Andrew Hope

Panopticism, Play and the Resistance of Surveillance: Case Studies of the Observation of Student Internet Use in UK Schools.

The introduction of Internet access into over 30,000 UK schools has led to the adoption of a variety of disciplinary policies, procedures and practices. Critically engaging with writings on panopticism, this paper explores the surveillance of student online activity. It is noted that Internet surveillance in schools includes control through physical observation and limited use of computer databases. For from being passive subjects of observation, some students actively resisted surveillance through physical concealment, virtual concealment and ‘sousveillance’. Noting that an often‐ignored feature of panopticism is entertainment, it is suggested that student resistance of Internet surveillance is best understood in terms of play and the desire to test authority.

Risk Taking, Boundary Performance and Intentional School Internet “Misuse”

Whilst the association of risk with schools is predominately a negative one, fostering images of potential dangers, this paper draws upon a socio-cultural counter-discourse to explore the perceived benefits of certain risk taking activities within educational establishments. Using research data on school Internet “misuse” it is argued that some students benefit from engaging in boundary performance. This can be seen as a type of risky behaviour involving low level dangers that offer an escape from tedious routine through public displays of temporarily traversing boundaries. Furthermore, it is maintained that such activity may be a central element in identity construction. It is concluded that the concept of boundary performance has wider applications than merely explaining certain school Internet “misuse”, potentially helping practitioners and policy-makers to think more creatively about the educational process as well as offering insights into other “problematic” behaviour.

CCTV, school surveillance and social control

Burgeoning fears for safety in UK schools have resulted in a rapid growth in the use of various security measures, most notably closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems. Utilising semi-structured interviews and non-participant observation this research examines how CCTV is used in schools, explores the manner in which this facilitates social control and considers the wider implications of such surveillance technology. It is argued that this technology, which is predominantly focused on students, is effective in facilitating direct observation, but does little to foster self-surveillance in the longer term. It is concluded that CCTV use in schools represents an underlying shift in values, away from exercising social control through enculturation towards system integration. This has important ethical implications.

The Shackled School Internet: Zemiological Solutions to the Problem of Over-Blocking.

Despite widespread internet provision in UK schools, there is little evidence to suggest resultant, sustained educational benefit. Drawing upon the notion of over-blocking, this paper explores how narrow notions of digital learning and over-zealous responses to internet risks limit students’ educational experience. It is argued that this undermines digital literacy, raises questions about the future role of schools, exacerbates information poverty and limits the potential for democratic engagement. Adopting a zemiological approach privileging social harm may provide a solution to such problems insofar as it focuses on resolution not blame, existing issues rather than future ones and the facilitation of open, democratic discussion.

Biopower and school surveillance technologies 2.0

In recent years the proliferation, speed and reach of school-based surveillance devices has undergone what could be labelled as a revolution. Drawing upon Foucault’s concept of biopower to explore the disciplining of bodies and the biopolitical management of populations, this paper examines ‘new’ school surveillance technologies enabling biometric measurement, electronic detection, substance screening, video observation and data monitoring. Klein’s notion of surveillance 2.0 is utilised to further examine emerging features of school monitoring practices, including the impact of ‘data doubles’, playful student resistance and the commodification of surveillance. It is concluded that invasive school surveillance practices are becoming normalised, that politically motivated, data-driven simulations could increasingly be used to support education interventions and that a function creep is occurring as recreational devices become embroiled in institutional surveillance practices.

Student resistance to the surveillance curriculum

The growth of surveillance in UK schools in recent years has resulted in the development of what can be labelled as the surveillance curriculum. Operating through the overt and hidden curricula, contemporary surveillance practices and technologies not only engage students in a discourse of control, but also increasingly socialise them into a ‘culture of observation’ in which they learn to watch and be watched, accepting unremitting monitoring as a norm. This paper examines how the surveillance curriculum operates through observation, discourse and simulation, before drawing upon elements of Gary Marx’s typology of resistance to consider student responses to new surveillance technologies, such as CCTV and Internet monitoring devices. It is concluded that although the surveillance curriculum seeks to control, it also provides a space within which students can forge their own identities through playful resistance, (re)configuring the ‘algebra of surveillance’.

Governmentality and the ‘selling’ of school surveillance devices

In late modernity there has been a massive growth in ‘new’ surveillance devices situated within schools. This paper explores the reasons behind this proliferation, considering the role of key protagonists and the promises made regarding these technologies. It is suggested that there is strong connection between notions of neoliberal governmentality (Foucault, 2008; Gane, 2012) and arguments relating to increased security, improved efficiency, the desirability of techno-surveillance devices and desensitization to pervasive monitoring. In particular, it is maintained that the devolution of state power, the marketization of education, increased responsibilization and the nature of observation in the viewer society all help to explain the emergence of ‘surveillance schools’. It is concluded that failure to recognize these new dynamics may result in schools quietly, subtly becoming experimental labs and then junkyards for our surveillance futures.

Internet pollution discourses, exclusionary practices and the ‘culture of over‐blocking’ within UK schools

In the last decade, Internet provision has become widespread within schools in many economically developed countries. Proponents of such technology have stressed the potential benefits to be gained from innovative teaching and learning opportunities. Yet, herein purity and danger are seen to co‐exist, with unregulated ‘pollutants’ competing with real opportunities for networked learning. Drawing upon social‐cultural writings on pollution, this paper explores discourses of appropriate school Internet use and subsequent attempts to combat perceived dangers. In particular, the paper discusses how schools protect their social and moral boundaries from external threats through excluding certain online material, whilst engaging in internal practices of purification and punishment, mainly by restricting students’ Internet access. It is argued that excessive exclusionary practices, which can be understood as responses to pollution fears and interpretative problems, engender a ‘culture of over‐blocking’ limiting the educational potential of school Internet use.

Foucault's toolbox: critical insights for education and technology researchers

Despite having been a prolific academic, whose work exerts considerable cross-discipline influence, the ideas of Foucault are largely neglected in educational technology scholarship. Having provided an initial brief overview of the sparse use of Foucaults work in this sub-field, this paper then seeks to generate new understandings, arguing that his texts have ongoing relevance, particularly if ed-tech research is to escape its limited, instrumentalism and critically engage with broader social, economic and political concerns. To this end Foucaults writings on technology, discourse and panopticism are considered and the analytical insights they offer into educational technology research explored. Whilst recognising that it is impossible to do justice to Foucaults oeuvre in such a short piece, it is hoped that through providing an introduction to these key concepts and suggesting problems that they could be used to addresses a more critical approach to educational technology will be engendered.

Risk, education and culture

In recent years education has become increasingly perceived as an area of risk. A number of highly publicized incidents have heightened awareness of the potential dangers to be found in teaching institutions. Although there is now a substantial conceptual literature on risk and the meaning of the risk society, such ideas have not to date been rigorously applied to the educational sector. The authors of this innovative volume address this gap, discussing the relevance of risk discourses to educational processes. They recognize that risk discourses themselves (both academic and political) do not necessarily relate to actual dangers within education and they examine the differences between the risk narratives of expert and layperson, teacher and student, practitioner and academic. This book will greatly interest both sociologists and educationalists interested in the interaction between education and contemporary trends in society.