Orchestrating intensities and rhythms: How post-psychologies are assisting new educational standards and reforming subjectivities

Abstract

The aim of this article is to trace how contemporary (post)psychologies, when used as psy-leadership tools in order to reach new standards, may create new work around the standards and may also create new subjectivities. It is well known that education is a field in which standardization and the making of subjects have held sway for many years; and it is also well known that schools have been some of the most regular purchasers of psychological methods, tests, and classifications. Following, but also elaborating upon governmentality studies, it is suggested that a current shift towards environmentality and learning-centered governance standards has dramatic and performative effects for the production of (educational) subjectivities. This implies a shift from governing identities, categories, and structures towards orchestrating affective intensities and rhythms. Finally, we discuss possible new worries and vulnerabilities when school goes post-psychological.