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Title
Previously engaged: a Foucauldian genealogy of student engagement in composition studies
Description
This study is a philosophical genealogy of the term “student engagement” as it has appeared in composition studies. It attempts to account for the fact that student engagement has become something of a virtue in educational and composition studies, despite the fact that the term is problematic due its lack of definitional clarity and circular understanding of pedagogy (explained in greater detail in chapter two). Inspired by Foucault, this study employs a genealogical analytic to create a counterhistory of student engagement, suggesting that its principles have existed long before educational theorists coined the term, tracing its practices back to the 1940s in composition studies. Far from being the humanistic and student-centered practice that it is commonly viewed as, this study situates student engagement practices as emerging from various discursive and political desires
eeds, especially as a way to ideologically counter the rise of Nazism and fascism in pre-World War 2 Europe; in short, rather than evolving out of best practices in education, the concept of student engagement emerged out of an intersection of educational, psychological, and even medical prescriptions set against a specific political backdrop. This study also examines the ways that power dynamics shift and teacher-/student-subjects occupy new roles as engagement becomes a prominent force on the pedagogical landscape, addressing specifically the ways teachers and their assignments enact a disciplinary and pastoral function, all with the intent of molding students into interested, interesting, and democratic subjects. This study closes by considering some of the implications of this new understanding of engagement, and suggests potential directions for the term as well as abandoning the term altogether.
eeds, especially as a way to ideologically counter the rise of Nazism and fascism in pre-World War 2 Europe; in short, rather than evolving out of best practices in education, the concept of student engagement emerged out of an intersection of educational, psychological, and even medical prescriptions set against a specific political backdrop. This study also examines the ways that power dynamics shift and teacher-/student-subjects occupy new roles as engagement becomes a prominent force on the pedagogical landscape, addressing specifically the ways teachers and their assignments enact a disciplinary and pastoral function, all with the intent of molding students into interested, interesting, and democratic subjects. This study closes by considering some of the implications of this new understanding of engagement, and suggests potential directions for the term as well as abandoning the term altogether.
Date Created
2018
Contributors
- Cruz, Joshua Michael (Author)
- Carlson, David L. (Thesis advisor)
- Graham, Steven (Committee member)
- Goggin, Maureen D. (Committee member)
- Hanna, Mark (Committee member)
- Arizona State University (Publisher)
Topical Subject
- Education (Higher)
- Educational sociology
- College Composition
- Foucault
- Genealogy
- Social history
- Student Engagement
- Writing
- English language--Composition--Study and teaching--Political aspects.
- English language
- English language--Rhetoric--Study and teaching--Political aspects.
- English language
- Motivation in education--Psychological aspects.
- Motivation in education
Resource Type
Extent
vi, 255 pages
Language
eng
Copyright Statement
In Copyright
Primary Member of
Peer-reviewed
No
Open Access
No
Handle
https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.50574
Statement of Responsibility
by Joshua Michael Cruz
Description Source
Viewed on January 24, 2019
Level of coding
full
Note
thesis
Partial requirement for: Ph.D., Arizona State University, 2018
bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 238-255)
Field of study: Learning, literacies and technologies
System Created
- 2018-10-01 08:05:18
System Modified
- 2021-08-26 09:47:01
- 3 years 3 months ago
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