Hello Susie,Sarah, Je Kan..... and all,
I've been following the rich and and at times deeply
personal postings with admiration........
....but I'm still puzzled about standards of
judgement......
How do you approach the issues of:
-formulating questions
-the status of evidence,
-of the coherence of your teachers' writings,
-questions of validity and reliability
-issues of ethics: privacy versus right to know;
to whom does the data belong; and to whom should it be
released? Respect for other persons involved in the
research?
-on what grounds can we claim "to know"?
-Is what I claim to know intuitively, through
experience, by mystic reflection....perhaps distorted
at best and at worst....self-delusion?
I am wondering why these kind of questions are not
being addressed in the postings.....indeed studiously
avoided it would seem?
Why is this?
What other standards, and criteria in practitioner
research do you and your researchers subscribe to?
Have we left behind the qualities and judgements, the
criteria of other researchers in fields of qualitative
research, ethnography, social anthropology, and case
study research?
If I'm a lone voice suffering from post-operative haze
don't worry about responding!
Best wishes in your current work.
Brian
--- Sarah Fletcher <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Dear Mohsen (and Everyone on the list)
>
> I'm grateful for your questions since they stimulate
> my reflection about the how and why of words
>
> Question: How can language educators allow learners
> to find language as a way of being and not
> just as a means for communication?
>
> Reflection: I am interested by your choice of word
> 'allow' - please could you explain this a little?
> Do language teachers give or ethically have the
> right to give permission for language to be a way
> of being? I think 'communication' is a rich concept
> because it doesn't mean (to me) a choice of
> terms as a tool - it is a whole body-mind
> expression. In this sense, it carries with it the
> ontology
> and epistemology not only of the person
> communicating but of all the individuals who have
> used
> the term before. Bodies like the 'Academie
> Francaise' try to impose a structure on language and
>
> restrict words they see as undesirable. The fact
> remains they have a very limited influence and
> argot (street-wise slang) communicates and, some
> say, nurtures socio-cultural communication.
>
> Question: How can language educators allow learners
> to reflectively language their immediate
> consciousness and experience the creativity of their
> thought?
>
> I would use 'enable' rather than 'allow' here. Do
> you agree? So much depends on whether we are
> talking about language as (just) words. Language is
> communicated (I don't mean not just spoken)
> through all of our senses, through colour and
> texture. Have you seen the latest issue of
> Scientific
> American? There's a section on how the senses work.
> There is a fascinating article on phantom
> sensations where the mind 'fills in' sensations
> about what it thinks it should be interacting with -
>
> for example tinnitus is the brain creating sound
> because there should be a signal from the ear. I
> suggest that this is language though it's not in
> words but it's certainly a form of communication.
>
> So - to answer your question as best I can ... I
> believe language educators can assist learners to
> language reflectively by modelling and crucially by
> understanding, by being able to communicate
> their understanding (by example as well as by spoken
> utterance) that reflection can be beneficial.
> Your question resonates with Rieko Iwahama's when
> she asks How can we help teachers to reflect?
> Do take a look at her wonderful PowerPoint from BERA
> 2005 on http://www.TeacherResearch.net
>
> I love your question because it is timely for me to
> reflect on my response. Thank you! Yesterday,
> I was with a group of students (in a school) who
> were presenting their research to teaching staff. It
>
> seemed to me that the kernel of their presetation
> was communication that educators are learners
> and (to use Robyn Pound's marvellous concept of
> 'alongsidedness') teachers and students should
> be 'alongside' as learners. Language is organic.
> Its beauty resides in it capacity to embody more
> than word value. It shimmers with meaning!
> Educators can be alongside in creative momentum
> with other learners, playing with language,
> experimenting with it, seeking out new expressions,
> combining it with other forms of communication that
> invlove so much more than spoken words.
>
> My answer to your quetion? By holding back and
> creating space for reflection, by pausing and not
> just delivering a predetermined message or a
> ritualised phraseology, by listening and valuing and
>
> co-enquiring with excitement and a sense of wonder
> (just lik small children 'play' with language? )
>
> Question: How can language and languaging help the
> learners explore oneself and shape their
> lives?
>
> When it is understood as much more than just symbols
> and where the symmetry of the symbols is
> valued too. When it is used empathetically to draw
> out and share meaning (and not as a weapon).
>
> Thank you SO much for the opportunity to respond to
> all your stimulating and exciting questons,
>
> Sarah
>
Brian E. Wakeman
Education adviser
Dunstable
Beds
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