1 Using the 4th lens in reflective practiceDr Aileen Ackland University of Aberdeen
2 Critical Reflection Brookfield’s ‘4 lenses’
3 Lens 4 Theoretical Literature Educational and sociological theoryCurrent research ‘Studying theory can help us realise that what we thought were signs of our personal failings…can actually be interpreted as the consequence of economic, social and political processes.’ (Brookfield, 1995, p.36)
4 The usefulness of theoryhelps ‘name’ and recognise our practice generalises what we think are idiosyncratic experiences provides multiple perspectives provokes new ways of seeing depersonalises responsibility helps us understand the link between private troubles and broader political process provides thinking tools
5 Implicit theory …individuals and groups working in an educational setting will have evolved a particular construction of education within which they operate … problems arise when an individual or group operates with one set of assumptions to others without any acknowledgement or understanding of an alternative framework or set of assumptions which the other values. (Pope and Keen, 1981, p.163)
6 Explicit theory Formal theory serves as ‘a kind of resource and sounding board for the development and refinement of informal theory - a way of bringing critical analysis to bear on the latter’ (Usher, 1989, p.88)
7 ‘A perspective is not a recipe: it does not tell you what to do‘A perspective is not a recipe: it does not tell you what to do. Rather it acts as a guide about what to pay attention to, what difficulties to expect and how to approach problems.’ (Wenger, 1998, p.9)
8 The practical CHALLENGE…. ‘THERE IS NOTHING MORE PRACTICAL THAN A GOOD THEORY’ (Kurt Lewin) The practical CHALLENGE…. how to support the development of diverse, distributed tutors?
9 Taxonomy of informal professional learning methods (adapted from Cheetham & Chivers, How professionals learn in practice, 2001)
10 Eraut et al Learning from other people at work‘the most important sources of learning were the challenge of the work and interactions with other people.’ (1998, p.1)
11 Lave and Wenger (1991) Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation
12 Etienne Wenger (1998) Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.
13 Communities develop their practice through a variety of activities:Problem solving “Can we work together on this action plan and brainstorm some ideas; I’m stuck.” Requests for information “Where can I find the descriptor for an SQA module?” Seeking experience “Has anyone else dealt with a learner in this situation?” Reusing assets “I have a numeracy game I made for a group last year. I can send it to you and you can tweak it for your group.” Coordination and synergy “Can we combine our funding applications to achieve maximum support and benefit?” Discussing developments “What do you think of the new ILP format? Does it really help?” Documentation projects “We have faced this problem five times now. Let’s write it down once and for all.” Visits “Can we come and see your family learning project? We need to establish one in our city.” Mapping knowledge and identifying gaps “Who knows what, and what are we missing? What other groups should we connect with?” (adapted from
14 Shifting the furniture… shifting the culture…events artefacts connectivity
15 Critical reading Beyond communities of practice:Language power and social context (Barton and Trusting, 2005)
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17 Philosophies of Adult EducationFunctional Literacy: literacy is defined in terms of its social purposes; there is a correlation between individual skills, the overall performance of society and the nation in terms of modernisation and economic productivity. Deficits are emphasised as the underlying problem with solutions promulgated in terms of repair to a fixed and discrete set of transferable skills. Liberal traditions of literacy: literacy is seen as a welfare activity for disadvantaged sectors of society. Based on a humanist view of education, the emphasis is on personal development and the achievement of individual goals. Liberal based practices extend the focus beyond work related and ‘functional’ skills and may include more leisure-oriented use of reading and writing, including creative writing. Such programmes are seen as a right and therefore would be open to all sectors of the population including older learners and those who are not part of the workforce. Critical Literacy: in which there is a move away from the ‘utilitarian and vocational meanings’ (Rasool, 1999, 8) toward a pedagogy that aims to allow participants to understand their world in terms of justice and injustice, power and oppression, and so ultimately to transform it. Literacy is political in this framework and as Freire and Macedo (1987) put it, has potential not only for ‘reading the word but also for reading the world’. Central to critical literacy is the idea of participation in society and the consequent connection to democratic citizenship. Papen (2005, pp 9-11) Vocational /occupational Personal growth education Social role and socially transformative education Is it to help them reconcile themselves to their lot in the slums to enrich their lives where they are to help some escape life on the margins for a more centrally located life to help people change the society they find themselves in (Rogers, 2002, 3) Liberal Behaviourist Progressive Humanistic Radical to help a few escape from the slums? or to help those who live in the slums change the slums in their own ways rather than our ways?
18 ideological social conceptions and uses of literacyNew Literacy Studies autonomous a set of cognitive skills & abilities and their generic use vs ideological social conceptions and uses of literacy Street Brian V. (1985) Literacy in theory and practice, Cambridge, England
19 ‘The limits of the local’Social practices theory ‘…literacy understood principally as a form of social participation and literacy learning principally as a form of socialization.’ Brandt and Clinton (2002) ‘The limits of the local’
20 Leads to a new question….how would you facilitate a process of learning as socialisation to help your learners participate in literacy as a social practice
21 Youth work 'the difficult thing to explain about how middle class kids get middle class jobs is why others let them. The difficult thing to explain about how working class kids get working class jobs is why they let themselves' (Willis, 1981, p.1). You are asked to run a project aimed at reducing unemployment amongst young people. What do you do…
22 It depends…. Some alternative perspectivesMarxism Hegemony (Gramsci) Lifeworlds (Williamson) habitus (Bourdieu) Cultural and social capital (Bourdieu) Bonding bridging and linking social capital (Putnam) Counter cultures Demonisation of the working class (Jones) Youth, ‘bio-power and disposability’ (Giroux)
23 Current research Links private troubles with public issueThe impact of austerity on schools and children’s education and well-being
24 Using the 4th lens helps us expose and examine our own assumptionshelps us appreciate the links between personal issues and broader political process gives us access to alternative ways of seeing provides thinking tools
25 References Barton, D. & Tusting, K., (Eds.) (2005) Beyond Communities of Practice, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Brandt, D. and Clinton, K., (2002) Limits of the Local: Expanding Perspectives on Literacy as a Social Practice, Journal of Literacy Research, September 2002 vol. 34 no. 3 pp Brookfield, S. (1995) Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher, San Francisco, Jossey-Bass. Cheetham, G. and Chivers, G. (2001) ‘How professionals learn – the practice! What the empirical research found,’ Journal of European Industrial Training, 25 (5) pp Eraut, M., Alderton, J., Cole, G. and Senker, P. (1998) Development of Knowledge and Skills in Employment, Sussex, University of Sussex Institute of Education. Eraut, M., Alderton, J., Cole, G. and Senker, P. (2002) ‘Learning from other people at work’, in Harrison, R, Reeve, F., Hanson, A., Clarke, J.(eds) Supporting lifelong learning, Volume 1: Perspectives on learning, London, Routledge Falmer. Giroux, Henry A. (2009). Youth in a Suspect Society: Democracy or Disposability? New York, Palgrave-Macmillan. Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991) Situated Learning. Legitimate peripheral participation, Cambridge, University of Cambridge Press. Papen, U. (2005) Adult Literacy as Social Practice More than Skills, London, Routledge. Street, Brian V. (1985) Literacy in theory and practice, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Pope, M. and Keen, T. (1981) Personal Construct Psychology and Education, London, Academic Press. Wenger, E. (1998) Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Usher, R. (1989) ‘Locating adult education in the practical’ In B. Bright (Ed.) Theory and Practice in the Study of Adult Education: The Epistemological Debate, London, Routledge. Willis, Paul E. (1981): Learning to labour. How working class kids get working class jobs, Aldershot (UK), Gower.