Historicizing The “Reason”

Thomas S.Popkewitz is a Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction,the University of Wisconsin-Madison,USA.Popkewitz has won praises for his complex and original studies in the education field.His intellectual works have been introduced to China since 2010.As for the "traveling" of Popkewitz's theories to China,there are some misunderstandings such as "fragmentation" as one of the keywords of his research,which does not "exist" in his works.Both Thomas S.Popkewitz and Michael W.Apple are recognized as the critical education researchers,but the essential differences are ignored for some people.Meanwhile,Popkewitz has been labeled as "Postmodernism" or the "Foucault in education."This paper's main research methods include literature research,works anyalysis,interviews,historical analysis,and case studies.On the basis of understanding Popkewitz's intellectual works,this research suggests taking his methodology system(History of Present/Historicizing,Systems of Reason and Social Epistemology)as the analytical framework to understand the theoretical connotation and the inner logic of his studies.This research borrows Popkewitz's terms of "Historical I" and "Traveling Libraries" to study Popkewitz himself and his theories: the "Historical Popkewitz" and the "Traveling Popkewitz." The "Historical Popkewitz" is to "historicizing" Popkewitz to explore how he developed the way of research and how his approaches of study changed during the different times and how he may think things in the way he thinks.The "historical" and "traveling" dimensions combined with the framework of Popkewitz's methodology system,weaved together,this research created the "grid" to exam Popkewitz from different perspectives.Popkewitz's critical studies are related to the exploration and transgression of the boundaries and limits of education research.His studies brought together scholars from different fields to push and seamlessly moves across the boundaries of education research;His research warned us about the limitations of the current research frameworks and the limitations of empirical research and quantitative research;He also considered the relationship between scholars and their social responsibilities and criticized the authoritative positive of researchers,as he argued that the scholars should be aware of their limits.Popkewitz's critical studies are against humanism's transcendent subject,ordered time,and independent space.As for the notions of autonomy subject,agent,and actors,his research revealed that the subjects were actually designed,calculated,and historically formed.The "causality" was made by the notions of a liner,ordered,regulated,and irreversible time to plan the future through governing the present.He emphasized the breaks and contingency of time to make fragile the seemly causality and point out that the future-oriented policy has the limits.His research enlarged the ontological notion of "space" besides the physical space,he brought the discursive space into education to explore the "double gestures" of the "in-between" space.Popkewitz's education policy research revealed the "paradox" inscribed in the current education policies: from one side,the policy under the name of "include" inscribed the "double gestures" to exclude some unspoken groups of people;on the other hand,some policies aiming to social equality,may produce the new kind of problems and inequalities.He argued that the education policies were plans which were built on the promises of "bright future," and meanwhile,education was the designing for the "future citizens" and their life modes.His studies challenged the empirical and quantitative research.For Popkewitz,those assumptions for the bright future ignored the complexities and openness of the future.Contrary to the main streams of current education research,his critical studies have challenged the enclosed framework,therefore,to open up the possibilities of alternatives.His studies are inspiring for today's education reforms and policy researches in China.He pointed out that the social and eduation policies were built on the assumptions and commitments about the future and the limits of educaton policy within the current framework needed to be aware of.The paradoxically concern with understanding change through theories that embodied principles of stability and certainty,which were against the spirit of reform;We need to rethink the changes and reforms and explore the new change theories.Popkewitz criticized the future-oriented policies and reforms and the policy-oriented researches from the perspective of the "History of the Present";Using“Social Epistemology” as a method we could exam the rules and standards which organized how the education researchers,policy makers and actors in the education field to think,to talk and to act in specific historical and social contexts.Inspired by Popkewitz's studies,we could rethink policy research through epistemological and methodological approaches to get the new critical space;As for the researchers,it is important to have the “Epimeleia heautou” and “Limit-attitude”.