HOW DO I IMPROVE MY PRACTICE? CREATING A DISCIPLINE OF EDUCATION THROUGH EDUCATIONAL ENQUIRY
Abstract of PhD Submission to the University of Bath, 1999
Jack Whitehead.
ABSTRACT
This thesis shows how living educational standards of originality of mind and critical judgement in educational enquiries has created a discipline of education.
The meanings of these standards emerged from an analysis of my research published between 1977-1999. The analysis proceeds from the base of my experience of myself, my 'I', as a living contradiction in the question 'How do I improve this process of education here?'
An 'educational' methodology, which includes 'I' as a living contradiction, emerges from the application of a four-fold classification of methodologies of the social sciences. Then the idea of living educational theories emerges in terms of the descriptions and explanations which individual learners produce for their own educational development.
A logic of the question, 'How do I improve my practice?, emerges from my engagement with the ideas of others and from an exploration of the question in the practical contradictions between the power of truth and the truth of power in my workplace.
A discipline of education, with its standards of originality of mind and critical judgement, is defined and extended into my educative influences as a professional educator in the enquiry, 'How do I help you to improve your learning?'.
My living educational theory continues to develop in the enquiry , 'How do I live my values more fully in my practice?'. I explain my present practice in terms of an evaluation of my past learning, in terms of my present experiences of spiritual, aesthetic and ethical contradictions in my educative relations and in terms of my proposals for living my values more fully in the future.
CONTENTS
You can download the PhD in the following parts in PDF format
Frontpage, Acknowledgements, Abstract, Contents pages 1-8
PART ONE: Introducing 'Educative Relations' in a New Era pages 9-16
PART TWO: How do I improve this process of education here? An educational enquiry into living contradictions, educational research methodologies and living educational theories.
pages 17-22
PART THREE: The logic of the question, How do I improve my practice? pages 23-38
PART FOUR: How do I help you to improve your learning? Spiritual, aesthetic and ethical contradictions in my discipline of education.
pages 39-60
PART FIVE: Critical Judgements in engaging with the ideas of others.
pages 61-68
PART FIVE: Two - Whitehead, J. (1982) A Dialectician's Guide for Educational Researchers. Booklet presented at a Round Table Discussion at BERA'82, St. Andrews University.
PART FIVE: Three: Whitehead, J. (1985a) A dialectician responds to a philosopher who holds an orthodox view of knowledge. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, Vol. 10, No.1, pp. 35-52.
PART SIX: Endpiece/Moving on with spiritual, aesthetic and ethical values in the question, 'How do I live my values more fully in my practice?' pages 69-84
Narrative References
The full contents of all the published papers in Volume Two with the narratives creating a living theory in the explanation of my educational influences in learning are as follows
PAGE
Title and copyright 1
Note to the Reader 2
Abstract 3
Acknowledgements. 4
CONTENTS 5
PART ONE - page 9
Introducing 'Educative Relations in a New Era'.
1.1. Narrative.
1.2. Whitehead, J. (1999a) Educative Relations in a New Era. Curriculum Studies, Vol. 7. No.1, pp. 73-90. (in press).
PART TWO - page 17
How do I improve this process of education here?
An educational enquiry into living contradictions, educational research methdodologies and living educational theories.
2.1. Narrative.
2.2. Whitehead, J. (1977) Improving Learning in Schools - An In-Service Problem, British Journal of In-Service Education, Vol.3, No.2, pp. 104-111.
2.3. Whitehead, J. (1982) Assessing and Evaluating an Individual's Higher Education, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, Vol. 7. No.1, pp. 74-83.
2.4. Whitehead, J. (1985a) The Analysis of an Individual's Educational Development, in Shipman, M. (Ed.) Educational Research, Policies and Practice, London; Falmer.
2.5. Whitehead, J. (1989a) Creating a Living Educational Theory from Questions of the Kind, 'How do I improve my Practice?', Cambridge Journal of Education, Vol. 19, No.1, pp. 41-52.
