The Role and Place of Fear In What it Means to Teach and to Learn1

A dominant theme arising out of a research project concerned with elucidating theory–practice relations in prospective and practicing teachers is the role and place of fear in what it means to teach and to learn. The text for this paper grew out of extended conversations the researcher had with 12 of these participants forming a self‐study research group centered on reconfiguring the concept of fear as holding agency within teaching and learning. Fear and its relation to the lives of teachers is examined alongside these 12 teachers naming fear as an internal concept they grapple with daily in their teaching/learning practices as they confront the given risks and opportunities inherent within the acts of teaching and learning. Participating teachers portray fear as a disconnect between self and other(s) that contains and restrains their practices, compartmentalizing knowledge, separating pedagogy from content, and theory from practice, halting fear as a moving force to be grappled with through deliberation and interaction. Such contained disconnect between teachers and their teaching/learning practices is evidenced through a disregard for self‐understanding, pedagogical tone, and plurality and natality. The result of such disregard is teacher epistemological and ontological insecurity undermining teaching and learning. The relevance and power of theory in addressing such insecurity is evidenced. Seeking accordance within the act of teaching for learning’s sake are the fearful risks and opportunities integral to the work of teachers.     

Integrating the ontological,epistemological, and sociocultural aspects: a holistic view of teacher education

The three aspects of teacher change – ontological, epistemological, and sociocultural – are traditionally regarded as independent. Usually only the epistemological aspect is highlighted in formal teacher education. In this paper, I argue that a holistic and interdependent view of these aspects is needed. Thus, this paper aims to explore the process of teacher learning from a holistic perspective. Through deliberative discussions and selection, 13 ‘good’ teachers were interviewed in this study. The findings indicate that there may be a two-stage pattern (the II-VA model) that describes two different sorts of teachers. The first sort refers to those teachers who developed strong identities before beginning their teaching service and who tended to have a clearer educational vision which had a direct impact on their practices and professional development. As for the second sort, the teachers’ identities were vague in their first years of teaching, but their professional identities gradually developed within the referential community with affective and professional functions. These stages imply that we should replace ‘abstract theory’ with ‘subject reflection’ in the center of teacher education. Three kinds of reflection (theory-rationale, identity-integration and vision-accomplishment) are thus identified from a holistic view of teacher change.     

What remains of history? Historical epistemology and historical understanding in Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence

This paper critically examines the framing of historical knowledge in the primary and ‘broad general education’ phases (ages 4–14) of Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence. The paper focuses on curriculum documentation, particularly the curriculum's aims and ‘Experiences and Outcomes’ and evaluates these in light of recent research on children's historical understanding. It is argued that the decision to frame historical understanding as ‘People, Past Events and Societies’ within the context of a ‘social studies’ curriculum area has been motivated by a misunderstanding of history's unique disciplinary identity. It is argued that history curricula must take account of the unique ontological and epistemological challenges posed by investigating the past and that by failing to do this, ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ offers children in Scotland a problematic representation of what it means to study the past. The paper challenges the curriculum in both epistemic and pedagogical terms, before suggesting that a rigorous study of history as a discipline can make a valuable contribution to children's personal and social development.     

Discourses and practices of competency-based training: implications for worker and practitioner identities

From the perspective of a social theory of learning, this paper explores discourses and practices associated with competency-based training (CBT) in industry. Drawing on data from a national evaluation of competency-based training in Australia, implications for the formation of identities of workers (or trainees) and vocational education and training (VET) practitioners are discussed, particularly in relation to an increasing recognition of the importance of lifelong learning for workers, and knowledge-making and innovation within enterprises. It is argued that discourses surrounding CBT relate particularly to the importance of developing ‘procedural, technical knowers’ rather than ‘reflective problemsolvers’, and ‘standardized, adaptable workers’ rather than ‘innovators’ or ‘initiators’. Thus CBT often seems to precludes the kind of transformative learning that could potentially lead to social and technological innovation in the workplace and enriching personal and cultural change. Moreover, while some discourses surrounding CBT relate to ‘empowered, committed workers’, it appears that the lived experience of working life may sometimes contradict these claims. In relation to training personnel, some VET practitioners do appear able, using CBT as a springboard, to exercise professional judgement and creativity and instigate transformative and, indeed, critical learning programmes. However, for others, identities as ‘deliverers’ of a standardized curriculum seem to have been formed, potentially an experience of deprofessionalization. Some discourses and practices associated with CBT, then, appear to be neither in the best interests of workers, practitioners and the community, nor of individual enterprises and industry as a whole. A rethinking of arrangements for, and conceptualization of, competency-based training in the workplace is discussed.     

