What I mean by this is that the generative and transformational processes
of action research
that Jean focuses on seem to us to involve individuals expressing what really
matters to them,
in contexts where their values are not being lived as fully as they could be.
In other words
individuals experience themselves as living contradictions in ‘I’ enquiries
of the kind, ‘How
do I improve what I am doing?’; we imagine ways forward; we act on a
chosen idea and
gather data as we are acting to enable us to make a judgement on our effectiveness.
We
evaluate our actions in relation to our values, skills and understandings and
modify our
concerns, actions and ideas in the light of our evaluations.
Practitioner-researchers, in this view of singular, responsible actors in
social relations, are
knowledge-creators. They can create their own living educational theories as
explanations for
their educational influences in their own learning, in the learning of others
and in the learning
of social formations.
These two ideas of action-reflection cycles and creating living educational
theories as
explanations of educational influence in learning are the foundationally generative
criteria I
use in assessing the quality of practitioner-research. I hope that I showed
this in my earlier
responses to Jane and Harriet. Like all my ideas their genesis has been influenced
by others in
my own practitioner research. If you are interested in following through the
evidence-based
analyses of my educational influences in my learning over the past 37 years
(since starting
full time teaching and registering at the Institute of Education of London
University for the
Academic Diploma in the philosophy and psychology of education) you can access
my
writings at: http://www.bath.ac.uk/~edsajw/writing.shtml
I think Jackie, Jean, Maggie, Sarah and Moira have had a far most extensive
influence than I
have in these foundationally generative and transformatory phases of educational
action
research, as is shown in the evidence on their web-sites:
http://schools.gedsb.net/ar/passion/index.html
http://www.jeanmcniff.com/
http://webpages.dcu.ie/~farrenm/
http://www.teacherresearch.net/
http://www.bath.ac.uk/~edsajw/moira.shtml
Jean has had the most extensive experience of successful supervision of practitionerresearcher’s
taught masters students of anyone I know. There are some 60 successful
completions of masters degrees awarded by the University of the West of England
that owe
much to Jean’s educational influence. Jean is presenting Action Research
Workshops in
South Africa, as I write! Maggie has supervised living educational theory masters
degrees to
completion at Dublin City University and these can be seen at:
http://webpages.dcu.ie/~farrenm/dissertations.html
Maggie is explaining, in her doctoral thesis, her educational influence in
terms that include
her pedagogy of the unique and web of betweenness. Some of Maggie’s publications
that
explain this influence are at:
http://webpages.dcu.ie/~farrenm/publications.html
Through the influence of Yaqub Paul-Murray the Royal Agricultural College
has, since 1997,
been legitimating living educational theory accounts of learning through questions
of the
kind, 'How can I improve my equine practice through producing an account of my living equine
theory?' In
2002, Anne-Lise Riise Jensen produced an Equine MBA thesis along these lines
and was
awarded a distinction. Further information can be found at Paulus’ web
page,
http://www.royagcol.ac.uk/~paul_murray/ while
Debbie Smith's undergraduate equine
studies thesis outline (2005) can be retrieved from
http://www.royagcol.ac.uk/~paul_murray/Documents/evidence.htm
You can also access some of the work of individuals I recognise as master
educators at:
http://www.bath.ac.uk/~edsajw/mastermod.shtml
Master educator is not a term recognised, as far as I know by professional
bodies in
education, but in my view it should be! I believe that you will see that my
educational influence in the foundationally generative phases of a living educational theory approach to action research is freely
acknowledged in
many of these masters’ accounts. Where I think my educational influences
go further than
this is in emphasising the importance of engaging critically and creatively
with the ideas of
others and with focusing on the gathering of data that can enable a judgement
to be made
about the educational influence in the learning of another.
The difference in my assessments of quality between the master and doctoral
practitionerresearch
is in the nature of the contributions to educational knowledge and the extent
and
merit of the work. These criteria, along with originality of mind and critical
judgement and
matter worthy of publication are those used by examiners of the University
of Bath to make
their recommendations on the award of a doctorate.
I have put over 20 living theory research degrees I’ve supervised,
jointly supervised or
influenced to successful completion over the past ten years at:
http://www.bath.ac.uk/~edsajw/living.shtml
I’m not sure how this number of successful completions of practitioner-researcher
higher
degrees over a ten year period, relates to colleagues in other institutions,
but I certainly look
at this knowledge-base as highly significant in demonstrating that ‘I’ accounts
of embodied
knowledge and educational influence in learning can be legitimated in the
Academy.
Those of you who have read my book on the growth of educational knowledge
and who
hassled me to make my third Ph.D. submission to the University of Bath, will
know that my
own successful completion of: HOW DO I IMPROVE MY PRACTICE? Creating a discipline of education through
educational enquiry. at http://www.bath.ac.uk/~edsajw/jack.shtml
was a delight because it meant that my own living educational theory doctorate
could then be
placed alongside yours. You can access the whole of the growth of educational
knowledge
from the first live url in Part One of the contribution to Action Research
Expeditions at:
http://www.arexpeditions.montana.edu/articleviewer.php?AID=80
What I am now focusing on in my practitioner-research is the pedagogisation
of living
educational theories in the curriculum of schools and universities and in
the evolution of
postcolonial social formations. If you would like to see how these ideas
are developing you
could scroll down the details of this coming Monday evening’s educational
conversation in
the University of Bath at: http://jackwhitehead.com/monday/mon270605.htm
to read the proposal for a contribution to AERA 06 in San Francisco.
Any suggestions on how I could enhance the value of my contributions to practitionerresearch
would be most appreciated. Pete (and Paulus and others) – as I write this
I’m aware
of the tension of not having done something I want to do. It’s a sense
of creative failure that I
have yet to develop a pedagogy that explains the educational influence of
living educational
theories in the evolution of postcolonial social formations. So, as I can
look back on the
above accomplishments with a sense of productive pleasure, my question ‘How
do I improve
what I am doing?’ is being moved on with a sense of concern and tension
that I could be
improving what I am doing!
Love Jack.