Disruptive Fixation: School Reform and the Pitfalls of Techno-Idealism (Princeton Studies in Culture and Technology Book 11)

"In New York City in 2009, a new kind of public school opened its doors to its inaugural class of middle schoolers. Conceived by a team of game designers and progressive educational reformers and backed by prominent philanthropic foundations, it promised to reinvent the classroom for the digital age. Ethnographer Christo Sims documented the life of the school from its planning stages to the graduation of its first eighth-grade class. Disruptive Fixation is his account of how this 'school for digital kids,' heralded as a model of tech-driven educational reform, reverted to a more conventional type of schooling with rote learning, an emphasis on discipline, and traditional hierarchies of authority. Troubling gender and racialized class divisions also emerged. Sims shows how the philanthropic possibilities of new media technologies are repeatedly idealized even though actual interventions routinely fall short of the desired outcomes--often dramatically so. He traces the complex processes by which idealistic tech-reform perennially takes root, unsettles the worlds into which it intervenes, and eventually stabilizes in ways that remake and extend many of the social predicaments reformers hope to fix. Sims offers a nuanced look at the roles that powerful elites, experts, the media, and the intended beneficiaries of reform--in this case, the students and their parents--play in perpetuating the cycle. Disruptive Fixation offers a timely examination of techno-philanthropism and the yearnings and dilemmas it seeks to address, revealing what failed interventions do manage to accomplish--and for whom"--Publisher's website In New York City in 2009, a new kind of public school opened its doors to its inaugural class of middle schoolers. Conceived by a team of game designers and progressive educational reformers and backed by prominent philanthropic foundations, it promised to reinvent the classroom for the digital age. This book documents the life of the school from its planning stages to the graduation of its first eighth-grade class. It is the account of how this “school for digital kids,” heralded as a model of tech-driven educational reform, reverted to a more conventional type of schooling with rote learning, an emphasis on discipline, and traditional hierarchies of authority. Troubling gender and racialized class divisions also emerged. The book shows how the philanthropic possibilities of new media technologies are repeatedly idealized even though actual interventions routinely fall short of the desired outcomes. It traces the complex processes by which idealistic tech-reform perennially takes root, unsettles the worlds into which it intervenes, and eventually stabilizes in ways that remake and extend many of the social predicaments reformers hope to fix. It offers a nuanced look at the roles that powerful elites, experts, the media, and the intended beneficiaries of reform—in this case, the students and their parents—play in perpetuating the cycle. The book offers a timely examination of techno-philanthropism and the yearnings and dilemmas it seeks to address, revealing what failed interventions do manage to accomplish—and for whom. Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Dedication......Page 6 Contents......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 12 Preface......Page 14 Chapter 1. Introduction......Page 22 Chapter 2. Cycles of Disruptive Fixation......Page 45 Chapter 3. Spatial Fixations......Page 77 Chapter 4. Pedagogic Fixations......Page 108 Chapter 5. Amenable and Fixable Subjects......Page 132 Chapter 6. Community Fixations......Page 160 Chapter 7. Conclusion: The Resilience of Techno-Idealism......Page 184 Appendix. Ethnographic Fixations......Page 200 Notes......Page 206 References......Page 216 Index......Page 228 In New York City in 2009, a new kind of public school opened its doors to its inaugural class of middle schoolers. Conceived by a team of game designers and progressive educational reformers and backed by prominent philanthropic foundations, it promised to reinvent the classroom for the digital age. This text documents the life of the school from its planning stages to the graduation of its first eighth-grade class Introduction -- Cycles Of Disruptive Fixation -- Spatial Fixations -- Pedagogic Fixations -- Amenable And Fixable Subjects -- Community Fixations -- Conclusion: The Resilience Of Techno-idealism. Christo Sims. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.