Revision Courses as a University Retention Policy: A Case Study Based on the Foucauldian Analysis of Statements in Mathematics Teacher Education

Abstract

This article analyzes, based on an interview with a higher education professor from an undergraduate Mathematics teaching program at a State University in the state of Paraná, the statements of objectification of the subject, demonstrating how this discursive production of the student as "lacking a basic foundation" articulates with the configuration of remedial courses as a university student retention policy. We draw upon the Foucauldian concepts of statement, objectification of the subject, and subjectivation. The results of the interview analysis indicate that remedial courses operate simultaneously as a retention strategy, by filling gaps in prior education, and as an apparatus that objectifies the student through this discourse, subjecting them to a logic of normalization. We conclude that such courses have the potential to function as a retention policy, but this potential will only be realized if articulated with socioeconomic support policies, psychological counseling, and, above all, a reframing of the discourse surrounding the "lack of foundation" that does not stigmatize the student.