An ontology of RPL: improving non-traditional learners' access to the recognition of prior learning through a philosophy of recognition

This article considers the underachievement of RPL in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) system, in terms of its apparent failure to reach and achieve outcomes for marginalised groups. It notes a range of analyses that are currently used to address this concern and draws on doctoral research in progress to highlight ontological questions that are brought to the process by RPL candidates. Axel Honneth's theory of recognition is then introduced as a means to shed light on these issues. Viewing RPL through the lens of a philosophy of recognition and the concept of ontological security the article asks questions about the nature and effects of the assessor–candidate relationship, inviting consideration of this relationship as an intersubjective exchange within a wider, more fundamental ‘struggle for recognition’. It is argued that a more ontological perspective could provide a framework for increasing access to and successful completion of RPL by non-traditional learners.     

The necessity of art: Three found poems from John Dewey's Art as experience

This article portrays the conceptual journey of three professionals as they grapple with the epistemological, ontological and axiological underpinnings of grounded theory within the context of practice‐based research. Writing from the stance of ‘epistemorph,’ the authors use the concepts of ‘functionalist drift’ and ‘interpretive drift’ to depict the intellectual crosscurrents set in motion by their taken‐for‐granted assumptions about the nature of knowledge. An evolving set of questions reflects shifts in thinking that occur as these assumptions are surfaced and examined. From the ‘ground’ of this journey, the authors come to an interpretive reframing of key ‘logics’ of the grounded theory method including theoretical sensitivity, theoretical sampling, coding, constant comparative analysis and memoing.     

Scientists’ Ontological and Epistemological Views about Science from the Perspective of Critical Realism

Including the perspectives of scientists about the nature and process of science is important for an authentic and nuanced portrayal of science in science education. The small number of studies that have explored scientists’ worldviews about science has thus far generated contradictory findings, with recent studies claiming that scientists simultaneously hold contradictory sophisticated and naïve views. This article reports on an exploratory study that uses the framework of Bhaskar’s critical realism to elicit and separately analyse academic scientists’ ontological and epistemological views about science in semi-structured interviews. When the views of scientists are analysed through the lens of critical realism, it is clear that it is possible to hold a realist ontological commitment about what knowledge is of, simultaneously with a fallibilist epistemological commitment about knowledge itself. The apparent incongruence of scientists’ so-called naïve and sophisticated views about science is resolved when analysed using a critical realist framework. Critical realism offers a simple and coherent framework for science educators that avoids many of the problems of positivism and social constructivism by finding a middle ground between them. The three pillars of critical realism: ontological realism, epistemological fallibilism and judgmental rationality help to make sense of how socially constructed scientific knowledge can be anchored in an independent reality.     

The coherence of vocational education and training in Norway and Spain: national traditions and the reshaping of VET governance in hybrid VET systems

Coherence of national education and training systems is increasingly tabled in European policy debates. Leaning on literature about the emergence and consolidation of national education systems, this article explores the rationale for VET reforms in Norway and Spain by scrutinising attempts to strengthen the coherence of their VET systems. Coherence has been sought through the unification of different strands of vocational education; initial, continuing and active labour market policies (what we call ‘horizontal coherence’) and the mainstreaming of VET curricular elements; plus the systematisation of VET practices across educational levels (‘vertical coherence’). While both countries looked for coherence, their motivations, how they operationalised the term and the emphasis of their actions differed substantially. Spain has experienced a move from the three largely unrelated strands into a more unified system; Norway from a fragile VET system to the availability of more VET courses and apprenticeship arrangements at all educational levels.     

