Governing the ‘Datafied’ School: Bridging the Divergence between Universal Education and Student Autonomy

Forthcoming in 'Handbook on the Politics and Governance of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence - Elgar Handbooks in Political Science series - edited by Andrej Zwitter & Oskar J. Gstrein, 2023.’

31 Pages Posted: 20 Jul 2022 Last revised: 28 Feb 2023

See all articles by Theresa Henne

Theresa Henne

Department of Innovation and Digitalisation in Law

Oskar Josef Gstrein

University of Groningen - Campus Fryslân; Europa-Institut, Saarland University

Date Written: June 27, 2022

Abstract

Students and teachers find themselves increasingly surrounded by Big Data and AI technologies that facilitate the learning process and the organisation of school life. Accordingly, vast amounts of data are being collected on the working of the entire school community. This trend--referred to as the ‘datafication’ of education--was pushed immensely during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, already before the necessity to quickly find digital solutions for remote teaching and learning, many scholars were concerned about the privacy and autonomy of the ‘datafied’ student and the corresponding larger effects on public education and democracy as such. In this chapter, we approach the datafication of school education through the lens of data protection and autonomy. We point to the inadequacies in the European data protection framework, which is considered as the state of the art by many. In search of other capable legal concepts, we explore the German ‘right to informational self-determination’, which introduces the distinct argument that restricting data flows is a necessity for the free personal development of the individual--a notion relevant for the tumbling, ever evolving minds of children and teenagers. We find that the fuzzy realities of school life demand a nuanced governance approach that balances individual control and privacy protection with the interests, needs and visions of the school community.

Keywords: GDPR, EdTech, Informational self-determination, Human Dignity, School, COVID-19

Suggested Citation

Henne, Theresa and Gstrein, Oskar Josef, Governing the ‘Datafied’ School: Bridging the Divergence between Universal Education and Student Autonomy (June 27, 2022). Forthcoming in 'Handbook on the Politics and Governance of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence - Elgar Handbooks in Political Science series - edited by Andrej Zwitter & Oskar J. Gstrein, 2023.’ , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4147780 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4147780

Theresa Henne (Contact Author)

Department of Innovation and Digitalisation in Law ( email )

Bruenner Strasse 72
Vienna, Vienna 1090
Austria

HOME PAGE: http://https://id.univie.ac.at/en/team/univ-prof-dr-nikolaus-forgo/team/henne-theresa/

Oskar Josef Gstrein

University of Groningen - Campus Fryslân ( email )

P.O. Box 800
9700 AH Groningen, Groningen 9700 AV
Netherlands

HOME PAGE: http://www.rug.nl/staff/o.j.gstrein/

Europa-Institut, Saarland University ( email )

Campus, Gebäude B2.1
Saarbrücken, 66123
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://europainstitut.de

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