2nd Lecture: 2nd Kritike Conference 2021
PAOLO BOLANOS
13 February 2021
Via Zoom 4pm (Philippine time)
Register: http://bit.ly/2ndKritikeC
Paolo A. Bolaños
Department of Philosophy
University of Santo Tomas, Manila
“Speed and its Impact on Learning: Preliminary Notes on a Dromology of Education”
Abstract: The French cultural theorist and philosopher, Paul Virilio (1932-2018), understood “acceleration” or “speed” as the normative condition for political and economic power. This means that the intensification of acceleration brings about social, political, and economic possibilities in society. In other words, what we usually refer to as “societal progress” or “technological advancement,” for Virilio, is conditioned not necessarily by the building of structures and networks, but, rather, by the rate or speed of mobility involved in building such structures and networks. In this context, we understand modernity, via Virilio, as a social organization weaved by acceleration, as opposed to concrete and permanent structures or institutions. The growing dominance of the Total Quality Management (TQM) approach, in the form of Quality Assurance (QA), is indicative of the intensification of acceleration in educational management wherein a very curious type of mobility has taken over the management of schools and universities. University administrators now gauge success based on the satisfaction of customers or benefactors in the guise of measurable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Key Result Areas (KRAs). KPIs and KRAs are measured in the classroom in the form of measurable “outcomes” that students must be able to perform in standardized ways. I wish to reflect on the impact of the TQM-QA on learning and propose that, perhaps, we should consider hitting the brakes on this accelerated management so that, as educators, we could focus our energies on the fundamentals of learning, as opposed to competing for phantom ranking badges.
NB: Poster attached
