EPALE - Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe

When we compare the practice of adult education with the practice of educating children, one of the notable differentiae specifica of educational activities is seen to be the greater equality between participant and teacher. Doubtless roles and positions have been redefined, but an important question remains to be answered: Are there really no power relations in andragogical practice or do we merely den y them and therefore fail to notice them? As claimed by Marshall (1998), even the philosophy of education has not sufficiently investigated power relations – authors in the field have written as though power does not exist, which is particularly true of adult education. Michel Foucault’s analytics of power allow us to discern the invisible threads of the power mechanisms that form an integral part of adult education and highlight to some extent the naivety of the emancipatory ideology of education, but at the same time its necessity. This paper presents the basic premises of Foucault’s analytics of power and their relevance for analysis of andragogical practice.

Maja Maksimović, PhD is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade.

This paper is a part of research project undergoing realization at the Institute of Pedagogy and Andragogy, Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade, „Models of assessment and strategies for improvement of quality of education“ (179060), supported by Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development RS.