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[...] Foucault would have analyzed this report as a device aimed at securing populations in the face of a perceived crisis. By introducing rankings, benchmarks, and standardized tests, this device transforms education into an economic regulation tool. Students become 'human resources' to be optimized to meet market needs, while teachers and schools are subject to surveillance and control mechanisms. 3.2. International Institutions and the Homogenization of Educational Policies Since the 1980s, international institutions such as the OECD and UNESCO have played an increasingly important role in defining educational policies. [...]
[...] By examining historical examples such as the Coleman and Plowden reports, the School Effectiveness movement, and the A Nation at Risk report, it is possible to understand how educational devices are constructed and influence society. We will first explore how educational policies serve as responses to social inequalities, then how they participate in control and normalization logics, and finally how they are inscribed in global dynamics through international institutions." 1. Educational Devices as a Response to Social Inequalities 1.1. The Role of the Coleman and Plowden Reports The Coleman Report (1966) highlighted educational inequalities in the United States, emphasizing that student success depends more on their socio-economic background than on school resources. [...]
[...] The Educational Device as a Mechanism of Control and Normalization 2.1. The Movement of the 'School Effectiveness' The movement of the 'School Effectiveness', initiated in the 1970s, aims to improve the quality of education by identifying the characteristics of effective schools. Authors such as Edmonds (1979) and Rutter (1979) highlight practices such as strong teacher leadership, high expectations for all students, and frequent monitoring of progress. This movement perfectly illustrates the functioning of a device such as defined by Foucault. [...]
[...] By imposing global norms, they homogenize educational systems and reinforce international competition logics, often at the expense of the specific needs of local communities. Conclusion The concept of device developed by Foucault offers a powerful analytical framework for understanding how educational policies are conceptualized, formulated, and implemented. The examples studied, whether it is the Coleman and Plowden reports, the School Effectiveness movement, the A Nation at Risk report, or international initiatives such as PISA, show that these devices do not limit themselves to addressing technical issues: they embody complex power relations, shaping behaviors and social structures." Far from being neutral, these policies participate in broader dynamics of control and normalization, sometimes at the expense of the equity objectives they claim to promote. [...]
[...] According to Foucault, these initiatives are part of an educational device designed as a response to a socially identified problem - here, educational inequalities. However, these devices do not limit themselves to correcting inequalities: they also participate in their reproduction. The evaluation and redistribution tools, although driven by an egalitarian will, often reinforce control mechanisms that legitimize existing hierarchies, for example by valuing meritocracy, an ideal that masks structural biases. 1.2. Bourdieu and the Reproduction of Social Inequalities Bourdieu and the Reproduction of Social Inequalities The work of Bourdieu and Passeron complements this analysis by showing that the school acts as an instrument of social reproduction. [...]