Diffraction or reflection? Sketching the contours of two methodologies in educational research

Internationally, an interest is emerging in a growing body of work on what has become known as ‘diffractive methodologies’ drawing attention to ontological aspects of research. Diffractive methodologies have largely been developed in response to a dissatisfaction with practices of ‘reflexivity’, which are seen to be grounded in a representational paradigm and the epistemological aspects of research. While work on ‘reflexivity’ and ‘critical reflection’ has over the years become predominant in educational and social science research methodology literature, our reading indicates that there is still important conceptual work to be done putting these two practices – reflection and diffraction – in conversation with each other and exploring their continuities and breaks as well as examining the consequences for research methodologies in education. This article raises important questions about how the concepts of diffraction and reflection are defined and understood and discusses the methodological implications for educational research.     

Not just skills: what a focus on knowledge means for vocational education

This contribution to the symposium on Michael Young’s article ‘Overcoming the crisis in curriculum theory: a knowledge based approach’, supports his contention that curriculum theory has lost sight of its object—‘what is taught and learned in schools’, and argues that this has particularly deleterious consequences for vocational education and training (VET). VET is unproblematically positioned as applied, experiential and work-focused learning, and it is seen as a solution for those who are alienated from or unsuccessful in more traditional forms of academic education. This article argues that rather than being a mechanism for social inclusion, VET is instead a key way in which social inequality is mediated and reproduced because it excludes students from accessing the theoretical knowledge they need to participate in debates and controversies in society and in their occupational field of practice. It presents a social realist analysis to argue why VET students need access to theoretical knowledge, how a focus on experiential and applied learning constitutes a mechanism for social exclusion and what a ‘knowledge rich’ VET curriculum would look like.     

Managing spaces: (re)working relations of strategy and spatiality in vocational education and training

The adoption of a more ‘open’ national training market in vocational education and training (VET) in Australia has led to considerable changes in VET organizations and considerable challenges for VET managers. Recent research has established the critical role that ‘strategy’ plays in leading and managing these organizations and the significance of strategic management as a field of managerial practice within VET. In this article, I further examine the role of strategy in the management of VET organizations by giving attention to issues of space and spatiality. Deploying concepts from actor-network theory and drawing on case data collected from VET organizations, I address strategy as a spatializing project. The argument is made that strategy is an accomplishment of a network of relations rather than an individual manager or an individual organization and can take radically different forms (‘Big S’ strategy; ‘small s’ strategy) and produce radically different effects (economic, educational). More specifically, spatial relations play a constitutive role in strategy formation in VET. Relations of spatiality and strategy are created and sustained together, and where this complex relationship is understood space can serve as a ground for critique. The paper promotes a theoretical and empirical imperative to look keenly to the spaces filled by frontline managers. Essentially interrogatory, these spaces open up the possibility of the negotiation of managerial and organizational identities across differences of strategic management and operational management and, more broadly, of enterprise and education.     

Knowledge,skills, competence: European divergences in vocational education and training (VET)—the English,German and Dutch cases

Policy debates on employability, lifelong learning and competence‐based approaches suggest a convergence of VET approaches across European countries. Against the background of the creation of a European Qualifications Framework, this paper compares the VET systems of England, Germany and The Netherlands. The analysis reveals the distinct understandings and meanings of outwardly similar terms. These meanings are deeply rooted in the countries’ institutional structures and labour processes and still inform national debates and policies today. The paper identifies a major distinction between a ‘knowledge‐based’ VET model in Germany and The Netherlands and a ‘skills‐based’ model in England. There is a need to develop trans‐national categories that take into account the social construction of terms such as ‘skills’ and ‘qualifications’.     

