Abstract:

The writing process presented and discussed in this article is akin to creating a conceptual framework, but one where the writing style is under consideration as much as the content. To write in a particular style is to take on, or actively embody, a whole aspect or way of thinking. Working in education, this process is something that authors use in teaching and research, albeit differently. For one, taking on Foucault’s writing style generates a shift in the focus of their research, thinking in a different way about the relation of power to teaching. For the other, Foucault’s style of analysis is useful for positioning (and refuting) conceptual research.

As a thinker and theoretician, Michel Foucault (1926-1984) was interested in genealogical historiography, in unearthing hitherto hidden institutional and cultural practices that underpin and direct the way we think today. His work is associated with post-structuralism, but his later work allows space for post-positivism. For much of his life, Foucault argued that we cannot separate our thoughts from being themselves and being socially constructed. His critique offered a fresh perspective on this, but in his later life his thinking changed, making room for the truth, of lived life or experience. Exploring knowledge-making and objects of thought permits a rediscovery of how these are socially framed and form differences in lived lives. The starting point for this research is the world today, and working through this process enables us to reach new understandings and theories, thereby offering new insights into today’s issues or problems.

This article examines the use and purpose of a method that is used in teaching and learning practice. We use Foucault’s style of inquiry, including discourse analysis, as an exemplar that sketches a history of teaching and learning in England. The article identifies significant facts and explores the location of power in schools and the transformation of communications over time. It explores how power, control, knowledge, and communication function in the hands of the Church, the government and the teaching profession.

Today in the UK, the political role of the school teacher has been downplayed and yet teaching informs the citizens of tomorrow. These learners use phones and tablets in a world where communications and the accessibility of knowledge functions differently. The proliferation of AI within communication has the potential to be a significant threat to the way we currently experience education. The article identifies the threats and transformations that occurred in the past, helping contextualise our position in the present, and offering insights for teaching in the future.

Keywords:

Teachers, teaching, teacher education, learning, power, control, knowledge, communication, AI, Foucault.