Student perspectives on smartphone bans in schools: A postdigital critical analysis

Although the field of postdigital critical pedagogy has gained momentum in recent years, it remains a nascent area of educational research. Building on the well-established field of traditional critical pedagogy, the postdigital turn in critical pedagogical theorizing and research posits that critical pedagogy must be revitalized in order to account for the reconfiguration of social and epistemic relationships, power dynamics, and the emergence of bioinformational capitalism that are entangled with digital technologies. This project is a theoretical analysis synthesized with qualitative, empirical work. In synthesizing theoretical insights from postdigital critical pedagogy and critical posthumanism with qualitative, empirical data from two focus groups with 8th grade students, this paper utilizes emerging trends in K-12 smartphone policies as a jumping off point to advocate for a wider uptake of postdigital, critical approaches in education. This study concludes that simplistic policies which seek to ban students from using smartphones throughout their school day are ultimately unhelpful for students and insufficient for supporting students in developing the critical dispositions necessary for navigating our postdigital age.