today i offer a couple of instances of anecdotal evidence that a particular narrative is circulating in the education 'networks of practice' (Fairclough and Chouliaraki 1999).
on one occasion (friday 19 mar 2010) i was present as a trade union representative in a meeting with managers at my college in the uk midlands, on another, the very next day, i was chatting informally over a coffee with a friend who is a manager in a uk high school.
on friday, in a rather heated 'consultation' on 'proposed' changes to part time contracts of employment, the changes - as relations of other changes in full time working conditions which had already been put into operation as part of a college wide restructuring - were justified by a narrative which took the form of:
'up until now, everything has been about the teacher...now everything must be about the student...'
not the exact words - but a representation from memory of the basic sequence of events which compose the narrative. it is of course already familiar to me - it can be found in both written and spoken modes - in documents, procedures, in staff meetings, in conversations between individuals - anywhere, at any level within educational organizations (and presumably anywhere in the public services).
then the next day, my friend explained that she had a difficult decision to make regarding a member of her staff - a decision which might well result in a serious change in conditions of work and personal circumstances for the teacher in question -and it was justified by the narrative of transition from a teacher-centred to a student-centred practice!
'up until now i've always tried to be kind to her and let her carry on as she is, but she's always been hopeless, and now she's taking the piss, and we've got to think of the kids...they only have one chance...'
different in its particulars but' structurally' more or less the same narrative.
at the time, i said nothing about the connection between this narrative and the narrative of the previous day - but i was somewhat taken aback by the clear correlation between 2 particular instances of the same generic mode of justification for a change in personal and institutional thinking, actions, and relations (change in management strategy and material and linguistic management action is a relation of change in the attitudes and values of particular managers).
2 separate particulars at the level of event - one generic justification at the level of practice (fairclough and chouliaraki 1999, fairclough 2003).
this is a particular recognition of work going on between the level of event and the level of practice, work which is done by the genres of governance (fairclough and chouliaraki 1999, fairclough 2003), which relay the arguments and narratives of justification throughout the networks of practice.
i will continue to be vigilant and report any further instances which bear witness to a justifying genre of governance.
its a difficult one though, isn't it? we all want the best for our kids - at school, at home, when they're sick - but we have to achieve this, not at the cost of reducing public service workers to hollowed out husks through the crippling workload increases caused by the 'need' for efficiency savings in accordance with the logic of the competitive market. classic market logic - benefits for one group are only available at the detriment of another; a struggle each with each over finite resources (hobbes' leviathan).
we all need to pay - whatever it takes - for an equal and fair distribution of social benefits - benefits for all groups involved in the public services - benefits for those who provide and for those who receive those services. from each according to their ability (to pay), to each according to their need.
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