Vocational education and training and the therapeutic turn

The concept of ‘therapeutic education’ is being increasingly used in contemporary education policy studies to identify learning initiatives which are dominated by objectives linked to personal and social skills, emotional intelligence and building self‐esteem. Contemporary educational goals connected with such strategies have been criticised for encouraging a ‘victim culture’ which marginalises learners and replaces the pursuit of knowledge and understanding with the development of personal values relevant to a life of social, cultural and economic risk and uncertainty. In relation to vocational education and training (VET) and post‐school policy trends in particular, Hayes has argued that preparation for work has abandoned vocational/occupational knowledge and skills in favour of providing learners with personal skills for emotional labour in low‐level service jobs. This paper interrogates such analyses and questions whether the therapeutic role of VET really is incompatible with the traditional objectives of developing knowledge, understanding and values in work environments. Links are made between new emphases on work‐based learning and the ‘caring’ conceptions of learning in post‐school education. It is concluded that—although therapy should not dominate VET—an attention to the important values dimension of learning in the field does involve a therapeutic dimension of some kind.     

Apprentice or Student? The Structures of Construction Industry Vocational Education and Training in Denmark and Sweden and their Possible Consequences for Safety Learning

There is a notable difference in occupational injury rates in the two Scandinavian countries, Sweden and Denmark, with the latter having a 40% higher rate of fatal occupational injuries in the construction industry. This study explored differences in the vocational education and training (VET) systems between Sweden and Denmark that may be important for students’ safety learning and practice during VET. In both countries, students participate in full-time education, and the curriculum includes school-based as well as company- based training. However, during company- based training Swedish students retain their student status, whereas Danish students are employed as apprentices. From a perspective of viewing safety as a social practice developed through interactions of different social and institutional bodies, the analysis points to this difference in employment status as important for their safety practices and also for the teachers’ position to influence safety learning and practices during company-based training. An analysis of interview and survey data focusing on how VET students enact safety ‘knowings’ across learning sites, suggest how different forms of connectivity models in VET promote various forms of safety learning among students.     

Participatory approach in practice: an analysis of student discussions about climate change

Many authors have claimed that participatory perspectives should be a significant feature of environmental and sustainability education (ESE). This change in ESE practice implies a relocation of the process of environmental knowledge constitution from ‘before’ to ‘in’ the educational event. The aim of this paper is to clarify both the processes of knowledge constitution and the content of the constituted knowledge within participatory ESE practices. Two methods based on John Dewey’s transactional perspective are used in the study: epistemological move analysis and pragmatic discourse analysis. The empirical material consists of video-recorded student discussions about climate change in the setting of a Swedish upper secondary school with a pronounced sustainability approach. In the analyses, six different epistemological moves used by the students are identified. The analyses show how students cooperatively constitute a specific view of climate change by using these moves. A main conclusion of this study is that participatory approaches do not necessarily mean that knowledge becomes more diverse. It is therefore important that teachers pay attention to governing processes among students and occasionally challenge the common view in order to allow for alternative possibilities and views.     

Exploring halaqah as research method: a tentative approach to developing Islamic research principles within a critical ‘indigenous’ framework

This paper explores a traditional Islamic pedagogy known as halaqah as a potentially useful authentic research method and contributes to discourses about critical and indigenous research methodologies through an analysis of Islamization of Knowledge and other ‘critical indigenous’ movements amongst Muslims. Islamic research principles are tentatively proposed and then used to assess the effectiveness of halaqah as an authentic Islamic research method through analysis of a small qualitative study. The study involved Muslim mother-teachers participating in halaqah to collaboratively reflect on their work as holistic Islamic educators who are developing a ‘critical indigenous’ education to meet the needs of Muslim children in contemporary Britain. This paper argues that halaqah is a more authentic research method in this study than a group interview or focus group as it enabled participants to articulate themselves within their own epistemological and ontological context and engage in critical reflection within an Islamic paradigm.     

From Environmental Education to Ecopolitics. Affirming Changing Agendas for Teachers1

In this paper I examine Peirce's epistemological and ontological theories and indicate their relevance to educational practice. I argue that Peirces conception of Firsts, Seconds and Thirds entails a fundamental ontological realism. I further argue that Peirce does have a theory of truth, that it is a particular non‐traditional ‘correspondence’ theory, consistent with, and implicit in, an over‐arching position of pragmatic realism. Peirce's epistemological position is subject to misinterpretation when the ontological realism on which it rests is overlooked. Finally I suggest that such a re‐consideration of Peirce's pragmatic ontology and epistemology in an educational context is needed.     

