Jack, I really appreciate your response to Louise,

On 8 Apr 2008, at 13:12, Louise Phillips wrote:
"I totally agree about the imposition of theories of others (the traditional scholarship model) onto
the children's responses, but this is the model that my supervisors have guided me to follow -
how do I break free from the traditional scholarship model as a PhD student? It's ridiculous really
- as my supervisors and myself position ourselves as post-structuralist - yet they still adhere to
many features of the traditional academic model - which is so positivist...
Anyway I guess I am asking for strategies/ tips to challenge the traditional scholarship - in my
less powerful position of student."

when you wrote on 9 Ap 2008

"I think I'd learn a lot from sustaining a conversation with a focus on Louise's question, 'How do I
break free from the traditional scholarship model as a Ph.D. student?'"

This resonates with me as an educator trying to improve the educational quality of what I am doing within a school context dominated by traditional thinking. I hope that you and others contribute further references and material which can be drawn on to develop a more authoritative and powerful response to the 'powers that be', and enhance the quality of scholarship and educational research. Reading what Louise and Jack wrote reminded me of how I felt when I read Jane Spiro's wonderful story 'Eye and the Fellow-traveller' for the first time. I found Jane's story inspiring and wondered if other people might as well. You can find it on http://www.jackwhitehead.com/monday/janeepilogue.htm

Marie

----- Original Message ----
From: Jack Whitehead <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wednesday, 9 April, 2008 8:52:23 AM
Subject: Re: AA Thread 1 07-08 Raising issues, asking questions, and making networking available for practiti

On 8 Apr 2008, at 13:12, Louise Phillips wrote:
"I totally agree about the imposition of theories of others (the traditional scholarship model) onto
the children's responses, but this is the model that my supervisors have guided me to follow -
how do I break free from the traditional scholarship model as a PhD student? It's ridiculous really
- as my supervisors and myself position ourselves as post-structuralist - yet they still adhere to
many features of the traditional academic model - which is so positivist...
Anyway I guess I am asking for strategies/ tips to challenge the traditional scholarship - in my
less powerful position of student."

On 8 Apr 2008, at 23:50, Louise Phillips wrote:
"THis is what I understand Brian - that I need to follow the widely recognised academic model -
for success & for recognition. Hence my question to Jack. In the hierarchy of academia that Jack
has reached a point where he has academic freedom but as a student this is limited for me."

I think I'd learn a lot from sustaining a conversation with a focus on Louise's question, 'How do I
break free from the traditional scholarship model as a Ph.D. student?' This question feels like a
really good question that could form the title of a Ph.D. thesis.

Louise - you are asking for strategies/tp challenge the traditional scholarship - in your less
powerful position of student. What you might enjoy doing is to read Donald Schon's paper on The
New Scholarship Requires ad New Epistemology.

Schon, D. (1995) The New Scholarship Requires a New Epistemology. Change, Nov./Dec. 1995 27
(6) pp. 27-34.

You might also browse through some of the contributions to the 2007 Handbook of Narrative
Inquiry: Mapping a Methodology, published by Sage. I like Jean's contribution on My Story is My
Living Educational Theory.

I was helped enormously in extending my epistemology capabilities, from the limitations in
traditional scholarship, by Michael Polanyi's book Personal Knowledge, where he recommends
taking a decision to understand the world from one's own point of view as an individual claiming
originality and exercising judgment, responsibly with universal intent.

I think you could also gain confidence, in making a contribution to the new epistemology of
educational knowledge, through seeing that there are external examiners of doctoral theses who
have track records of examining theses that have extended/transformed the epistemologies of
educational knowledge from the limitations of traditional scholarship and into inclusional and
relational epistemologies.

I think you'd find Barbara Thayer Bacon's book on Relational (e)pistemologies most helpful.

I don't want to overwhelm you with readings but I do hope that we can sustain a focus on your
enquiry 'How do I break free from the traditional scholarship model as a Ph.D. student?' in this
thread on Raising issues and asking questions. If you go into Jean's website at
http://www.jeanmcniff.com/papers/reports.html , you will see the list of dissertations and theses
includes 5 doctoral theses that have moved onto the new epistemology base. You will find more at
http://people.bath.ac.uk/edsajw/living.shtml ....

I've also attached Pip's contribution to the March 2008 issue of Research Intelligence on Increasing
Inclusion in Educational Research: Reflections from New Zealand as this seems particularly relevant
to Louise's question.

Love Jack.