Page 94 - Looking_after_school

Looking after school: a critical analysis of personalisation in education

when accepting the invitation to try, at least when becoming a student is
understood in terms of experiencing an ability to do (something) or to
begin (something). The statement ‘try’ seems to interrupt the chrono-
logical timeline by drawing someone into the present time. The student
that says ‘yes, I will’ after being invited to try is drawn into the present
moment. When involved in trying, one is no longer experiencing the
present moment on a chronological timeline; past and future seem to
be dissolved, and the experience of the present moment is about what
is (still) possible. An expression such as ‘try’ not only creates this condi-
tion of ability but also acts upon someone’s willingness.
While the invitational part of the expression addresses the ability, the
authoritative part is oriented towards the will. Someone who says ‘try’
to someone else is in fact willing that the other be willing to try. Jacques
Rancière (1991) would say that a will is imposed on another will. What
makes the willing (of the teacher) convincing is probably the belief in
the ability (of the student) which rings through the expression. But
what exactly is this willing about? To ask someone to try something
implies to ask someone to do an effort, and to engage in particular
kinds of study activities or exercises. The speaker of ‘try’ wants the
other to become a student, and to get involved in certain activities,
but these activities have a sort of lightness to them because they are
part of an attempt. Here, we might see how the expression ‘try’ also
has the power to transform the inhabited space. What is created, is a
kind of safe space, in the sense that there are no specific consequences
attached to whether the effort leads to results or not. In fact, the only
consequence would be the invitation to try again. As a student, one
inhabits a space where the effort and activities are meaningful in them-
selves. The terms ‘practice’ or ‘exercise’ exactly refer to this study effort,
and what is at stake in school practice and exercise is, hence, a par-
ticular kind of freedom.
School practice refers to typical schoolwork, such as reading words
aloud, preparing and doing a class presentation, learning foreign
words by heart, doing body exercises, or making drawings, to name a
few examples. This schoolwork requires serious effort, but its meaning
cannot be derived or defined from the outcome of the work. From the
viewpoint of economic or social utility, the products and hence also
the work are somehow useless. It is perceived as just being schoolwork.

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