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The Timeless Beauty of Data: Inventing Educational Pasts, Presents and Futures through Data Visualisation

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Bibliographic Details
Title: The Timeless Beauty of Data: Inventing Educational Pasts, Presents and Futures through Data Visualisation
Language: English
Authors: Tatiana Mikhaylova (ORCID 0000-0002-5916-0565), Daniel Pettersson (ORCID 0000-0001-6594-6145)
Source: Critical Studies in Education. 2025 66(2):142-158.
Availability: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 17
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Evaluative
Descriptors: Visual Aids, Data, Statistical Data, Data Use, Educational Research, Data Interpretation, Time Perspective
DOI: 10.1080/17508487.2024.2308689
ISSN: 1750-8487
1750-8495
Abstract: This article explores the complex interplay between the visual, numerical and verbal elements of data visualisation and their role in shaping policy concerns. Focusing on the aesthetic and temporal dimensions of statistical graphics and drawing on the notion of diagram in the Deleuzian sense, the article emphasises the performative nature of data visualisation. More specifically, it explores how data visualisation suggests, rather than reveals, particular visions of educational pasts, presents and futures. Based on an analysis of graphs and charts selected from recent UNESCO and OECD reports, the article discusses the practices of the datafication of time and temporalisation and the beautification of data, which together produce 'beautiful evidence'. This evidence informs education policies and practices and affects the way education can be seen, known and acted upon.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1497977
Database: ERIC
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Description
Abstract:This article explores the complex interplay between the visual, numerical and verbal elements of data visualisation and their role in shaping policy concerns. Focusing on the aesthetic and temporal dimensions of statistical graphics and drawing on the notion of diagram in the Deleuzian sense, the article emphasises the performative nature of data visualisation. More specifically, it explores how data visualisation suggests, rather than reveals, particular visions of educational pasts, presents and futures. Based on an analysis of graphs and charts selected from recent UNESCO and OECD reports, the article discusses the practices of the datafication of time and temporalisation and the beautification of data, which together produce 'beautiful evidence'. This evidence informs education policies and practices and affects the way education can be seen, known and acted upon.
ISSN:1750-8487
1750-8495
DOI:10.1080/17508487.2024.2308689