On ‘Knowing one's self’ selfwriting, power and ethical practice: Reflections from an adult educator

Adult educators are increasingly concerned with issues of power and identity. Drawing on my research text, The Body's Tale, and Foucault's writings, I explore how pastoral power effects construct subjectivities in learners. Using three genealogical narratives from my text—eating, elimination and ‘swarming’—I show how we can interrupt our own self-regulation; I suggest we can surface our exercise of power in our daily work, and through self-writing, or askesis, the discipline and care of the self, develop an embodied ethical practice