The Technological Turn: Policies of Innovation, Politics and Mobilisation

Societal and political transformations perpetually cause tension in educational systems, this is the locus of a seemingly endless struggle. The debate repeatedly merges philosophical, epistemological and pedagogical issues but it has an essential political nature. The crisis of School is not about its decline; on the contrary, it is seen a “crisis of growth”, a malaise attributable to its inexorable expansion. Seen thus, today’s paradigm of life-long learning and life-long guidance requires more school, not less. Bernstein defines this evolution as the pedagogisation of everyday life. The upheaval caused by the technological revolution has precipitated this crisis. Traditional pedagogies are depicted as inadequate to deal with and adapt to present conditions of work and leisure, where ICTs are widespread. In this framework, technological education has become a powerful social device. In a political dimension, the objective is to co-opt teachers and schools into a political project of transformation of society. Moreover, the notion of “mobilisation” may help to focus more clearly on the on-going state of emergency that characterizes the prevailing attitude to the educational system. In fact, innovation and reforms demand constant commitment by social actors both in strategies of adhesion and resistance.