Can you explain the culture of performativity in education and provide the authoritative sources for the area?<\/p>\n
Performativity can be defined as \u2018a mode of regulation that employs judgements, comparisons and displays as a means of incentive, control, attrition and change\u2019 (Ball, 2003, p.216). In education, it usually refers to a set of rigid conventions that teachers feel they must adhere to in order to be considered \u2018good\u2019 teachers. The strictures of performativity can prevent more eccentric or innovative approaches to teaching due to a fear of being deemed \u2018unsatisfactory\u2019. This has a relationship with Judith Butler\u2019s (2006) use of the term; she discusses performativity in relation to gender, but deems it as a series of actions performed which bring an identity \u2013 as a particular gender in Butler\u2019s work, or in this case, as a professional teacher \u2013 to life. Ruitenberg asserts that \u2018teaching is an embodied performance [\u2026] a discursive act that has performative effects through its \u201cunfaithful\u201d citation\u2019 (2007, p.265). This performative element can result in a suppression of creativity and innovation in teaching methods which may result in missed opportunities to engage learners. As Ball notes, \u2018we become uncertain about the reasons for actions. Are we doing this because it is important, because we believe in it, because it is worthwhile? Or is it being done ultimately because it will be measured or compared?\u2019 (2003, p.220). The term as used by Ball also encompasses the tendency for teachers to \u2018teach to test\u2019 to ensure that grades and statistics align with preconceived notions about what should be achieved by learners at a certain point. This can result in teachers feeling as though they cannot connect with their students in the ways they would like to, and that they are \u2018working at their students instead of working with them\u2019 (Jeffrey and Woods, 1998, cited in Ball, 2003).<\/p>\n
Ball, S.J. (2003). \u2018The teacher\u2019s soul and the terrors of performativity,\u2019 Journal of Education Policy 18(2), pp. 215-228.<\/p>\n
Butler, J. (2006). Gender trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity. New York: Taylor & Francis.<\/p>\n
Ruitenberg, C.W. (2007). \u2018Discourse, theatrical performance, agency: the analytic force of \u201cPerformativity\u201d in education\u2019, Philosophy of Education 2007, pp. 260\u2013268.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Can you explain the culture of performativity in education and provide the authoritative sources for the area?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1934,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n