Chinese Adolescents' Struggle in Online Compulsory Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Foucauldian Perspective

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  • Author(s): Liu, Jindong; Wu, Biying (ORCID Wu, Biying (ORCID 0000-0003-4114-6367); Qu, Jiayu
  • Language:
    English
  • Source:
    Education and Information Technologies. Mar 2022 27(2):1705-1723.
  • Publication Date:
    2022
  • Document Type:
    Journal Articles
    Reports - Research
  • Additional Information
    • Availability:
      Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
    • Peer Reviewed:
      Y
    • Source:
      19
    • Education Level:
      Secondary Education
      Elementary Education
      Grade 7
      Junior High Schools
      Middle Schools
      Grade 8
      Grade 9
      High Schools
      Grade 10
      Grade 11
      Grade 12
    • Subject Terms:
      Online Courses; COVID-19; Pandemics; Adolescents; Power Structure; Secondary School Students; Grade 7; Grade 8; Grade 9; Grade 10; Grade 11; Grade 12; Discipline; Educational Technology; Personal Autonomy; Self Control; Foreign Countries
    • Subject Terms:
      China
    • Accession Number:
      10.1007/s10639-021-10688-9
    • ISSN:
      1360-2357
    • Abstract:
      To tackle the debate surrounding the tension between knowledge and power in online education for adolescents and between freedom and control at large, this study examines how disciplinary power was exercised and resisted in a Chinese setting of online compulsory education during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. Overall, 60 participants, including students (from Grade 7 to 12), their parents, and teachers joined in our focus groups or individual interviews in a secondary school in Xi'an, China. By following Foucault's concepts of three techniques of disciplinary power: hierarchical observation, normalizing judgement and examination, we identified four themes based on the data--(1) diminished discipline with the dissolving boundary, (2) reconfigured disciplinary power by teachers, (3) self-discipline as a vital skill, and (4) online compulsory education as a future trend. Interpretations from the Foucauldian perspective were presented, suggesting that most adolescents depend upon more external disciplines from schools and teachers, while only a few may achieve autonomy through self-discipline.
    • Abstract:
      As Provided
    • Publication Date:
      2022
    • Accession Number:
      EJ1329428