Generating Educational Knowledge and Forms of Accountability of Improving Practice Within the Complex Ecologies of the Public and Private Spaces of Self-Study.

Context

There has been much discussion in AERA about the appropriate standards of judgment for evaluating the quality and validity of the educational knowledge generated by practitioner-researchers in different cultural settings. Schön (1995) called for the development of a new epistemology for the scholarship of teaching and Snow (2001) called for the development of methodologies for making public the professional knowledge of teachers. Lee and Rochon (2009) have called for the integration within educational research of understanding complex ecologies in a changing world

Aim/Objectives

The aim of this presentation is to contribute to the development of the epistemologies and methodologies of self-study educational research and knowledge in the complex, relationally dynamic ecologies of the public, personal, historical and socio-cultural terrain in which we live and work, in answering the following questions:
1) Have the explanations produced by individual action researchers to explain their educational influences in learning, within complex ecologies, generated a new epistemology for educational knowledge?
2) What can multi media living theory narratives contribute to the development of educational forms of evaluation and accountability in the diverse landscape of teacher education?
3) Which living standards of judgment, from the public and private spaces of self-study, can be used to evaluate the validity of explanations of educational influences in learning? 
4) Can a living theory methodology, using visual narratives with empathetic resonance, help to make public the professional knowledge of teachers in different cultural settings?

Methods

A living theory approach (Whitehead 1989, 2009; Whitehead & McNiff, 2006) is used in the generation of multi-media explanations of educational influences in learning. This draws on various research methods for the self-study of practice (Tidwell, Heston & Fitzgerald, 2009).
The methods for enhancing the robustness of the validity and rigour of the explanations include the use of Habermas’ (1976) four criteria of social validity and Winter’s (1989) six criteria for enhancing rigour. 
A method of empathetic resonance (Sardello, 2008) with visual narratives is used to develop a shared understanding of the explanatory principles of energy-flowing values (Huxtable, 2009) in explanations of educational influences in different cultural settings.
Outcomes
The contributions to educational knowledge of the presentation are focused on: 
1) The generation of a new epistemology for educational knowledge.
2) The explication of a living theory methodology for making public the embodied knowledge of professional practitioners and developing educational forms of evaluation and accountability in complex ecologies.
3) An understanding of educational theory as the explanations that individuals produce for their educational influences in learning. In relation to the theme of the conference this can be seen as a contribution to articulating generative theories of public and personal human learning in a diverse landscape of teacher education.
4) The use of an original approach to empathetic resonance using visual narrative for the communication of shared meanings of practical principles in explanations of educational influence.
The evidence-based outcomes draw on the narratives of self-study researchers who are both working and researching to improve their practice and generate knowledge. In the UK there is a national recognition of the damage that has been done to teacher education by the government’s imposition of a ‘raft of detailed requirements’:
“Able, brilliant and skilled professionals do not thrive in an environment where much of their energies are absorbed by the need to comply with a raft of detailed requirements. ….  the evidence that we have seen during this inquiry has highlighted the problems that are caused to schools when too little thought is given to the systematic need to rely so heavily on regulation, and too little effort is put into managing the overall impact of statutory instruments issued, and monitoring whether the myriad requirements being imposed on schools are being taken seriously and implemented on the ground. …. We recommend that DCSF should now look to shift its primary focus away from the regulation of processes through statutory instruments, towards establishing accountability for the  delivery of key outcomes.” (House of Lords, 2009, p.15)
 
One of the outcomes offered in this presentation is a form of educational accountability that emphasizes the importance of the private ontological values of the self-study researcher in the generation of public knowledge that includes the realization of key outcomes. The form of accountability is grounded in the self-study researcher’s educational responsibility  (Biesta, 2006, p. ix).

Presentation Format
The presentation will be in the form of an educational conversation and dialogue.

Technology
Live web access, data projector and sound.  (if there is a cost associated with these items we will bring our own data projector)

References 

Biesta, G. J. J. (2006) Beyond Learning; Democratic Education for a Human Future. Boulder; Paradigm Publishers.
Habermas, J. (1976) Communication And The Evolution Of Society. London : Heinemann.
House of Lords (2009) The cumulative impact of statutory instruments on schools: Report with evidence. The Stationery Office Limited: London. Retrieved 8 May 2009 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/mar/13/lords-report-dcsf .
Huxtable, M. (2009) How do we contribute to an educational knowledge base? A response to Whitehead and a challenge to BERJ. Research Intelligence, 107, 25-26.
Lee, C. D. & Rochon, R. (2009) 2010 AERA Annual Meeting Theme: Understanding Complex Ecologies in a Changing World. Retrieved 22 July 2009 from  http://www.aera.net/Default.aspx?id=7588
Sardello, R. (2008) Silence: The Mystery of Wholeness. Beerkeley; Goldenstone Press.
Schön, D. (1995) The New Scholarship Requires a New Epistemology. Change, Nov./Dec. 1995 27 (6) pp. 27-34
Snow, C. E. (2001) Knowing What We Know: Children, Teachers, Researchers. Presidential Address to AERA, 2001, in Seattle, in Educational Researcher, Vol. 30, No.7, pp.3-9.
Tidwell, D. L., Heston, M. L. and Fitzgerald, L. M. (Eds.) (2009) Research Methods for the Self-study of Practice, London; Springer. 
Whitehead, J. (1989) Creating A Living Educational Theory From Questions Of The Kind, "How Do I Improve My Practice?' Cambridge Journal of Education, Vol. 19, No.1, pp. 41-52.
Whitehead, J. (2009a) Generating Living Theory And Understanding In Action Research Studies. Action Research, 7 (1),  85-99.
Whitehead, J. (2009b) How Do I Influence the Generation of Living Educational Theories for Personal and Social Accountability in Improving Practice? Using a Living Theory Methodology in Improving Educational Practice, pp. 173-194 in Tidwell, Deborah L.; Heston, Melissa L.; Fitzgerald, Linda M. (Eds.) (2009) Research Methods for the Self-study of Practice, Springer. 
Whitehead, J. & McNiff, J. (2006) Action Research Living Theory. London; Sage.
Winter, R. (1989) Learning from Experience. London; Falmer.