Artful praxis: experience, inquiry and consciousness

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 438-448
Author(s):  
Julie Arnold
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Identity ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Art Making ◽  
Critical Dialogue ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ways Of Thinking ◽  
Pre Service Teacher

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to illuminate the way in which pre-service teachers adopt ways of thinking critically about learning and practice. It highlights the unfolding of critical dialogue, knowledge and artful action as a way of “reading the scene” (Pahl and McKenna, 2015). The focus concerns mindshifts that occur while learning to be a teacher. The study sets out to seek factors that contribute towards development as professional practitioner. Design/methodology/approach As part of a much larger study involving ten pre-service teachers, this paper focusses on just one participant named Meredith, a pre-service teacher in her fourth year of her teacher education course. The design constructed draws on the data from Meredith’s interview and conversation, art making and gestural activity while painting and communicating her stories. These narratives from interviews exist in this paper as vignettes and privilege of the interplay of art making, interview and gestural responses. Implementing a framework by Denzin (2001) enables a way of reading to note learning and epiphanic moments that exist for Meredith. Findings Moment of learning and themes are indicated and suggest that from the original interview there are 11 important moments of epiphanic mindshifts for Meredith. Originality/value The method as practice intends to make cogent links to new levels of consciousness by presenting innovative ways in which qualitative research data can be gathered and analysed. Meredith engages in mindshifts that occur as learner and also embraces experiences of praxis as a means of understanding self and teacher identity.

Investigating pre-service teacher learning: transformations and artful mindshift

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Arnold
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Learning ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
Teacher Identity ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Professional Educator ◽  
The World ◽  
Ethnographic Methodology ◽  
Pre Service Teacher

PurposeThis research explores the ways in which a pre-service teacher (Deidre) reflects on experiences to develop transformation into a professional educator. This study investigates how pre-service teachers engage in dialogue and art to elaborate and reflect on learning experiences, which provide evidence of mindshift and emergent knowledge and teacher identity.Design/methodology/approachOften difficult to measure and trace, this work presents the emerging transformation of a pre-service teacher through ethnographic methodology, stories and artful practice.FindingsAs part of a larger study, the design reveals transformative mindshift from pre-service teacher reflective stories. Data from interviews and artful practice reveal evidence of moments of pedagogical impact, which contribute to identity and professional practice (Clandinin et al., 2006; Loughran, 2006).Social implicationsFocusing on “what”, “when” and “how” transitions occur is explored to further understand the professional development in initial teacher education.Originality/valueBuilding on research undertaken by Cochran-Smith and Lytle (1999), this investigation draws on artful reflections and stories to evidence elements of powerful pedagogical learning in order to teach in the world of professional practice.

Expectations and provocations

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 265-282
Author(s):  
Maria Kmita
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Symbolic Interactionism ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Qualitative Research Methodology ◽  
Hybrid Spaces

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address participants’ humorous provocations as a part of informal interactions between participants and researcher that can be treated just like the research data. By means of autoethnographic analysis, the author explores the expectations of the researcher and participants that humour research entails and discusses how different expectations are revealed in participants’ provocations. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses an autoethnographic approach to discuss the informal interactions between participants and the researcher gathered during research into staffroom humour. The informal interactions in general and humour specifically were recorded, analysed, coded, interpreted and theorised just like the data on humour between participants. The theoretical framework used in the study combines Goffman’s (1959) version of symbolic interactionism and Solomon et al. (2006) idea of hybrid spaces. Findings The study shows the need for reconsideration of expectations entangled in humour research and proposes to be prepared for unexpected. Expecting unexpected can help stay open minded in the field and in interactions with participants and apply healthy distance towards own research and own expectations. The study shows that whenever certain behaviour was expected and different behaviour was delivered, there was a chance for certain behaviour being interpreted as provocations. Participants’ provocations can result from their own expectations about the research or what they think is expected from them by the researcher and thus they remain subject to different interpretations. Research limitations/implications Further research could investigate and discuss the role of humour in participant-researcher interactions in different research contexts and across different methodologies. Combining and analysing experiences of use of humour from both participants and researchers could allow for creating the guidelines in the use of humour in different research situations. Ethical challenges posed by informal interactions between researcher and participants could be explored further and suggestions as to how to protect the researcher, research and participants in such interactions could be developed. Originality/value This paper aims to be a starting point for a discussion about the understudied relationship between expectations humour research is entangled with and participants’ provocations. The study shows innovative approach to informal interactions between participants’ and researcher which are treated as research data and are theorised using original combination of symbolic interactionism and hybrid spaces. The study contributes to the qualitative research methodology by discussing the ethics of both using humour with participants and recording and analysing informal humorous interactions between participants and the researcher.

