Spontaneous Action and Transformative Learning: Empirical investigations and pragmatist reflections

Whereas present theories of transformative learning tend to focus on the rational and reflective actor, in this article it is suggested that spontaneous action may play a decisive role in transformative learning too. In the spontaneity of action, novelty finds its way into life, gains momentum, is respected by others and reflected by the actor. Such transformation processes are investigated both with the means of theoretical reflection and of empirical inquiry. Based on nine narrative interviews typical phases of transformative learning processes are identified. Owing to the comparative nature of the study, it was also possible to develop an age-related typology that overlaps certain phases of the transformation process. These empirical findings constitute the background against which the nexus of spontaneous action and transformative learning is reflected theoretically. Theories drawn upon include John Dewey's Pragmatism and George Herbert Mead's Social Pragmatism. Both scholars provide rich theoretical concepts for reflecting on the nature of that what so often eludes from the control of both educators and learners: the spontaneity of the beginning.     

Kulturelle Vielfalt als Herausforderung für p?dagogische Organisationen

Zusammenfassung Kulturelle Vielfalt fordert nicht nur die p?dagogischen Organisationen, sondern auch deren empirische Erforschung und theoretische Konzeptionalisierung heraus. Zwei Forschungsans?tze k?nnen idealtypisch unterschieden werden: Steht im ersten Ansatz die Kultur der Organisation im Vordergrund des Interesses, begreift der zweite Ansatz Kultur nur als Konstrukt der Organisation, mit der diese bisweilen ihre eigenen Operationen legitimiert. Da beide Ans?tze dazu tendieren, entweder nur die Organisation oder nur deren Kultur zu erforschen, wird ein dritter Ansatz vorgeschlagen, der einen systematischen Zusammenhang zwischen Kultur und Organisation knüpft: Die Kulturen bzw. Milieus der Organisationsmitglieder ragen — vermittelt über das Unterleben der Organisation, den praktischen Umgang mit ihren formalen Regeln und über Entscheidungen — in die Organisation hinein, innerhalb derer zudem — in der praktischen Anwendung formaler Regeln — neue Organisationsmilieus entstehen. Dass somit Organisationen nicht nur von au?en mit kultureller Vielfalt konfrontiert werden, sondern diese auch in sich bergen, ist für die empirische Erforschung und Evaluation von hoher Bedeutung.      

Practicing a new curriculum in Turkey: loose coupling,organisational and social milieus,and their practical capital formations

This paper analyses tuitional practices after a major curriculum change (2005) in primary schools of Turkey. Group discussions conducted with teachers and parents in five maximally contrasting schools (e.g. schools in a squatter and a middle-class neighbourhood of Istanbul) show that tuitional practices, being only ‘loosely coupled’ with the official curriculum, are strongly influenced by generation-specific orientations in teachers’ organisational milieus, by orientations prevalent in the social milieus of pupils and their parents, and by different forms of capital on the part of teachers, parents and school organisations. Combined with empirical analysis, the paper proposes a theoretical framework that complements the assumptions of New Institutionalism by using the basic concepts of the sociology of knowledge and Bourdieu’s concept of capital. This framework offers a new way to understand the intrinsic logic of the growing differences and inequalities within and between school organisations in complex societies.     

Curricular change in Turkey: Time,sequentiality, and differential power of actors in establishing a new knowledge path

This paper introduces the knowledge path concept to research on curriculum change. Vis-à-vis existing inquiries into curriculum making, the paper explores the usefulness of the knowledge path concept in an empirical analysis of curriculum change that primary education in Turkey underwent at the turn of the century. Based on the documentary interpretation of expert interviews and other material, the paper enquires into the processes that instigated and enabled the curriculum change and rendered it durable. This concept may contribute to four previously identified research approaches to curriculum change: empirical case studies, ideology-critical and New Institutionalist inquiries, and a focus on organizational politics. It emphasizes the significance of time and sequentiality during change processes and underpins the differentiated power of actors.