Escaping numbers? The ambiguities of the governance of education through data

Piattoeva, Nelli; Boden, Rebecca

doi:10.1080/09620214.2020.1725590

Cited by 33 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 43 publications

(42 reference statements)

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“…Recent studies in the performative effects of 'governing by numbers' (Ball, 2017;Grek, 2009;Miller, 2001;Piattoeva & Boden, 2020;Rose, 1991) or data in education, which are propelled by a more and more thorough implementation of tests, performance indicators, economic modelling, algorithmic governance, and many other forms of databased governance in Western educational governance, have brought the analytical concept of affectivity to the forefront (Brøgger & Staunaes, 2016;Sellar & Lingard, 2018;Webb & Gulson, 2012). While these studies demonstrate how data affect various human actors affectively and thereby cause them to act accordingly, and furthermore offer an important alternative conceptualization of human engagements with data than the one offered by rational action theory, the emergence of these studies raises the question if affectivity can account for human responses to data alone, or if the emphasis on affective responses brings about particular analytical biases.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Set in motion by data: Human and data intra-actions in educational governance

Madsen

2021

Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education

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With the increased use of data in the governance of education, studies on how human beings interact with data become increasingly important. Recent scholarship has conceptualized human responses to data through the notion of affectivity. While this conceptualization offers a viable alternative to previous rational choice theorizations of human responses to data that over-emphasize rational though, it in turn under-emphasizes rational thought. This paper theorizes human responses to data as a matter of being set in motion by data, a term that includes rational thought, affect, and other responses. Through the philosophy of agential realism and an empirical analysis of various actors engaging with Danish graduate unemployment data, the paper elaborates how data and human beings (among other entities) intra-act and how human beings are affected by data, both in terms of what the data articulate and in terms of a code of conduct for dealing with data.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Set in motion by data: Human and data intra-actions in educational governance

Madsen

2021

Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education

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“…In contrast, within the bureaucratic model, given the high level of de facto autonomy, the predominant sentiment of mistrust with external evaluations, and the prevalence of a bureaucratic form of accountability that gives more importance to rule compliance than to performance outcomes, it is easier for teachers to "escape numbers" (see Gorur, 2018;Piattoeva & Boden, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teacher autonomy in the age of performance-based accountability: A review based on teaching profession regulatory models (2017-2020)

Parcerisa

Verger

Pagès

et al. 2022

EPAA

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In recent decades, the governance of educational systems has experienced dramatic changes in many countries. Schools have been given more autonomy whilst being held increasingly accountable at the central level through standardized testing and other forms of external evaluation. The mechanisms of performance-based accountability (PBA) and the consequences attached to test results vary. In high-stakes systems, teachers’ careers are more directly connected to students’ performance, and low performing schools might risk closure, whereas in lower-stakes systems, the official administrative consequences of accountability for school actors are more symbolic than material. The main aim of this paper is to understand the impact of different forms of PBA on teachers’ work from a comparative perspective. Most research on this topic is based on single-context case studies, which makes it difficult to understand the impact of policy factors and professional contexts in teachers’ decisions and autonomy. To address this challenge, we review recent investigations (2017-2020) on the topic and compare their findings in different teachers' regulatory contexts. The review includes 101 articles from the SCOPUS and Web of Science databases. We find that evidence on the impact of PBA on teachers’ perceptions and beliefs are variegated, and that the implications of PBA on teachers’ autonomy does not only depend on the level of accountability stakes, but on teachers’ professional regulation.

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“…As part of the expansion of metric power across social, cultural, economic and political processes, the education sector as a whole has experienced a dramatic increase in datafication. Demands of measurable accountability, international largescale assessments, comparative performance benchmarking, and the proliferation of metrics and indicators from the early years through schooling and higher education, are all part of a long genealogy of 'governance by numbers' (Piattoeva & Boden, 2020). Amid wider social, economic and political enthusiasm for 'big data' and 'AI', technologies such as learning analytics, adaptive 'personalized learning' platforms, and robot teaching assistants have all been developed, promoted and taken up by education institutions (Williamson, 2017).…”

Section: The Datafication Of Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%