Vulnerable practitioners: fictional narratives affecting masculine teacher identity

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 228-242
Author(s):  
Ian Davis
Keyword(s):  
Reflective Practice ◽  
Teacher Identity ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Male Teachers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fictional Narratives ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Fictional Representations ◽  
Pre Service Teacher

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how fictional narratives help us envision ways of constructing the identity as teaching professionals. Furthermore, how encounters with fictional narratives and the absorption of their structures and ideologies can dictate how the author perceive ourselves, and others. Design/methodology/approach – The pedagogy of teacher education relies heavily on narratised models of instruction such as Critical Reflective Practice (CRP). The purposefully traumatic aspects of CRP are designed to trouble the sense of self. I suggest here that this creates a period of subjective vulnerability in the pre-service teacher practitioner. Findings – This paper examines the response to traumatic learning events focusing on how literary tropes and their encompassing ideologies become a powerful yet regressive force in restabilising the professional identity and galvanising the personal subjectivity. Research limitations/implications – Data for this paper has been drawn from the Teaching Men research project that focused on a cohort of male teachers, from Australia and the UK working within TAFE/FE environments all of whom had recently become teachers. Originality/value – This paper addresses a parallel concern: at a point of subjective vulnerability, a term coined as part of this analysis, how do fictional representations of male teachers impact on the construction and practice of teachers in the development of their professional identities? And how can the author devise a structure with which to interpret such activity?

Reading the past to imagine the future

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 363-366
Author(s):  
Silvia Gherardi
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Qualitative Methods ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Personal Reflection ◽  
Research Topics ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the ten years of the journal through a personal reflection. Design/methodology/approach – A review of the articles published in the last ten years. Findings – I argue that what has distinguished QROM in these ten years are two distinctive features: reflexivity on practices of qualitative research, and openness to the application of qualitative methods to unusual research topics. Originality/value – The main limit of the paper resides in the subjectivity of the person who has read the articles. Other readers may have different opinions and may have chosen different criteria.

Enabling formal MCS design and use: a meta-synthesis of qualitative research

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Janka
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Employee Behavior ◽  
Goal Congruence ◽  
Management Control System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Daily Work ◽  
Management Literature ◽  
Design Characteristics

Purpose This study aims to synthesize qualitative research in the accounting and management literature that builds on the concept of enabling formalization. The framework for the meta-synthesis integrates formal management control system (MCS) design applying the package typology and two modes of MCS use, namely, diagnostic and interactive. Design/methodology/approach The meta-synthesis is based on 34 case studies gathered by a systematic literature search. Qualitative research mining software (Leximancer) was used to facilitate an initial analysis, upon which an in-depth manual analysis was conducted. Findings The findings indicate that the generic features of enabling formalization – specifically, flexibility and repair – help employees better deal with inevitable contingencies in their daily work through continuous self-improvement. In many circumstances, there is a need to change common organizational practices, which sometimes requires realignment to direct employee behavior toward goal congruence. The (temporary) coercion of employees does not seem to cause dysfunctional behavior or resistance as long as the broader MCS package follows the design features of enabling formalization – specifically, transparency. The interactive use of personnel/cultural controls appears to play a crucial role within the whole MCS package in balancing tensions between coercion and enabling formalization. Originality/value This study adds to the understanding of formal MCS design characteristics perceived by managers and employees as enabling. Furthermore, it shows how managers of these organizations use formal MCS under enabling formalization.

To pay or not to pay: understanding mobile game app users' unwillingness to pay for in-app purchases

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Imam Salehudin ◽  
Frank Alpert
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mobile Game ◽  
Alternative Framework ◽  
Novel Concept ◽  
Perceived Unfairness ◽  
User Review

PurposeWorldwide In-app Purchase (IAP) revenues reached almost US$37 billion in 2017 and doubled that in 2020. Although the revenue from IAPs exceeds those from paid apps, only 5% of total app users make any IAPs. This paper investigates why some users will not make IAPs and develop a novel concept of users' Perceived Aggressive Monetization of IAPs as an alternative framework to explain IAP behavior.Design/methodology/approachGiven the newness of IAPs, this study uses qualitative research to understand the phenomenon and develop a model to explain the decision to spend on IAPs. In total, this study collected 4,092 unique user-generated comments from app user review sites and social media webpages where users discuss in-app purchasing.FindingsThe analysis reveals recurring themes that explain user unwillingness to make in-app purchases, such as conflicting meanings of free-to-play, perceived unfairness and aggressive monetization of IAP by app publishers, and self-control issues. Subsequent user interviews support the themes and suggest that IAP spending might be more impulsive.Originality/valueThe paper develops a new concept of perceived aggressive monetization. Additionally, it proposes a novel theoretical framework that future researchers can use to understand why some mobile game users are unwilling to pay for IAPs.

