Testing Like William the Conqueror: Cultural and Instrumental Uses of Examinations
The spread of academic testing for accountability purposes in multiple countries has obscured at least two historical purposes of academic testing: community ritual and management of the social structure. Testing for accountability is very different from the purpose of academic challenges one can id...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Arizona State University
2014-12-01
|
| Series: | Education Policy Analysis Archives |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/1684 |
| _version_ | 1811206826940694528 |
|---|---|
| author | Sherman Dorn |
| author_facet | Sherman Dorn |
| author_sort | Sherman Dorn |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The spread of academic testing for accountability purposes in multiple countries has obscured at least two historical purposes of academic testing: community ritual and management of the social structure. Testing for accountability is very different from the purpose of academic challenges one can identify in community “examinations” in 19th century North America, or exams’ controlling access to the civil service in Imperial China. Rather than testing for ritual or access to mobility, the modern uses of testing are much closer to the state-building project of a tax census, such as the Domesday Book of medieval Britain after the Norman Invasion, the social engineering projects described in James Scott's Seeing like a State (1998), or the “mapping the world” project that David Nye described in America as Second Creation(2004). This paper will explore both the instrumental and cultural differences among testing as ritual, testing as mobility control, and testing as state-building. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T03:54:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f663a0fcb17b4c12a0b9874e082f12c1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1068-2341 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T03:54:35Z |
| publishDate | 2014-12-01 |
| publisher | Arizona State University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Education Policy Analysis Archives |
| spelling | doaj.art-f663a0fcb17b4c12a0b9874e082f12c12022-12-22T03:48:53ZengArizona State UniversityEducation Policy Analysis Archives1068-23412014-12-0122010.14507/epaa.v22.16841301Testing Like William the Conqueror: Cultural and Instrumental Uses of ExaminationsSherman Dorn0Arizona State UniversityThe spread of academic testing for accountability purposes in multiple countries has obscured at least two historical purposes of academic testing: community ritual and management of the social structure. Testing for accountability is very different from the purpose of academic challenges one can identify in community “examinations” in 19th century North America, or exams’ controlling access to the civil service in Imperial China. Rather than testing for ritual or access to mobility, the modern uses of testing are much closer to the state-building project of a tax census, such as the Domesday Book of medieval Britain after the Norman Invasion, the social engineering projects described in James Scott's Seeing like a State (1998), or the “mapping the world” project that David Nye described in America as Second Creation(2004). This paper will explore both the instrumental and cultural differences among testing as ritual, testing as mobility control, and testing as state-building.https://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/1684accountabilitytestinghistorycultural expressionstate-building |
| spellingShingle | Sherman Dorn Testing Like William the Conqueror: Cultural and Instrumental Uses of Examinations Education Policy Analysis Archives accountability testing history cultural expression state-building |
| title | Testing Like William the Conqueror: Cultural and Instrumental Uses of Examinations |
| title_full | Testing Like William the Conqueror: Cultural and Instrumental Uses of Examinations |
| title_fullStr | Testing Like William the Conqueror: Cultural and Instrumental Uses of Examinations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Testing Like William the Conqueror: Cultural and Instrumental Uses of Examinations |
| title_short | Testing Like William the Conqueror: Cultural and Instrumental Uses of Examinations |
| title_sort | testing like william the conqueror cultural and instrumental uses of examinations |
| topic | accountability testing history cultural expression state-building |
| url | https://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/1684 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT shermandorn testinglikewilliamtheconquerorculturalandinstrumentalusesofexaminations |