Conceptual framework – a Foucauldian lens
3.8 Pastoral power in higher education
doing good to students are assumed to be neutral and beneficent and approaching best practice. From a Foucauldian perspective, Ball (2012) posited that assumptions of neutrality and beneficence and progress are problematic as they gloss over the impacts of power relations. Ball (2007) explored the construction of legal identity in students (as skilled legal professionals or as ethical lawyer-citizens). He concluded that critical legal educators who wish to liberate students from ‘ideological indoctrination’ into corporate or pro-business legal practice often overlook the power relations inherent in their own teaching practices and technologies (Ball, 2007).
One of the ways in which governmentality is operationalised is through the use of pastoral power. The section that follows therefore considers studies of pastoral power that have been conducted in the higher education sector.
state rationalities, by producing individuals who will strengthen the state. They contended that to analyse the mechanisms of power at work in the university, one must examine how
“the relations of capillary power are embedded within local educational practices and technologies, just as the confession is embedded within religious and clinical settings” (p.
275). They cited practices such as: the use of the ‘canon’ (which is the standard against which forms of knowledge are measured); the induction of the novice scholar; and the evaluation of faculty, as technologies of government which utilise pastoral power.
Barrow (1999) similarly questioned whether higher education is an instrument of emancipation or subjection. He stated that whilst institutions may claim to encourage
“processes of critical reflection, leading the student to ultimate emancipation and
autonomy through a search for truth”, the student is subject to the “pastoral power of the institution (with a complex mix of coercion and freedom to act)” (Barrow, 1999, p. 2). This pastoral power drives a particular model of transformation (and normalisation) in students where, “inculcated with the rules of their discipline, the student attains a salvation and enlightenment in an act of transformation that is primarily a personal one” (Barrow, 1999, p. 4). He said that, as a form of governance, higher education plays an important role in persuading the individual to act in a manner which the individual believes is good for them, but which ultimately meets the needs of the state.
Barrow (1999) contended that, through the control of knowledge, space, time, assessment and examination, higher education institutions encourage the development of technologies of the self in students which they use to transform themselves, by acting on their “bodies, souls, thoughts and conduct” (p. 11). Barrow argued:
Unlike physical domination, pastoral power enables some actions while at the same time precluding others. Whilst individuals are to all intents and
purposes free to act, the institution guides and counsels them, encouraging them to act in a way that is ‘good’ for them. The operation of this power requires an interplay of coercion in the practices of domination and freedom to act, in order to gain the voluntary compliance of the student. (Barrow, 1999, p. 9)
Lest we forget the dynamic productive nature of power, and the co-constitutive relationship between power and resistance, Foucault reminds us that students are not puppets in this
process. “However, as soon as they enter the system, students understand that they are being played with, that someone is trying to turn them against their true origins and surroundings; there follows a political awareness, and the revolutionary explosion” or, stated even more dramatically, “the enemy is within the gates” (Foucault, 1971, p. 195).
Explorations of the operation of pastoral power in particular disciplines in higher education are limited, but some studies have been conducted in teacher education and health and physical education.
3.8.1 Teacher education
Tsolidis and Pollard (2007) considered the role of pastoral power in constructing teacher identities. They expressed concern that students who want to become teachers to do good and make a difference in their students’ lives are set up in binary opposition to market- orientated teachers. In addition, they reflected that these philanthropic desires may be a non-reflexive expression of pastoral power, where teachers know best and students are ignorant. Although their study draws on pastoral power in a limited way, Tsolidis and Pollard (2007) emphasised the productive possibilities of pastoral power to construct multiple subjectivities, where teachers can foreground the effects of power relations and develop more responsive practices. They thus suggested an “ethical redeployment” of pastoral power (p. 57).
3.8.2 Health and physical education
The work of Louise McCuaig and her colleagues (McCuaig, 2007; McCuaig 2012; McCuaig, Öhman & Wright, 2011; McCuaig & Tinning, 2010) involved a more thorough exploration of pastoral power in health and physical education (HPE) teaching. McCuaig (2007) reflected on her own teaching practice and how she developed alternative ways of viewing what is generally accepted uncritically as caring, responsive teaching. She problematised schooling and teaching, arguing that the role of the pastoral teacher is to “maximise mass schooling’s capacity to shape the consciences of apprentice citizens” (McCuaig, 2012, p. 865). McCuaig (2007) described the pastoral teacher as one who incorporates the “sympathetic
demeanours of both the spiritual guide and the caring parent” (p. 288). McCuaig (2012)
therefore proposed that “[c]are envisaged as pastoral power does moral and ethical work on behalf of the state” (pp. 871-872).
