Education Commons^™

Educational Administration As A Disciplinary Practice: Appropriating Foucault's View Of Power, Discourse, And Method, Gary L. Anderson, Jaime Grinberg

Department of Educational Foundations Scholarship and Creative Works

This article discusses the relevance of Foucault's work to the field of educational administration. It argues for Foucault's concept of disciplinary practice as a powerful new generative metaphor for the field. A major implication of Foucault's view of power is that educational practices that may appear more democratic, participatory, or progressive may in fact constitute forms of disciplinary power and thus result in more effective technologies of control. The authors argue that regardless of which techniques of administration are used, the effects of disciplinary power cannot be escaped. No educational practices are inherently more empowering than others. They further discuss …