Discourse analysis as theory,method, and epistemology in studies of education policy

ABSTRACT

Discourse has featured in studies of educational policy as an analytic and methodological tool, theoretical frame, realm of implication, and even a foundational definition of educational policy itself (e.g.) Despite the centrality of discourse as a frame for exploring educational policy and its implications, the ways that discourse is defined or operationalized in educational policy research are often left implicit which can lead to murky relations to larger onto-epistemological questions of how we construct findings from data as well as the nature of policy. In this interpretive analysis, we synthesize a corpus of 37 peer-reviewed journal articles that bring together educational policy and analyses of discourse from varying theoretical and methodological perspectives in order to better understand the breadth and scope of how discourse is defined and operationalized in studies of educational policy, including in ways that are sometimes incommensurate with authors' stated theoretical and methodological positions. After first laying the theoretical groundwork for analyses of discourse in the field of educational policy, we then illustrate how discourse analysis is used differently, and sometimes inconsistently, within contested paradigmatic landscapes. We conclude with an argument for discussions across theoretical frameworks and methodological paradigms about how the concept of discourse lends itself to different epistemological vantage points on educational policy.     

Getting tense about genealogy

The paper responds to the growing interest in genealogical method as a means of inquiry in education research. The three authors bring together their collective understanding of the nature and purpose of genealogy as a method deriving from the work of Michel Foucault. The authors then indicate how such understandings were applied by each of them to a particular scholarly task. In elaborating the uses and the pitfalls of genealogical approaches by this means, the writers makeit clear that thereis no blueprint for genealogical use. Rather, working through genealogical methods demands from the researcher a strong grasp of the epistemological and theoretical tensions involved in asking how our present educational practices function as they do.     

Investigating the relationship between students’ attentive–inattentive behaviors in the classroom and their literacy progress: Chapter 6 Epistemological and methodological issues: A synthesis

An overview of the investigation is provided within the framework of a discussion of epistemological and methodological issues related to the status of claims to knowledge in the field. Future research must confront the inherent complexity and substantive richness of the phenomena being investigated by employing conceptual orientations and investigative methodologies that are commensurate with that complexity. The challenge is to refocus the prevailing psycho-behavioral models accounting for the overlap between inattentive behavior problems and poor academic achievement — together with their related intervention emphases — to educational ones. Indeed, It is the considered view of the authors that the personal, social and financial costs of failure to meet this challenge will be both unsustainable and unbearable.     

Locked out: researching destinations and outcomes for pupils excluded from special schools and Pupil Referral Units

This article explores the methodological challenges encountered during a study of destinations and outcomes for pupils permanently excluded from Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) and special schools in England. It outlines the manner in which the key phrases and assumptions embedded within the specification, terms such as routes and trajectories, destinations and outcomes, framed the study – and to some extent the researchers. The article is located within a growing body of scholarly activity that has raised important questions about the epistemological bases of educational research, the representation of complex social realities and methodological issues relating to the identification and tracking of ‘hard to find’ young people. The authors conclude that their apparent inability to find the answers to some rather straightforward questions is in fact data rather than lack of data.     

The power of/in Photovoice

ABSTRACT

Photovoice, which falls under the methodological umbrella of participatory action research (PAR), is a method of inquiry used to visually document and honor the knowledge(s), voices, and experiences of community members about particular issues affecting their lives. By privileging these voices, photovoice seeks to investigate, disrupt, and ultimately improve structures and practices that often fail to fulfill the needs of diverse populations. In this piece, the authors come together in vulnerable reflection to examine tension points that emerged during a photovoice project with English Language Learners at a middle school in Virginia, USA. Analyzing themes from journal entries and interviews, and reflecting on specific scenarios in which questions of power were at play, we conclude that it is important to ground any participatory inquiry in an explicit commitment to the emancipatory epistemological commitments of PAR so that when questions of power arise, researchers can refer back to those commitments as a kind of guiding compass.     

Working in the methodological ‘outfield’: the case of Bourdieu and occupational therapy

The article reports on a study of methodological innovation involving occupational therapy (OT) students in higher education (HE). It is based on an original project which examined the experiences and outcomes of non-traditional entrants to pre-registration OT education. A feature of the original project was the application of the epistemological and methodological approach of the French social theorist Pierre Bourdieu, most noticeably in exploring the way that social back ground (habitus) interacted with the educational (field) context in terms of experience and educational outcome. Bourdieu used a ranged of techniques – both qualitative and quantitative – in collecting and analysing data. In particular, he used multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), a type of geometric data analysis recognized as a powerful tool enabling the representation of social space and the situating of individuals within it with respect to a number of variables. The article considers methodological principles in comparing ethnographic, traditional statistics and MCA. We show how the original data were reanalysed according to MCA. The article compares the original analyses and findings with those based on MCA in order to explore its strength over the previous approach and the potential it has to cast light on various issues in HE.     

