Technologies of the self in adult education

Abstract

We commence this paper with Foucault's theory of the technologies of the self and the approach to analysing their function in adult education. In exploring the mechanism of control, of particular importance is the point of intersection of power, examining, confiding, science and experts or specialists and the formation of the self. We shall attempt to clarify such relations, particularly the connection of the technology of the self and education. The adult learner is perceived as an active learner and is expected to provide constant reflexion on their previous experience which has turned into raw material honed by critical analysis. It is presupposed that such action is empowering and that talking about oneself influences the liberation of an individual. In the past decade, various societal spheres saw a more pronounced neoliberal position, which also applies to the sphere of education. Consequently, we witness the growing and more frequent transfer of responsibility to the subject who ought to develop certain skills, regardless of whether they are intended for living or working. Spurred by growing insecurities and global unpredictability, the individual is invited to continually hone their skills and reinvent themselves so as to adapt to changes. Lifelong learning has become a standard and requirement, not just a right. Such a learning process oftentimes includes self-knowledge that is inevitably playing out in relation to current modes of truth. By producing themselves, the subject is also becoming submissive at the same time. In this work, we suggest that the practices of learning must therefore be what Foucault called technologies of the self, whereas the description and argumentation of this statement is at the crux of this paper.