Digital technologies, big data and ideological (neoliberal) fantasies

Abstract

Many fantasies hold that digitalisation can construct democratic spaces for discussing experiences about educational matters. However, based on thinkers such as Rancière, Žižek and Agamben, it is argued that increased big data production in education through digitalisation does not support such democratic spaces. Instead, it mirrors a neoliberal fantasy and a form of instrumentarian power that distributes the sensible in mechanical (numerical) ways. Democracy in education is at risk of being dismantled by perceptions that democratic conversations and struggles are unproductive and do not contribute to the desired numerical visualization of learning results, achievements and competitiveness of students.

The tyranny of student satisfaction: Cruel optimistic fantasies in education

“…Public exposure and transparency (Han, 2015) by means of evaluations and ratings are often valued not only by politicians but also by the public for their potential to visibilize the quality of education, its value, its contemporary condition, and its success/lack of fulfillment. However, such exposure and transparency can, paradoxically, despite their assumed democratic potential as a starting point for complicated conversations about educational quality (Rüsselbæk Hansen, 2020), encourage leaders and educators to improve their image by striving for positive reviews that can be brought into the open without consequences or risks (Mau, 2019). These could include evaluations and ratings that mirror market alignment, harmony, wellbeing, and (student) satisfaction (Furedi, 2011; Hudson, 2004).…”

“…It is well known that much time and resources are spent by educational institutions to strengthen their educational brand (Huzzard et al, 2017), their capital value in the eyes of others (Rüsselbaek Hansen, 2020), by developing powerful, salable, and attractive narratives (Schostak, 2020). For example, narratives that promise they are special places in which quality education take place and in which dreams can come true.…”

“…Worth to bear in mind is that not all teaching educates and can be measured in terms of satisfaction. To educate and support the students’ intellectual flourishing mean that we as educators must refuse to deliver simplistic instructions, information, and answers and instead confront them with unpleasant, painful, and “disorderly” views and insights that can question or even led to a break with their ordinary knowledge, conceptions, and beliefs (Rüsselbæk Hansen, 2020).…”