PART THREE - page 23
The Logic of the Question 'How do I improve my practice?'
3.1. Narrative.
3.2. Whitehead, J. (1991) A Dialectical Analysis of an Individual's Educational Development and a Basis for Socially Orientated Action Research. Proceedings of the First World Congress on Action Learning, Action Research and Process Management, Vol. 1, 1991. Brisbane, Acorn Press.
3.3. Hughes, J., Denley, P. & Whitehead, J. (1998a) How do we make sense of the process of legitimising an educational action research thesis for the award of a Ph.D. degree? - a contribution to educational theory. Educational Action Research Journal, Vol. 6, No.3. pp. 427-452.
PART FOUR -page 39
How do I help you to improve your learning? Spiritual, aesthetic and ethical contradictions in my discipline of education.
4.1. Narrative.
4.2. Whitehead, J. & Delong, J. (1997) Educative Relations with Jackie Delong: A collaborative enquiry into a Ph.D. researcher and supervisor relationship. A paper presented at AERA, March 1997, in Chicago, U.S.A.
4.3. Whitehead, J. (1998b) How do I know that I have influenced you for good? Proceedings of the Second International Conference of the AERA Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices, SIG. Herstmonceux. August 1998.
4.4. Whitehead , J. (1998c) The importance of loving care and compassionate understanding in conversations which sometimes become infused with irritation, frustration and anger: Conversations & Correspondences with Dr. Pat D'Arcy. Paper to the International Teacher-Researcher Conference, La Jolla, April 1997.
4.5. Whitehead, J. (1999b) Creating a new discipline of educational enquiry in the context of the politics and economics of educational knowledge. Paper presented at the BERA symposium at AERA Montreal, April 1999.
4.6. Lomax, P., Evans, M., Parker, Z. & Whitehead, J. (1999) Knowing ourselves as teacher educators: joint self-study through electronic mail, Educational Action Research, Vol.7, No.2, pp. 239-262 (in press).
PART FIVE - page 64
Critical Judgements in engaging with the ideas of others.
5.1. Narrative.
5.2 Whitehead, J. (1982) A Dialectician's Guide for Educational Researchers. Booklet presented at a Round Table Discussion at BERA'82, St. Andrews University.
5.3. Whitehead, J. (1985a) A dialectician responds to a philosopher who holds an orthodox view of knowledge. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, Vol. 10, No.1, pp. 35-52.
5.4. Whitehead, J. (1989b) How do we improve research-based professionalism in Education? - A question which includes action research, educational theory and the politics of educational knowledge. Presidential Address to the British Educational Research Association, 1988, British Educational Research Journal, Vol. 15, No.1, pp. 3-17, 1989.
5.5. Whitehead, J. (1990) How Can I Improve My Contribution to Practitioner Research in Teacher Education? A Response to Jean Rudduck. Westminster Studies in Education, Vol. 13, pp. 27-36.
5.6. Whitehead, J. (1992) How can my philosophy of action research transform and improve my professional practice and produce a good social order? - A Response to Ortrun Zuber-Skerritt. Proceedings of the Second World Congress on Action Learning, Action Research and Process Management, Bruce, C.S. & Russell, A. L. (Ed.) Brisbane; ALARPM. Inc.
5.7. Whitehead, J. (1996) Living Educational Theories and Living Contradictions: a response to Mike Newby, Journal of Philosophy of Education, Vol. 30, No.3, pp. 457-461.
5.8. Whitehead, J. (1998d) Developing Research-Based Professionalism Through Living Educational Theories. Keynote Address to the Educational Studies Association of Ireland, Trinity College, Dublin, November 1998.
PART SIX - page 76
Endpiece/Moving on with spiritual, aesthetic and ethical values in the question, 'How do I live my values more fully in my practice?'
6.1 Self Appraisal 1998-1999.
6.2 Future Intentions in Four Proposals to the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, April 2000.
6.3 Four Proposals to the American Educational Research Association. New Orleans, April 2000.
References 85
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