Session Information
23 SES 02 B, Approaching Education Policy (Part 2)
Paper Session
Contribution
Educational system is shaped by interplay of several factors like culture and society, spirit of time and different political manifestations and of course - wills, but also ideas about the future, it’s possibilities and requirements In the context of these factors, different time concept are comprised as a form of border markers; a past, a present and a future. These time concepts are important elements in the narratives of what the school has been, is today and what it should be. The school has the mission to both preserve important cultural values, our heritage and our history and to shape tomorrow's citizens. The school is expected to be both a mirror of the society and a driving force in society. (Lindensjö & Lundgren, 2000) The idea of school as a plough for development of society was strong when elementary school took form and expanded in the late 1800s and early 1900s. (Richardsson, 2004) The school would shape citizens of tomorrow and thereby the future society.
Education is a phenomenon that per se is aiming ahead. Half of all children are expected to continue with higher studies in what we call “knowledge society”, a number of years after upper secondary school. But what kind of future will they meet? It is almost impossible to predict how the society will look like when these youngsters will to step into working life. Despite this fact, there are a number of competing narratives and ideas of where our society is heading. A dominant narrative is a Society in a faster change than ever and that we now have to adapt to a different future. (Bauman, 1999; Beck, 1999; Castells 2000; Giddens, 2003) It is a recurring theme in the narrative of the Knowledge Society.
To govern in the name of "future" are an important part of the public rhetoric surrounding modern school of post-war model. It is not only a national phenomenon, it’s to be found in the global speech about education, for example in policies from OECD and EU. In this context, ideas, hopes and visions of the future society and the school of tomorrow are expressed, and also the demands and expectations from different actors on the educational arena. These demands and expectations contains narratives of the future citizen. For example, about how to get more 'employable', 'entrepreneurial', literate' and 'creative' citizens but also on how we can have less 'alienation'. All these descriptions of desirable and undesirable citizenship functions as rhetorical resources in the discussions - and for - action in education policy.
In this study I drew the attention to the education policy debate in the Swedish Parliament during the period of 1991-2002 and the aim of my dissertation is how narratives of the future society are made in the debate, in an era of changing demands and challengings represented by knowledge society and globalization Questions that have been guiding me are:
- What narratives of School appears in the debates?
- What kind of rhetorical resources are underpinning the debates?
- What shifts, contradictions and political conflicts can be observed.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Billig. Micael. (1991) Ideology and opinions : studies in rhetorical psychology. London: Sage Boulding, Kenneht. E. (1954) The Image. Knowledge in Life and Society. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press Czarniawska, Barbara (2008). Narratives in Social Science Research. London; SAGE Publications. Potter. J. (1996) Representing Reality. Discource, Rhetoric and Social Construction. London: Sage. Mishler, E.G. (1995) Models of Narrative analysis: a typology. Journal of Narrative and Life History (5), 8-123. Kohler Riessman, Catherine (2008). Narrative Methods for the Human Sciences. London; SAGE Publications. Laginder, Ann-Marie. (1989) Framtidsbilder i offentligt utredande – Teknik, utbildning och Samhällsutveckling. Linköping: Linköping Studies in Arts and Science. Ricoœur, Paul (1981) Hermeneutics and the human sciences. Essays on language, action and interpretation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ricoeur, Paul (1993). Från Text till handling. En antlogi om hermeneutik redigerad av Perter Kemp och Bengt Kristensson Uggla. Stockholm/Stehag: Brutus Östlings bokförlag Symposium Somers R. Margaret. (1994) Somers, Margaret R., 1994. The Narrative Construction of Identity: A Relational and Network Approach Sid. 605-649 in Theory and Society Vol. 23 (5) Potter, Jonathan & Wetherell, Margaret. (1987) Discourse and social psychology : beyond attitudes and behavior. London; SAGE Potter, Jonathan & Wetherell, Margaret. (1992) Mapping the language of racism : discourse and the legitimation of exploitation. Hemel Hempstead : Harvester Wheatsheaf Potter, Jonathan. (1996). Discourse, rhetoric and social construction. London: Sage
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