Making the Most of the Unknown Language Experience: Pathways for reflective teacher development

ABSTRACT

The applied science view of teacher learning has been criticised as leaving teachers unprepared to face the messy complexity of educational problems. A reflective approach based on an epistemological view of practical rationality has been recommended instead. In this paper the authors reflect on their experience as teachers of an English didactics course based on a psychopedagogical content knowledge approach in a teacher education programme at the University of Aveiro, Portugal. They consider the applied science paradigm and the reflective approach views as complementary rather than dichoto‐mous and stress the role of cognitive flexibility in preparing teachers to cope with novel situations.     

Kay‐Shuttleworth and the training of teachers for pauper schools

Abstract

Radical constructivism has had a major influence on present‐day education, especially in the teaching of science and mathematics. The article provides an epistemological profile of constructivism and considers its strengths and weaknesses from the standpoint of its educational implications. It is argued that there are two central problems with constructivism: anti‐realism and individualism which, in turn, lead to difficulties associated with idealism and relativism which, together, prove fatal for the theory.     

CHE Principles: facilitating authentic and dialogical semi-structured interviews in educational research

This paper examines the values of the CHE principles of Connectivity, Humanness and Empathy as a guiding framework for maximizing the ethical and methodological advantages of semi-structured interview research practices. The authors draw from two separate educational studies and apply the CHE principles to analyse and evaluate the effectiveness of decision-making in facilitating sustainable relationships with the participants in each study. Findings highlight that dialogical relations with participants were evident in both studies, and identify significant junctures where decision-making and actions influenced effective rapport-building and respectful and reciprocal relationships with participants in the research. The CHE principles emerge as providing a robust framework for educational researchers to employ when auditing their decision-making prior to and during their engagement in qualitative interviews.     

Current Themes and Future Directions in Epistemological Research: A Commentary

This article summarizes and comments upon recent research on epistemological beliefs (i.e., beliefs about knowledge and knowing). I identify four emergent themes, outline directions for future research, and draw links between current theory and educational practice. The four themes pertain to the number relationship among, development, and measurement of epistemological beliefs. I address conceptual and methodological issues in future research. I also identify four educational implications: understanding teachers' beliefs, understanding students' beliefs, promoting critical thinking, and attempting to change teachers' and students' beliefs.     

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.     

Changing Epistemological Beliefs in Pre-service Teacher Education Students

A teaching programme designed to foster the reflection on and development of more sophisticated epistemological beliefs was implemented with 29 pre-service graduate teacher education students at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. As part of the year-long teaching programme, students were required to reflect in journal entries on the content of an educational psychology unit in relation to their epistemological beliefs. The students engaged in this teaching programme (the research group) were interviewed in relation to their beliefs at the beginning (Time 1) and conclusion (Time 2) of the teaching programme. Students in a comparison group were not encouraged to explicitly reflect on their epistemological beliefs. They were asked to complete written statements about their beliefs about knowing at the beginning (Time 1) and end (Time 2) of the year-long unit. Schommer's (1988, 1990) epistemological beliefs questionnaire was administered to both the comparison and research groups at Time 1 and Time 2. This questionnaire measured beliefs about knowing. The results of both the quantitative and qualitative data analysis indicated that the group of students engaged in the teaching programme experienced more growth in sophisticated epistemological beliefs. The success of the teaching programme has implications for how teacher educators develop learning environments.     

Issues of human security and educational development in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria

Abstract

Drawing from documents, observation, interview and questionnaire, we highlighted the role of issues of human security and its impact on the educational development of the Niger Delta region as well as means of enhancing human security in Nigeria. This article is a conceptual and methodological breakthrough in Nigeria's academic land- scape where qualitative and quantitative experiences highlight issues that are pertinent to the educational development in The Niger Delta. Diverse statistical analyses were conducted using the Statistical Package of the Social Sciences version 18 to assess the study 's hypotheses. It was predicted that the region would be advanced educationally and on all other development indices if human security issues are resolved. This paper contends that the Niger Delta region has the potential to address the challenges currently faced by Nigeria including social disruption, poverty, hunger, disease, conflict, marginalisation, and the achievement of the movement for Education For All by 2015. This paper is of the opinion that the successful integration of the Niger Delta region into federal planning, structures and funding will enhance development, livelihoods, and human security not only for the region but also for Nigeria's educational development.     

Pupil profiling: some policy issues from school‐based practice∗

Theoretical writings on policy analysis have often dealt with the problem of adjudicating value issues as well as the problem of complexity. Since both these problems are ultimately epistemological in character, this paper explores their structure from a less familiar non‐foundational, coherentist epistemological framework, within the context of the synoptic/anti‐synoptic debate in policy analaysis. The paper argues against a sharp distinction between fact and value in policy choice, and recommends the gradual replacement of ubiquitous folk psychological simplifying assumptions in favour of scientific ones, where predictions systematically lapse, as a step towards dealing with complexity.     