Giving voice to teachers through interpretative phenomenological research: a methodological consideration

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gideon Boadu
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
Phenomenological Research ◽  
Methodological Consideration ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Pedagogical Reasoning ◽  
Educational Issue ◽  
Interpretative Phenomenology ◽  
Phenomenological Research Design

PurposeThis conceptual article aims to examine the application of interpretative phenomenology to research on teacher experience. It covers methodological theory and practical interpretative approaches that are pertinent for generating useful insights into an educational issue.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on an illustrative research on secondary teachers' disciplinary and pedagogical reasoning and classroom practices in Ghana, this article explores the author's musings and introspection around carrying out an interpretative phenomenological research and demonstrates how the approach helped to amplify teachers' voices.FindingsThe article demonstrates that the canons of interpretative phenomenology and qualitative research in general, while translatable to practice, need to be regarded as a series of emergent decisions and actions rather than prescriptive set of principles. The article explains that educational researchers must recognise interpretation as the lifeblood of the approach and move beyond the description of essences and explicate participants' experiences of phenomena using workable frames of interpretation.Originality/valueThe article extends the current methodological knowledge base by contributing to international discussions on qualitative research and to an understanding of the applicability of interpretative phenomenological research design to research on teacher reasoning and practice. It also serves as a useful methodological resource for novice researchers.

scholarly journals Accounting for the messiness of the research process: the fieldpath approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Perttu Salovaara
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Environmental Consequences ◽  
Human Ethics ◽  
Conceptual Paper ◽  
The Common ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose It has recently become more acknowledged that there is a quality of “messiness” to the qualitative research process. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the fieldpath approach—a hermeneutically inspired framework—to account for the non-linearity, uncertainty and ambiguity of the research process. Design/methodology/approach This conceptual paper reviews how the scope of hermeneutics has been partly misunderstood. The paper discusses how the scope of hermeneutics has lately been expanded by works such as Günter Figal’s (2010) Objectivity: The Hermeneutical and Philosophy. Findings The fieldpath approach proposes that a heightened relation to materiality enables the messiness of the process to be preserved, while at the same time offering a way to find one’s footing in the midst of ontologically incomplete phenomena that are still—in a processual fashion—forming and becoming. Research limitations/implications This is a conceptual paper. In addition to the research mentioned here, more studies would be needed to legitimise, test and refine the approach. Practical implications Objectivity provides an additional criterion for researchers to lean on when facing the non-linearity and unexpected turns inherent in the qualitative research process. Social implications The stress on materiality involves an ethical dimension. Post-human ethics are concerned with the future environmental consequences and sustainability of the material world. The way that matter matters in our methodologies is of primary importance. Originality/value First, the paper emphasises that hermeneutics, contrary to the common perception, does offer criteria for evaluating between interpretations. Second, it introduces the notion of hermeneutic objectivity, which stresses the importance of materiality for interpretations. Third, it introduces the fieldpath approach, which, based on the previous criterion of hermeneutic objectivity, allows for the messiness of the research process, while also preserving a tight grip on the hermeneutic imperative of “understanding in a new way”.

scholarly journals A first-person theory of documentation

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 190-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Gorichanaz
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Analytical Tool ◽  
First Person ◽  
Visual Artists ◽  
Art Making ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Person Perspective ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Person Experience

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to first articulate and then illustrate a descriptive theoretical model of documentation (i.e. document creation) suitable for analysis of the experiential, first-person perspective. Design/methodology/approach Three models of documentation in the literature are presented and synthesized into a new model. This model is then used to understand the findings from a phenomenology-of-practice study of the work of seven visual artists as they each created a self-portrait, understood here as a form of documentation. Findings A number of themes are found to express the first-person experience of art-making in these examples, including communicating, memories, reference materials, taking breaks and stepping back. The themes are discussed with an eye toward articulating what is shared and unique in these experiences. Finally, the themes are mapped successfully to the theoretical model. Research limitations/implications The study involved artists creating self-portraits, and further research will be required to determine if the thematic findings are unique to self-portraiture or apply as well to art-making, to documentation generally, etc. Still, the theoretical model developed here seems useful for analyzing documentation experiences. Practical implications As many activities and tasks in contemporary life can be conceptualized as documentation, this model provides a valuable analytical tool for better understanding those experiences. This can ground education and management decisions for those involved. Originality/value This paper makes conceptual and empirical contributions to document theory and the study of the information behavior of artists, particularly furthering discussions of information and document experience.

Organizational access in qualitative research

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 172-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Nathan Alexander ◽  
Anne D. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Primary Analysis ◽  
Organization Studies ◽  
Management Journal ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Systematic Assessment ◽  
Gain Access ◽  
Administrative Science

Purpose While organizational access is central to much qualitative research, little is known about how researchers secure it. The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic assessment of this critical methodological step. Design/methodology/approach A systematic review was conducted to establish how researchers gained access to organizations for qualitative research. Access type was identified and explanatory indicators were inductively developed to illuminate how access was obtained in a sample of 216 qualitative articles published in Administrative Science Quarterly and Academy of Management Journal between 1986 and 2013. A supplemental review of 306 articles published in Organization Studies over the same period augmented the primary analysis with a broader view of published accounts of access. Findings Learning prior to entering organizations, researchers’ backgrounds, organizational insiders, and outside contacts facilitated access. The role of these factors, which served as indicators of legitimacy, varied with the type of access. In addition, the authors found that many articles provide little information about how the researchers gained access, regardless of a publication’s domicile. Originality/value This study furthers the understanding of how researchers gain access to organizations to conduct qualitative research and discusses the implications of the limited access accounts in published studies. In addition, this research provides practical guidance for authors, editors, and reviewers.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document