An awareness of epistemological assumptions: the case of gender studies

Perceptions of differences in the participation and achievement of girls and boys in school science and mathematics have given rise to considerable curriculum research and professional development. This research, and the practices arising from it, has aimed at increasing the participation of girls in ‘non‐traditional’ school subjects, with the ultimate goal of enhancing girls’ post‐school options. Mathematics and science have been seen as critical in this respect, particularly the higher levels of mathematics and the physical sciences.

This research and professional development have contributed to our understanding of the issues and have no doubt affected the post‐school options of some girls. However, there is also dissatisfaction at the lack of significant change that has flowed from this work. A more critical analysis is now emerging, leading to a deeper questioning of the assumptions that underlie research and development in the field. Ironically, at the same time there are reports that funding for research into aspects of gender issues is now taking an even lower profile than in recent years (Tisdall 1992).

This paper has emerged from debates relating to gender issues from the perspective of two teachers, one of science and the other of mathematics. The debates were precipitated by a move from work as school teachers to work in higher education, where there is an explicitly stated responsibility for research as well as teaching. The change in our labour served to highlight personal questions about the legitimation of different accounts of education in research, science and mathematics education and gender issues. It was in the process of grappling with the apparent plethora of research methods that we began to look at the epistemological assumptions of research into gender issues in science and mathematics education.

For us then, there are three major interrelated and overlapping areas of concern. One is related to the epistemological assumptions that pervade science and mathematics in schools. The second also concerns epistemological assumptions, those relating to educational research, particularly into gender issues. The third raises the ontological question of the conceptualization of gender within the research. We needed a conceptual framework to enable us to critique the normalization of the debates and uncover the problematics within each of these three concerns. At the same time, the framework had to allow an examination of the interrelatedness and continuities between them. It was the normalization and apparent consensus surrounding these issues that was disturbing for us. This we recognized as a depoliticization of social institutions which are essentially political. It was against this background, and in acknowledgement of some feminist critiques (Fraser 1989), that we use a framework developed by Habermas (1972), which recognizes the political dynamic of epistemological positions, and allows us to make explicit the politics of educational research.

Our starting point, in this paper, is Habermas's work. We outline the three ‘knowledge‐constitutive’ interests of this schema, and describe their implications for education. We then explore the dominant perspective within science and mathematics education. Having described this context, we examine the gender research with particular attention to the conceptualization of gender. With reference to Habermas's framework the epistemological and ontological assumptions of this research are explored, and the possibilities and limitations are discussed. This is used to examine the epistemological basis of different research methodologies.

We contend that there is a relationship between the scientific paradigm, the organization of education and the framing of research. Further this relationship has constituted the field of research about gender and science and mathematics and limited its potential for explanation.     

Where are the grounds for grounded theory? A troubled empirical methodology meets Wittgenstein

This article provides a critical exposition of the epistemological underpinnings of a recent redevelopment of Grounded Theory (GT) methodology, ‘Constructivist’ GT. Although proffered as freed from the ‘objectivist’ tenets of the original version, critical examination exposes the essentialism threaded through its integral analytic practices. Movement towards a position critical of an external referent, discernible within Wittgenstein’s later works, is the apparent target of Constructivist GT. However, despite its championing of indeterminate, multiple meanings, the notion of correspondence to the world, discernible within the Tractatus, persists. In order for Constructivist GT to achieve coherence, Socio-Linguistic Realism is suggested here as a stance which would help sharpen its distinction from the atomism of the original version of GT. However, in order for such repositioning to extend to all its analytic practices, particularly coding, further development would be required so that it can accommodate the notion of context bound meanings and language use. As it stands, its fuzzy epistemological position translates into rather ambiguous analytic coding practices. Further, an ill-defined conception of linguistic meanings and the intermittent positing of referents external to the social contexts researched does little to foster a secure methodological position with a clarified notion of grounding.