ABSTRACT
Confession is argued by Foucault to have widely come to dominate in the production of truth today. Through confession attempts are made to internalize such self-scrutiny as professional practice. An important point to highlight in Foucault's analysis of biopower and strategies for governance is that, as a technical matrix is established, there arises also a situation where there can be no discourse about ultimate meanings. Discourses of reflective practice and the reflective practitioner have for a long time been favoured in adult education research and education for professionals in the UK and USA. There were various substantial critiques of this form of pedagogy through the 1990s and into the 2000s. The 'Standards' proscribed by the stakeholders articulated descriptions of competent performance at work in further education colleges in Scotland. The second assessment task description was a quite common form within the professional programme and requires a critical analysis of competent practice.