Identity Matching to Scientists: Differences that Make a Difference?

Students' images of science and scientists are generally assumed to influence their related subject choices and aspirations for tertiary education within science and technology. Several research studies have shown that many young people hold rather stereotypical images of scientists, making it hard for them to see themselves as future scientists. Adolescents' educational choices are important aspects of their identity work, and recent theories link individual choice to the perceived match between self and prototypical persons associated with that choice. In the present study, we have investigated images of scientists among the segment of the upper secondary school students (20 % of the cohort) from which future Danish scientists are recruited. Their images were rather realistic, only including vague and predominantly positive stereotypical ideas. With a particular Science-and-Me (SAM) interview methodology, we inquired into the match between self- and prototypical-scientists (N?=?30). We found high perceived similarity within a core of epistemological characteristics, while dissimilarities typically related to a social domain. However, combining interview data with survey data, we found no significant statistical relation between prototype match and aspirations for tertiary education within science and technology. Importantly, the SAM dialogue revealed how students negotiate perceived differences, and we identified four negotiation patterns that all tend to reduce the impact of mismatches on educational aspirations. Our study raises questions about methodological issues concerning the traditional use of self-to-prototype matching as an explanatory model of educational choice.     

Standardisation and diversity in international assessments: barking up the wrong tree?

ABSTRACT

This article organises potential areas of criticism or challenges embedded in the design and administration of standardised assessments of learning levels in order to promote dialogue and research on educational assessments. The article begins by addressing debates around epistemological claims: issues that pertain to testing in general and issues that are particular to standardised testing. Then, it addresses some political attributes of international tests so as to situate the debates beyond feasibility, attributes and scope-related issues. The article claims that the field of education testing has identified a number of issues and challenges stemming from diversity, and has developed methods and procedures to address many of them. From this viewpoint, testing is just like any other domain of scientific enquiry. However, international assessments of learning outcomes are not necessarily, or primarily, scientific endeavours; they are political devices and therefore should be scrutinised considering scientific attributes as well as some political features that, even if intertwined with technicalities, go well beyond them. Thus, critiques of international assessments would be better framed if their political attributes are taken as organising principles of the criticism, alongside those elements that pertain to their technical attributes, since these are not incidental but deeply interlinked.     

Thematic Approach to Theoretical Speculations in the Field of Educational Administration

Abstract

The purpose of this article is a critical reflection on the field of educational administration and its varied and often conflicting epistemologies. It is argued that the field of educational administration is a community of diverse epistemologies. Although epistemological heterogeneity has been persistently vilified by both theorists and pragmatists with their own discursive agendas, it is this precise environment of critical dialogue and diversity that is conducive to new frontiers in the field. A phenomenology of recognition is thus presented as a showcase for the possibility of approaching and expanding the field topically rather than treatise-like generalizations at the macro level, which are mostly dated discussions on philosophy of science. The principal value of the article is showing alternative pathways—not limited to the discussions about theory of recognition—to new frontiers in educational administration by demonstrating the possibility of thematic theory developments in the field and defending the diversity of existing epistemologies in the field as an asset rather than a liability for further development in the field.     

Preparing Educational Researchers: The Role of Self‐Doubt

Educational scholars concur that research preparation courses should engage doctoral students with methodological differences and epistemological controversies. Mary Metz and Nancy Lesko recently published articles describing how courses guided by this aim engender self‐doubt for students. Neither scholar is entirely convinced that self‐doubt is educationally productive. Drawing on Hans‐Georg Gadamer's notion of Bildung, Deborah Kerdeman reframes the view of self‐doubt that Metz and Lesko assume and shows why self‐doubt can be transformative. Gadamer's argument regarding self‐doubt challenges constructivist views of agency and also demonstrates that engaging with difference is necessary for new understanding to emerge through conversation. Kerdeman concludes by considering why engaging in Bildung helps doctoral students become good educational researchers and why cultivating Bildung should therefore be an aim of research preparation courses that engage students with methodological differences and epistemological controversies.     

Case studies in history education: thinking action research through an epistemological framework

ABSTRACT

Key studies in history education (from France and the USA) are discussed and compared in order to explore their methodological issues in terms of the types of knowledge they can generate about teaching and learning. An epistemological framework that relates the history of historians as an inquiry to that of the classroom provides the criteria for this comparative analysis, which is inscribed in Abbott’s epistemologico-institutional social sciences analysis through the identification of two basic debates that structure history education research, namely subject-matter knowledge vs pedagogical practices, and teaching and learning rules of methods vs habits of thinking. This analysis points out the conditions for the development of a formative school history inquiry (to have students work on their own explanations, to put into play their set of beliefs about history), which determine the modalities of a specific action research. These modalities are detailed by the example of an action research on the case of the teaching of the French Revolution in the last grade of primary school: the sharing of pedagogical (by the professor) and academic (by the researchers) decisions, the collective production of data throughout the process.