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Dear Matthias/Je Kan/All At the risk of pushing the garden metaphor far too far I'll try to explain what I understand by agency ithrough collaborative research mentoring After that, I'll be off-line a while because I'll need to start writing my paper on possible selves and incorporate new ideas about metaphors. When I find aggressive invasive plants or aggressive invasive mentees I have a choice. I can destroy (as seeds) or decline to mentor (mentees). If I do either I run the risk of never seeing either mature and bear fruit. Alternatively I can think hard about where/how each may flourish best. I open myself to the others' agency while considering my own agency. Sure, I get invaded, stung, temporarily smothered and hurt sometimes. However, in the process I feel I can learn how to become more flexibly accommodating to 'otherness'. Mentees mentor me as I mentor them. Now - enough of the garden metaphor and photography for a moment. How to deal with the ethical balancing act between what I consider to be ethical and what my colleagues in my institution think to be ethical? In the end I have a choice - I don't have to align myself institutionally but I do have to be willing to face what may occur if I choose to take a stand ethically aganst something that I can (or will) not accommodate. Personally, I am unwilling to 'sell out' if students' futures are at risk so when for example I found that one student's work using a KEEP multi media snapshot had been judged not upon the CD or the URL that was available to an examiner but on a (partially) downloaded hard copy, I alone took a stand and I alone will continue to do so - come what may. Matthias, thank you for your observation about my work and narrative. I hadn't vocalised photographs and multi-media as personal narrative too but of course they are. Images that Rachele chose are particularly evocative for me. I have begun to understand iamgination diffferently since I saw the tree image of the mind that she selected in her enquiry. http://www.cfkeep.org/html/snapshot.php?id=40142960511281 Warm regards, Sarah --- MATTHIAS MEIERS <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hello, > > > I hear Je Kan playfully wondering about > > * > the line that practitioners walk between ethical > practice both as to what the practitioner and > institution deems > as ethical > > * > the inclusional answer to aggressive invasive seeds > > I found the garden metaphor a little confusing. > Isn't action research a sustained inquiry into > agency. To me, the word agency means, the difference > my presence makes in the lives of my students and to > our shared experiences in the institution. The > institution comes to life through us, policy makers, > parents, students and practitioners. I cannot place > myself outside it and be a responsible agent within > it. Being an ethical agent within the institution > means enacting purposes, as well as, problematizing > and reshaping hurtful practices. Fundamentally, this > entails an appeal to moral and ethical reasons for > educational policy and action. > > What happens when competing visions emerge, as Je > Kan reminded me? I believe that the answer lies in > creating time and space for a moral and ethical > conversation that would allow people to talk about > the practical consequences of these visions and ask > what kind of lifeworld are we creating for each > other here. > > Sarah's words are inviting me to rethink agency > > * > As a photographer I choose the subject and the > framing of the subject and when I talk about the > loving eye of the camera I am describing how I (try > to) bring an empathetic focus that communicates the > essence of what I see. > > I have been using narrative inquiry to understand my > agency in the classroom and to construct a better > understanding of what the students are doing. How > does narrative help me focus on the experiences of > my students? This is the question I hear Sarah ask > me. > > Greetings from Winnipeg, > > Matthias > > > > ________________________________ > > From: BERA Practitioner-Researcher on behalf of > Sarah Fletcher > Sent: Tue 10/10/2006 4:15 AM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: What are living standards of judgement? > > > > Dear Je Kan/All, > > Thank you! You have hit on something that really > fascinates me! It's the notion of metaphor as a > standard of judgement - and I so like the image of > the > rose as a weed being its rose-like self & to the > best > of its ability but in the wrong location and > inadvertently courting destruction. > > As a photographer I choose the subject and the > framing > of the subject and when I talk about the loving eye > of > the camera I am describing how I (try to) bring an > empathetic focus that communicates the essence of > what > I see. How does this relate to educational research > mentoring and living educational stanards of > judgement? Well - if for example I work with a > teacher who sees mentoring as 'equal connectedness' > then I will do what I can as I video to embody that > metaphor on film. If they perceived mentoring as > 'benevolent hierarchy' I would employ the lens > differently. That's not to say one form of metaphor > or mentoring is superior but different. Both can be > appropriate in different locations. > > Sometimes a mentor has to be directive (rather like > Je > Kan may decide what is to be weeded out) and > sometimes > working alongside). A good gardener retains strong > plants and doesn't feel threatened by strength. > Balancing colour and vigour and form s/he may > nurture > 'weeds' that a less expereienced gardener burns. > The > art of gardening is 'balancing'. > A good mentor isn't threatened by a strong mentee > but > is empowered. > > Similarly in assisting teachers to depict their > growing undestandings of research mentoring... When > I > looked at Donna's image of the gargoyle > http://www.cfkeep.org/html/snapshot.php?id=51952540922866 > I saw a metaphor for being scared and yet excited > (is > that what you see too?) > Donna's chosen image offered me the chance to draw > out > more insight into how she was feeling as a new > research mentor studying for an MA. > > Thinking about questions posed by Matthias for uus > on > the list today: > > "how are students invited into the action research > process and how do they begin to problematize human > relationships in the classroom or at school with a > view to transforming them?" > > I use metaphor for assisting new teacher researchers > to communicate how they 'see' themselves as teachers > and there may be potential for helping them identify > new possible selves that they'd wish to embody using > photographic or computer generated image. What do > you > thnk? > > Warm regards, > > Sarah > > > > Sarah Fletcher > http://www.TeacherResearch.net > <http://www.teacherresearch.net/> > Sarah Fletcher http://www.TeacherResearch.net