Page 87 - Looking_after_school

3. Touchstones: pedagogical articulations

to this day. Democracy is considered valuable, but sometimes other
political forms (often the more aristocratic forms) are considered more
effective and more efficient; however, to choose only effectiveness and
efficiency means to give up the radical and potentially revolutionary
democratic principles of freedom and equality. We can make a similar
observation concerning the school. Undoubtedly, other forms of learn-
ing are more efficient and more effective, but neutralising or doing
away with the school because of this suggests that the starting points
of freedom and equality should be done away with.

School and formation

A third assumption is that – because of the conditions of freedom
4
and equality - scholastic learning is always a matter of ‘formation’.
Formation is an interesting term to use since it carries the double
meaning of ‘bringing oneself into form’ (namely giving oneself a form
based on given contents) and on the other hand, and precisely because
of it, working on one’s own shape or basic fitness/condition. This is
closely connected to terms such as preparation, exercise, and prac-
tise’, which is also where we find the often-heard analogy with the
athlete who undertakes certain activities to work on their condition
and get themselves into shape (also see Foucault, 2001; Sloterdijk, 2013).
Formation is about getting oneself, physically but also cognitively,
affectively, and emotionally, into a good shape: working on your own
‘form of life’, your own condition humaine, by utilising several learning
activities (such as exercises, study, potentially games or other activities)
and different contents in order to be prepared (that is, able and ready
to think, act, work…). The school offers young people the place and
time, as well as exercises and practices to work on the self and on their
basic shape. Of course, the school and the students often hope that
the exercising and practicing – as part of the preparations - will lead
to spectacular performances; but realising successful performances in
society cannot be the finality of the school, notwithstanding the con-
temporary (and unfortunate) tendency to assess schools and teachers

4 We use the notion of ‘formation’ for what in Dutch is called ‘vorming’ and in English
is sometimes also called ‘edification’ or ‘giving shape’.
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