Testing like william the conqueror: Cultural and instrumental uses of examinations

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Abstract

Testing Like William the Conqueror: Cultural and Instrumental Uses of Examinations Abstract: 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.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number119
JournalEducation Policy Analysis Archives
Volume22
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 8 2014

Keywords

  • Accountability
  • Cultural expression
  • History
  • State-building
  • Testing

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education

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