•••.•••......•••.•.•.••••••..••........•••...••..•.