Session Information
26 SES 04 A, School Leadership, Autonomy and Change
Paper Session
Contribution
In this paper we consider how new research from the fields of philosophy of education and phenomenological case study analysis may be relevant to conceptualizing and managing an emergent partnership with an English primary (5-11) school. The issues raised go beyond the local as they address key and general themes of transition, research ethics, leadership and change.
Koopman (2009, 2013) and others (Goldman, 2012; Rosiek, 2013) have argued that philosophical pragmatism is entering into a new ‘third wave’ that advances beyond the limitations of Dewey’s metaphysics of experience (largely ascendent from the 1900s to the 1940s) and Rorty’s linguistic turn philosophy (largely ascendent from the 1960s to the 1990s). What Koopman terms ‘transitionalist pragmatism’ is radically different from previous accounts of pragmatism for its emphasis on considerations of subjectivity, using the concepts of historicity and temporality, allied with an explicitly meliorist orientation towards action. This form of pragmatism advocates purposeful change whilst resisting importing into educative situation ideas of subjectivity, action, and value from a position outside of that situation. This demands a critical attention to what influences are at play in the situation without succumbing to the problems of ‘givenism’ and it puts increased pressure on participants to consider questions of identity and ethics in the conduct of daily life.
We also draw on a grounded theory (Charmaz, 2006) that identifies the nature of teacher expertise as a socially constructed phenomenon. The findings concerned the advanced professional practice of teachers and asked the question ‘what is the relationship between teacher expertise and improvisation?’ It was argued that teacher expertise is best expressed as continually evolving practice, a process as opposed to an end state that reflects a prototype model (Sternberg and Horvath, 1995). Advanced professional practice is best described as a ‘teacher with expertises’ and that this is fundamentally improvisatory through being socially constructed (Burr, 2003; Shotter, 2008; Gergen, 2009) and grounded in dialogic teaching. The improvisational nature of teacher expertise has a positive impact on the quality of teaching (Sawyer, 2011) and is derived from four processes: the expression of tacit knowledge, relational and interactional practice, personalisation of the learning environment and self-reflection leading to the continual adaptation of pedagogy.
We consider how these concepts, of transitionalist pragmatism and improvised professional practice, might come to be operationalised and explored in a field setting in a manner that is reflexively self-consistent with their substantive content. To that end a dialogue has begun between the authors and the headteacher of a state primary school in the South West of England. The headteacher identifies the current situation at the school to be at a time of transition between an experienced staff and a relatively new set of teachers and that a core motif in this process of transition is the notion of open-ended inquiry, as both educational aim and means. The central problem for us as researchers is exploring how educational research may be brought to bear on the situation in a way that avoids what Fricker terms ‘epistemological or hermeneutical injustice’ (2007). Such ethical problems are not new to research design but using Fricker’s concept to engage with these problems is a recent development (Fuller, 2013; Frank, 2013; Nastasi, 2012; Knight, 2015). Hence, our paper elaborates on these themes in order to consider and invite ways forward with the research design. The purpose of the paper is not to offer a definitive position on this process of transition but to consider how a transitionalist/improvisatory research approach challenges the starting point, heuristics and ethics of research engagement, professional practice and leadership.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Burr, V. (2003) Social Constructionism. London: Routledge. Charmaz, K. (2006) Constructing Grounded Theory: a practical guide through qualitative analysis. London: Sage. Frank, J. (2013) Mitigating against Epistemic Injustice in Educational Research, Educational Researcher, 42(7), 363-370. Fricker, M. (2007). Epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Fuller, S. (2013) Preparing for life in Humanity 2.0, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Gergen, K.J. (2009) An Invitation to Social Construction. London: Sage. Goldman, L. (2012). Dewey's Pragmatism from an Anthropological Point of View. Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society: A Quarterly Journal in American Philosophy, 48(1), 130. Knight, B. A.(2015) Students with Special Needs: Defined by their Origins? in Dervin, F. and Ragnarsdottir, H. eds. Origins: A Sustainable Concept in Education, Rotterdam: Sense Publishers Koopman, C. (2009). Pragmatism as transition: Historicity and hope in James, Dewey, and Rorty. Columbia University Press. Koopman, C. (2013). Genealogy as critique: Foucault and the problems of modernity. Indiana University Press. Nastasi, W. (2012) Researching to Transgress: The Epistemic Virtue of Research With, Philosophy of Education, 258-265. Newby, P. (2014), Research Methods For Education. Harlow, England: Pearson Education Ltd. Rosiek, J. L. (2013). Pragmatism and postqualitative futures. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 26(6), 692-705. Sawyer, K. ed. (2011) Structure and Improvisation in Creative Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Shotter, J. (2008) Conversational Realities Revisited: Life, Language, Body and World. Sternberg, R.A. and Horvath, J.A. (1995) ‘A prototype view of expert teaching’. Educational Researcher, 24 (6): 9-17. Whitty, G. (2015) Universities and Teacher Education in a New Era - Keynote Address, Inaugural Professorial Address, Bath Spa University, 29/01/2015.
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