View in EDS

Exploring alternative futures: Performative and affective thresholds and cuts in leadership education.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Exploring alternative futures: Performative and affective thresholds and cuts in leadership education.
Authors: Bjergkilde, Dorethe1 (AUTHOR) dobj@pha.dk
Source: Arts & Humanities in Higher Education. Apr2026, Vol. 25 Issue 2, p109-129. 21p.
Subject Terms: *Affective education, *Threshold concepts (Learning), *Futures studies, *Leadership training, *Arts education, Public administration, Posthumanism
Abstract: Public-sector leaders navigate complex, paradoxical demands and are under the imperative to improve citizens' lives. This article explores how arts-based, performative, and affective education can scaffold leaders' imagining of utopian work futures (Levitas, 2013, 2017). Drawing on a teaching day in an 8-day leadership course, field notes, a conference paper, and a follow-up interview 1 year later, classroom events are analyzed as performative and affective thresholds and as enacted educational cuts that enable or hinder the imagination of alternative work futures. It builds on post-qualitative and posthuman methodologies and performative learning theory (Barad, 2007; Dahl et al., 2024; Østern et al., 2019; Richardson and St Pierre, 2005). This article offers insight into how educational thresholds and design cuts enable or hinder utopian imagination in leadership education (Levitas, 2013, 2017), and how educators and researchers can explore the threshold between actual and potential utopian futures through affective attunement and resonance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Arts & Humanities in Higher Education is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
Description
Abstract:Public-sector leaders navigate complex, paradoxical demands and are under the imperative to improve citizens' lives. This article explores how arts-based, performative, and affective education can scaffold leaders' imagining of utopian work futures (Levitas, 2013, 2017). Drawing on a teaching day in an 8-day leadership course, field notes, a conference paper, and a follow-up interview 1 year later, classroom events are analyzed as performative and affective thresholds and as enacted educational cuts that enable or hinder the imagination of alternative work futures. It builds on post-qualitative and posthuman methodologies and performative learning theory (Barad, 2007; Dahl et al., 2024; Østern et al., 2019; Richardson and St Pierre, 2005). This article offers insight into how educational thresholds and design cuts enable or hinder utopian imagination in leadership education (Levitas, 2013, 2017), and how educators and researchers can explore the threshold between actual and potential utopian futures through affective attunement and resonance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:14740222
DOI:10.1177/14740222261432236