Abstract:
To undertake credible and rigorous critical posthumanist research we can use methodologies that involve cartographic accuracy, ethical accountability, engagement with paradoxes, the juxtapositions of critique and creativity, and exercise appreciation of non-linearity, the power of memory and imagination, the capacity to distance the familiar and the specificity of art practices (Braidotti, 2018). This paper draws from posthuman theory to consider the current conjuncture in Australian teacher education in evaluating ‘effective teaching’ as it is defined, controlled and measured. The practicum turn in initial teacher education results in greater emphasis placed on the practical in-school experiences of preservice teachers as they learning to teach. This presentation uses a posthuman framework to address a central question: What are the issues of assessing the application of knowledge of teaching and learning to school classrooms that has been developed through in initial teacher education? Deleuze writes that ‘It’s not a question of worrying for or hoping for the best, but of finding new weapons’ (Deleuze, 1995, p. 178). Consideration is given to pedagogy that is produced through place and the vitality of materialities.