Regarding the operation of pastoral power in the classroom, McCuaig et al. (2011) reported on a study involving the analysis of video data of interactions during HPE classes in Sweden.
They described how, through policy and other directives, HPE teachers (positioned as
“unobtrusive guides” (McCuaig el at., 2011, p. 6) to their students) were incited to construct learning environments that enabled close student-teacher relationships which increased the probability of student revelations (McCuaig el at., 2011, p. 6). These revelations provided access to the conscience of the student and opportunities to shape it accordingly. In addition, in order to inspire trust in their students, teachers were urged to be “models of good practice” (McCuaig el at., 2011, p. 7). McCuaig et al. (2011) argued that HPE teachers use a range of normalisation techniques to entice their students into being healthy active citizens, whilst simultaneously identifying those who deviate from this norm.
The strategies they observed being utilised in the lessons included: building a sense of togetherness and caring, encouraging and inspiring students to participate, and constructing exercise as a pleasurable experience. With regard to building a sense of togetherness and caring, McCuaig et al. (2011) reported that the teachers use the pronoun ‘we’ to suggest a shared relationship and goals, and to develop a sense of a collective (us). They proposed that this process simultaneously exposes and excludes those who did not wish to
participate. They argued that togetherness and caring are an effective strategy not only for encouraging the reluctant to participate and open up, but also in developing self-
governance in their students – by establishing a goal and ensuring the students are motivated to want to achieve it.
Through encouraging certain actions, the HPE teacher confirms what is desirable and
correct. This then indicates to other students what is valued and inspires them to follow suit.
McCuaig et al. (2011) reported the use of phrases such as “‘well done’, ‘excellent’ and ‘you are very talented’” (p. 10) that reinforce ‘correct’ behaviour. They also pointed out that
“expressions such as ‘I am very proud of you’ and ‘being a teacher is so enjoyable’ created
familial-like relationships of caring” (McCuaig et al., p.10). They argued that it would take considerable agency on the part of the student to resist such an offer of caring.
McCuaig et al. (2011) highlighted the role of normalisation in these classrooms and the associated feelings of shame if the student fell short of the norm:
There is considerable affective value in doing what is right and being acknowledged as a good person in the eyes of the teacher and possibly the class. There is also the affective loading of what happens if you don’t do this – what is at risk – being a bad person and most importantly, disappointing the teacher. (McCuaig et al., 2011, p. 11)
The last strategy observed in the video analysis (McCuaig et al., 2011), involved making an association between participation in activities (in this case, physical exercise) and fun and pleasure. Through all of these techniques, the HPE students were therefore encouraged to internalise the norm of being good healthy, active citizens, to engage in self-surveillance and self-problematisation in relation to this norm and, in so doing, move towards self-
governance. Students that chose to resist these processes, or were excluded through refusing to participate (the lost sheep), became a cause for increased attention: “Instead of discarding or ignoring problematic students, such deviations call upon the HPE/PEH teacher to care more fervently, to employ more intense and individualised strategies of
togetherness, encouragement, familiarity and surveillance” (McCuaig et al., 2011, p. 15).
The researchers therefore argued that, whilst there is nothing wrong with a caring approach to teaching, social practices that appear beyond reproach should be scrutinised as “[t]he more open the game, the more attractive and fascinating it is”
(Foucault, 1987, p. 131)
McCuaig and Tinning (2010) explored the role of confessional practices in HPE as strategies for facilitating governance. Through pastoral power, individuals are constituted in
relationships of subjection to an external party, where the technique of confession plays a central role. In the context of the HPE class, the teacher is constructed as the expert other who is able to offer guidance and credible knowledge. Students are expected to reveal (confess) their thoughts and feelings. McCuaig (2007) wrote: “Pedagogical strategies such as
role play and personal journal keeping, which encourage young people to confess their hidden ‘risky’ feelings, express them, dissect them and ultimately control them,
undoubtedly relate to those technologies of which Foucault is most suspicious” (p. 285).
McCuaig and Tinning (2010) emphasised that certain conditions need to be met to create the trusting relationship which facilitates the process of confession. They highlighted the importance of credibility, which is usually established through professional training and expertise. They also emphasised the importance of a sustained and intimate relationship between the teacher and student, and that the teacher should be a model of good practice.
In this manner, HPE teachers were able to gain access to the conscience of their students. As a result, “HPE ‘classrooms’ function as modern-day confessional spaces where teachers deploy appropriate knowledges and techniques to extract students’ confessions, interpret their meaning, diagnose inner truths and devise suitable interventions for self-
improvement” (McCuaig & Tinning, 2010, p. 54).
The concept of confessional spaces and the role of reflection as modern-day confession are explored further in the next section, which problematises reflection.