For the Monday group and an invitation to colleagues.
5.00-7.00, 1WN 3.8, 11/12/06
After we have caught up with each other's news from the week do let's focus on Annie's thesis in preparation for her viva a week today. The criteria used by examiners include originality of mind and critical judgment, the extent and merit of the work and matter worthy of publication. Here is Annie's Abstract:
Interpreting
Folkways of Teaching: A Life-history Narrative Inquiry into Characteristics of
Chinese Secondary EFL Teachers' Knowledge
Abstract
The aim of this PhD study is to investigate and understand
teachers' knowledge of teaching for the purpose of comprehending their
pedagogy. From this can be deduced the general principles that teachers may
utilize for their learning and practice in their own situations, to educate the
coming generation that will make our future world what it will be for us all. 17
EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers from secondary schools in Yichang,
Hubei Province in China participated in Biographic-Narrative Interview (BNI),
supported by fieldwork observation, which has captured a range of aspects of
their practice and experience in classrooms and beyond. The narrative data is
organized, analysed and presented along both diachronic and synchronic
dimensions which are complemented with observation notes. Diachronic analysis
examined the data over time, looking at the development of the teachers'
knowledge of teaching over time with the individual teacher, and more generally
within the sample cohort. Synchronic analysis examined the data at the same
time, identifying issues and themes that emerged across all the cases.
Collective techniques of narrative and thematic analysis are used to construct
life stories that lead to becoming a teacher, identifying and interpreting
critical incidents and metaphors that are anchored in their life-history
accounts to display their knowledge and experience of teaching and being a
teacher. Educational experience and understanding are unique to, and vary between,
individuals, and are less likely to be interchangeable. They are ever-enriching
with contexts and circumstances. Most importantly, their subjects are still
learning and experiencing the world. Individual cases are presented and opened
for understanding and alternative interpretations. Some salient themes and
issues, such as why they became a teacher; first years' challenges; early
mastery of pedagogy and middle career dilemmas, are synthesized and discussed. As
a result, their pedagogy interwoven from caring and grammarian teaching is
characterized as the most significant. A model as a base for teacher and teaching knowledge is
tentatively conceptualised.
Margarida is presenting a keynote at a conference in Brazil in December and when she returns we could continue our conversations on living, learning and communicating values Ð see:
A keynote by
Margarida on Living Learning and Communicating Values
Dolan, M (2002) "Values in Education:
Living, Learning and Communicating Values" ,
International Conference on Early Childhood Education, Barquisimeto, Venezuela
(I've asked Margarida for the powerpoint presentation to put on the web)
Jean returned on Sunday from her visit to South Africa and from presenting the keynote at the first joint conference with the Educational Association of South Africa (EASA) and Kenton in Wilderness. Jean should have the keynote on the web in a few weeks and will let us have the url as soon as it is available. Lots of possibilities for developing links with the South African Council for Educators (SACE).
Moira's account of her five years on VSO in China is at:
http://www.jackwhitehead.com/china/mllongtermvolunteer.htm Moira is likely to be
returning to Ningxia Teachers University, from Beijing, in February/March 2007,
where she is accredited as a life-long Professor, to help with the development
of masters and doctoral programmes. Li Peidong from Ningxia Teachers University
and a colleague will be visiting John Bentley School on a British Council
exchange in June 2007 and I am hoping that they will share ideas from their
action research in a Monday evening conversation.
Eden is sending
through the first complete draft of his thesis at the weekend and invites
responses at our last session of 2006, on the 18 December. Je Kan is also
getting close to showing his complete draft thesis. Keith and Yaakub have been
showing the quality of their educational responses in their contributions to
the e-seminar. Simon is fixing the date of his transfer (Simon Ð do let me know
if it is OK to share your transfer paper). Alon is now editing his writings to
produce his thesis. Jane is also close to a complete draft. Marie is beginning
to draft out her transfer paper.
I'm buzzing with
the possibilities offered by the free video streaming facility You Tube for
generating visual narratives with the living logics and living standards of
judgment of inclusionality. Alan
has been contributing to the BERA Practitioner-Researcher e-seminar and through
sharing Alan's expression of inclusionality I think we are in a position to
show the meanings of evidence-based, world leading standards of judgment for
practitioner research.
I felt my
awareness of relationally dynamic standards of judgment being transformed as I
could see new implications for the creation of visual narratives through the
use of streamed video. Do have a look at some of the brief clips at:
http://www.jackwhitehead.com/jack/my_videos.html
and the brief
video narrative at http://www.jackwhitehead.com/jack/jwecarpaper.htm
I'll be
interested to hear your responses, especially in connection with the flow of
life-affirming energy evoked for me through re-seeing the video-clips of Pete
at the celebration of Jackie's graduation, Moira's non-verbal communications of
recognition and value at the end of a class in Guyuan, Alan doing his paper
dance on inclusionality, space and boundaries, Alan and Eden communicating with
inclusionality and ubuntu, me at the Living The Standards Institute at the
Ontario College of Teachers and me talking about Ubuntu at the University of
the Free State. All of these brief
clips can be streamed from You Tube at:
http://www.jackwhitehead.com/jack/my_videos.html
These are
helping me to respond to Pete's question from yesterday in the BERA 2006-7
Practitioner-Researcher e-seminar (join this from http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=bera-practitioner-researcher&A=1)
in a way that might help to establish world leading standards of judgment for
educational practitioner-research:
5/12/6
Jack -
You
wrote: "Drawing on Mohsen's poetic expression I'm hoping that we can
linger
longer 'on the portico of
explicitness' . . . if we are to bring
the
embodied knowledges of educational practitioner-researchers into the
Academy
as valid and legitimated
knowledge, won't we have to provide
evidence
of our educational influences in learning and express with some
clarity
and evidence the living standards of judgment we use to evaluate
the
validity of our contributions to educational knowledge?"
I
cannot claim to have read every word of every posting thus far, but it
seems
to me you have frequently made the above observation/challenge: and
yet
the point remains largely unanswered; so, I shall ask you - in your
review
of the November archive of this e-seminar, can you identify any
contributions
that "provide evidence . . . and express with some
clarity
. . . the living standards of
judgment we use . . ."?
-
Pete
Looking forward
to seeing you on Monday. Any more news that can keep us up to date on what you
are doing, please e-mail it in.
Love Jack.