A Philosophical Analysis of STEM Education Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Jamie Eric Teeple Graduate Program in Educational Studies The Ohio State University 2018 Dissertation Committee Bryan R. Warnick, Advisor Michael J. Glassman Bruce A. Kimball 1 Copyrighted by Jamie Eric Teeple 2018 2 Abstract In this dissertation, I critique STEM education as the educational apotheosis of neoliberal governmentality and reconceptualize it for an egalitarian democracy. Part and parcel of this analysis is considering Wendy Brown’s (2015) contention that the contemporary subject is interpolated by the prevailing norms of neoliberalism as a governing form of political rationality and thus expresses itself not as a political subject, or “homo politicus”, but as a self-investing and economized subject, or “homo oeconomicus”. I hypothesize that students as emergent homo oeconomicus seek out STEM education as the best means for survival within a technocratic marketplace. In this sense, STEM literacy is rendered the paradigmatic form of symbolic capital within the capitalist state. The thrust of my critical response to this milieu figures left-libertarian or social-anarchist thought as the diametrically opposed and thus apposite ideological rejoinder to the right- authoritarian status quo, not only for political activism writ large, but also for educational reform proposals and even the preparation of preservice teachers. In the end, my research is an attempt to explore how students’ narratives can assist critical educators with leveraging pedagogy into a potent means for cultivating within educational systems the social imaginaries and political subjects needed to eschew the aims of a right- authoritarian status quo and embrace the aims of an egalitarian, left-libertarian society-to- be. ii Dedication For Kristen. iii Acknowledgments I would like to begin by thanking my teachers, colleagues, and peers. Without your patient guidance and invaluable advice, I would never have been able to produce this document. In particular, I would like to acknowledge Bryan Warnick, Bruce Kimball, Michael Glassman, Phil Smith, Shirley Yu, Karen Graves, Emily Nemeth, and Suzanne Baker. I would also like to acknowledge my family. Without your care and unwavering support, this road would have been far bumpier. Mom, you are the greatest educator I have ever known. Jennifer, you are my coconspirator. And Kristen, my love and my life, I cannot wait to see what our future holds. iv Vita Work August 2018-May 2019: Denison University: Visiting Instructor August 2017-May 2019: Columbus State Community College: Adjunct Instructor Education 2013-2018: The Ohio State University, College of Education and Human Ecology: Seeking Doctor of Philosophy Degree 2011-2013: The University of Toledo, Judith Herb College of Education: Master of Education Degree 2004-2008: McGill University, Faculty of Arts: Bachelor of Arts Degree Publications October 2018: Teeple, J. E. Toward a state-critical STEM education. Critical Education, 9(16), 67-83. March 2018: Kuznetcova, I., Teeple, J., & Glassman, M. The dialectic of the avatar: Developing in-world identities in Second Life. Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds, 10(1), 59-71. Fields of Study Major Field: Educational Studies Specialization: Philosophy of Education v Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iv Vita ...................................................................................................................................... v List of Figures .................................................................................................................. viii Chapter 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2. The Emergence of the Debate Over STEM Education ..................................... 7 Chapter 3. A Critique of Education and the Status Quo ................................................... 19 Precedents for Socio-Educational Critique ................................................................... 19 Giroux’s Critique of the Status Quo ............................................................................. 28 The State of the State .................................................................................................... 30 The American State as Imperialist System ................................................................... 35 Imperial Neoliberalism as Governing Political Rationality .......................................... 40 Chapter 4. STEM Education and the Status Quo .............................................................. 50 Chesky and Wolfmeyer’s Critique of STEM Education .............................................. 50 Bybee’s Case for STEM Education .............................................................................. 58 Hacker’s Case for STEM Education ............................................................................. 63 Comparing the Cases .................................................................................................... 69 Pursuing Excellence ...................................................................................................... 72 Origins of the Excellence Agenda ................................................................................ 74 Critiques of the Excellence Agenda .............................................................................. 76 A Critique of Bybee ...................................................................................................... 78 Lessons and Limits of Hacker ....................................................................................... 80 The Critical Value of Student Experience .................................................................... 81 Chapter 5. Student Experience of STEM Education ........................................................ 85 Where Theory Meets Practice? ..................................................................................... 85 Exploring Student Experience in “STEM School” ....................................................... 86 Method .......................................................................................................................... 89 vi Findings......................................................................................................................... 92 STEM Education as Symbolic Capital ......................................................................... 99 STEM Education for Homo Oeconomicus ................................................................. 102 Variation in the Experience of STEM Education ....................................................... 105 Variation in STEM Educational Policy ...................................................................... 107 Where Practice Meets Theory ..................................................................................... 108 Chapter 6. Avenues for STEM Education ...................................................................... 112 Confronting Antidemocratic Systems ......................................................................... 112 A Socio-Economic Heuristic ...................................................................................... 113 Left-Libertarianism as a Response to the Status Quo ................................................. 116 Social-Anarchist Education ........................................................................................ 120 Social-Anarchism and STEM Education .................................................................... 123 A Critique of Social-Anarchism ................................................................................. 126 A Critique of Social-Anarchist Education .................................................................. 132 Chesky and Wolfmeyer’s Anarcho-Critical STEM Education ................................... 135 A Reply to Chesky and Wolfmeyer’s Conceptualization ........................................... 137 Examples of “State-Critical” STEM Education .......................................................... 141 Considerations for “State-Critical” STEM Education ................................................ 143 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 149 Review ........................................................................................................................ 149 Outlook ....................................................................................................................... 151 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 153 Appendix A. A Consolidation of the Theoretical Critique ............................................. 160 The Vega Model ......................................................................................................... 162 Amending the Model .................................................................................................