The Production of Schoolchildren as Enlightenment Subjects

This article investigates children's elementary school experiences, exploring how they become autonomous, rational individuals—the type of person envisioned in the European Enlightenment and generally imagined as the outcome of Western schooling. Drawing on ethnographic research that followed o...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inAmerican educational research journal Vol. 54; no. 5; pp. 834 - 867
Main Authors Link, Holly, Gallo, Sarah, Wortham, Stanton E. F.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publishing 01.10.2017
SAGE Publications
American Educational Research Association
Subjects
Child development
Cohort Analysis
Critical Theory
Educational Experience
Educational Practices
Educational research
Elementary Education
Elementary School Students
Elementary Schools
Ethnography
Followup Studies
High Stakes Tests
Hispanic American Students
Home Visits
Immigrants
Kindergarten
Observation
Personal Autonomy
School Visitation
Student Development
Student Experience
Transitional Programs
Video Technology
Pennsylvania
Europe
critical theory
Latinx and education
elementary schools
testing
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:This article investigates children's elementary school experiences, exploring how they become autonomous, rational individuals—the type of person envisioned in the European Enlightenment and generally imagined as the outcome of Western schooling. Drawing on ethnographic research that followed one cohort of Latinx children across five years, we examine how schooling practices change across the elementary school years in a context that foregrounds high-stakes testing. We describe how practices that focus heavily on testing mold children into autonomous, rational individuals while marginalizing those who don't fit this model. Adhering to these practices and naturalizing the Enlightenment subject limits educators' ability to serve students who resist the normative practices of schooling.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
ISSN:0002-8312
1935-1011
DOI:10.3102/0002831217706926