Rumbling on performativity_Frits Simon
Rumbling on performativity_Frits Simon
Rumbling on performativity_Frits Simon
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many voices instead of c<strong>on</strong>verting diversity into <strong>on</strong>e missi<strong>on</strong>, <strong>on</strong>e visi<strong>on</strong> and <strong>on</strong>e set of<br />
performance indicators. Instead of waiting until an erupti<strong>on</strong> about the rattled <strong>on</strong><br />
emphasis <strong>on</strong> cost-effectiveness of educati<strong>on</strong> will dominate the newspaper headlines<br />
- as momentarily is the case in the Netherlands - hearing what is barely heard might<br />
be provoking other insights about the needed policy. To listen to a single voice may<br />
lead to unexpected outcomes. In this way the research is c<strong>on</strong>nected to research about<br />
resilience and the management of the unexpected (Weick and Sutcliffe, 2007), although<br />
it is clear that to encourage the wished for openness is quite a missi<strong>on</strong> impossible<br />
(see chapter 6). It may even be that the work of an organizati<strong>on</strong>al jester or a<br />
bricoleur with a touch of ir<strong>on</strong>y enables to hear the sound of silence.<br />
The research could be interesting to develop another perspective - from for instance a<br />
CMS-perspective (see chapter 6) - the way resistance or resilience is practiced in<br />
organizati<strong>on</strong>s. In what I found it is obvious that managerial practices are not m<strong>on</strong>olithic,<br />
are internally and externally fragmented and do not incorporate a shared gladness<br />
about what apparently has to be d<strong>on</strong>e. My research might put in perspective<br />
research in which is suggested that NPM is a kind of unilateral panoptical process from<br />
which it is hard to escape <strong>on</strong>ly by being not authentic (Perryman, 2006) or fabricating<br />
a deceptive reality (Turner-Bisset, 2007).<br />
The different communities as elaborated up<strong>on</strong> by Homan (2014) made it possible to<br />
c<strong>on</strong>nect my research with different perspectives <strong>on</strong> how to build <strong>on</strong> the findings. Next<br />
I will enter into a discussi<strong>on</strong> about wished for educati<strong>on</strong>al reform in the Netherlands. It<br />
will not be my intenti<strong>on</strong> to discuss exhaustively the different positi<strong>on</strong>s in the discussi<strong>on</strong>s<br />
about educati<strong>on</strong> or to suggest some prescripti<strong>on</strong>s to solve problems. I intend to<br />
illustrate how insights based <strong>on</strong> my research from a complex resp<strong>on</strong>sive process-perspective<br />
may have relevance in broader societal discussi<strong>on</strong>s.<br />
A Dutch educati<strong>on</strong>al discussi<strong>on</strong> and a complex resp<strong>on</strong>sive process-approach<br />
As menti<strong>on</strong>ed before there are hefty discussi<strong>on</strong>s about the lack of quality of educati<strong>on</strong>,<br />
am<strong>on</strong>g others explained by the c<strong>on</strong>sequences of <strong>performativity</strong> or NPM (Ankersmit<br />
and Klinkers, 2008; Brink et al., 2005; Dekker, 2013; Kneyber and Evers, 2013; Vergeer,<br />
2012). A lot of criticism is to epitomize in the idea of ‘probophilia’ (Kenny and Davies,<br />
2010), defined as a widespread disease of wanting to have substantiated evidence for<br />
everything. Something I associate with the insatiable hunger of the tapeworm.<br />
A new Delta-plan<br />
To give an idea of the wished for reform I use the proposals of the associati<strong>on</strong> “Beter<br />
Onderwijs Nederland. These proposals express and unite a lot of different ideas regarding<br />
educati<strong>on</strong>al reform. The associati<strong>on</strong> (Verbrugge, 2012) proposes that<br />
1 the aut<strong>on</strong>omy of the educati<strong>on</strong>al instituti<strong>on</strong>s should be ended and c<strong>on</strong>trol should<br />
be returned to the government;<br />
2 funding should be aimed at the educati<strong>on</strong>al process and the quality of the professi<strong>on</strong>als;<br />
7. <str<strong>on</strong>g>Rumbling</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong> <strong>performativity</strong>: a reflexive perspective <strong>on</strong> advisory work | 199