Beyond Guaranteed Outcomes: Creating a Discourse for Educational Praxis

Abstract

Connell talks about ‘praxis traps’ as being ‘where people do things for good reasons and skilfully, in situations that turn out to make their original purpose impossible to achieve’. This idea of praxis traps reminds us of the elusive nature of human action. However, according to the ideology of managerialism, educational practice is a technical process the outcome of which can be foreknown and guaranteed. In this paper, it is argued that current discourses, such as the New South Wales Scott report, which represent educational practice as technical behaviour, the outcomes of which can be guaranteed, must be challenged. Critique of the discourse alone, however, will not be enough to quell the demands for outcome guarantees. What is needed is the development of a new discourse; one which takes account of uncertainty and unpredictability in educational practice. The paper points to some of the key terms in such a discourse.