Living
The Standards And Living Your Standards As Professional Educators
Jack
Whitehead, University of Bath, UK
Notes
for an Ontario College of Teachers Institute on Living The Standards
20-21
November 2006 in Toronto
Introduction
The
Ontario College of Teachers was established in 1997 to allow teachers to
regulate and govern their own profession in the public interest. Given the world as it is I cannot think of anything more important for
the public interest in sustaining humanity then enhancing the global flow of
the ethical standards and standards of practice advocated by OCT. I am thinking
here of Care, Trust, Respect and Integrity in the Ethical Standards. I am
thinking of Commitment to Students and Student Learning, Professional
Knowledge, Professional Practice, Leadership in Learning Communities and
Ongoing Professional Learning in the Standards of Practice. Here is the OCT
poster that I think will repay your careful reading:
http://www.jackwhitehead.com/tuesdayma/octstandards.pdf
I want to begin with some images and
commentary I included in a 2005 keynote to the Act, Reflect, Revise III
Conference in Brantford that has been published in the latest issue of Ontario
Action Researcher. The images from
Africa, a classroom in the UK and a mother and son in China, serve to focus
attention on the OCT standard of practice of commitment to students and student
learning and the importance of passion for care, trust, respect and integrity
and, I would add, for love and justice.
"The photograph below was taken from Mark Potts'
(2003) enquiry How can I use my own values and my experience of schools in
South Africa to influence my own education and the education of others? http://www.bath.ac.uk/~edsajw/module/mpsa.pdf
This is what Mark
wrote to accompany the image:
Perhaps it was the optimism that I felt as I spoke
with this 17 year old student of Economics about his aspirations to go on to
College and be an accountant, followed by the sadness as I spoke afterwards to
his teacher who told me that there was no prospect of this because the family
was too poor to pay the College fees. In my mind I thought of the opportunities
lying ahead of the children in the well-resourced schools that I had seen
during my visit. That was the source of the anger that I felt. (Potts,
2003)
My own interest in OCT goes back to the
initial attempts to define standards of practice for the teaching profession.
Together with Jacqueline Delong, a Superintendent of Schools in the Grand Erie
District School Board we focused on the responsibility of OCT:
We will be arguing that this responsibility could
be fulfilled in the development of a form of research-based professionalism in
teaching which is focused on the creation, by individual teachers, of their own
living educational theories (Hamilton & Pinnegar, 1998, p. 242). Through
such a process, teachers would define their own professional standards of
practice while taking into account the standards of practice and
responsibilities of the OCT. (Delong & Whitehead, 1998)
and in our conclusions we emphasized our
individual responsibilities to share stories of our learning in which we
engaged with living our values as fully as we can in our professional contexts
in education:
If the OCT standards of practice are to fulfill
their promise of helping to improve student learning and professional practice,
and if they are to avoid the pitfalls of linguistic checklists, we, the
practitioners, must protect the spontaneity and individualism by providing the
stories/case studies of our professional learning. In that way we can ensure
that our professional standards are living and developmental and not part of an
oppressive form of external control.
Our challenge is that each one of us should take
responsibility to share a story/case study that makes one or more of the
standards exist in our images of ourselves in our educative relationships with
our students and colleagues. We recognize that the most powerful form of
sharing, as part of our professional learning, takes place in face-to-face,
small groups. We do, however, believe that we should be exploring the potential
of the Internet for sharing our stories/case studies of our professional
learning. Jack Whitehead has done this on his action research home page and it
is one of the key goals of the Ontario Action Researcher.
(Delong & Whitehead, 1998).
We have both accepted this responsibility in sharing
our stories of our educational influences in our own learning, in the learning
of others and in the learning of social formations from our enquiries into our
own responsibilities for living our values as fully as we can in our doctoral
theses:
Whitehead,
J. (1999) How do I improve my practice? Creating a
discipline of education through educational enquiry. Ph.D. University of Bath.
Retrieved 19 February 2004 from http://www.actionresearch.net/jack.shtml
Delong, J.
(2002) How Can I Improve My Practice As
A Superintendent of Schools and Create My Own Living Educational Theory? Ph.D. University of Bath. Retrieved 19
February 2004 from http://www.actionresearch.net/delong.shtml
I want to be clear about the distinction
I am using between standards of practice and standards of judgement. Standards
of practice are focused on what we are doing in our educational practices as
educators. Standards of judgment are focused on the validity of our narrative explanations
of our educational influences in learning, in what we are doing in our
educational practices as educators.
The initial attempts by the OCT to
define standards of practice as checklists of statements has thankfully given
way to a much more sophisticated visual narrative approach to communicating the meanings of educational standards of practice and
judgment as the meanings are clarified in the course of their emergence in
practice. This approach is exemplified in the Introduction to Draft Booklet 2
of Living the Standards:
Classroom Practice: A Teacher's
Story is a visual narrative developed by a member of the Ontario College of
Teachers. This educator tells a story of his or her professional practice. His
or her professional knowledge, ethics and instructional strategies are revealed
through the words and images depicted in the video.
This visual narrative communicates a
story of teaching that is engaging, authentic and reflective of the ethical
standards and standards of practice.
To facilitate professional inquiry
into the teaching experiences conveyed in this visual narrative, a series of
storyboards and reflective questions are provided to support collegial
discussions based on the standards.
(OCT, 2006a, p. 2)
In a contribution to a case commentary
for the Casebook Guide for Teacher Education (OCT, 2006b) I focused on what
might help the OCT to develop the most 'educational' standards of practice and
judgment the profession has yet seen:
I wondered about the possibility of
developing the action research project so that its influence in the education
of the social formation of the school and wider community might be felt more
widely. I also wondered about deepening the values base of the enquiry in
relation to its contribution to our understandings of the educational standards
of practice being lived by this professional educator. What I have in mind are
videotapes of the educational relationships in the classroom in which the
educator's embodied values are clarified in the course of their emergence in
their educational relationships. In this process of clarification, the
embodied values can be transformed into the living and communicable standards
of practice (Delong & Whitehead, 1998) that could help the Ontario College
of Teachers to develop the most 'educational' standards of practice and
judgment the profession has yet seen.
I know that there will be ethical issues to be overcome in the use of visual
images and in the use of student voice. I wondered if encouraging the students
to tell their stories of their learning and integrating these with the
teachers' stories might also help to spread the influence of the educational
values expressed through the story.
(Whitehead, 2006b, pp. 20-21)
What I particularly like about the
visual narrative approach to standards of practice is that it enables the
meanings of the embodied ethical values of educators to be communicated in a
way that shows their living practice of educational influence in their own
learning and in their students learning. I want to stress the educational
significance of this move of the OCT to a visual narrative approach to
standards of practice. I also want to provide some evidence that justifies my
advocacy of the use of this approach in clarifying the living standards of judgment
for enhancing the educational knowledge-base of professional educators from the
ground of their standards of practice. I shall do this by showing the visual
narratives of master and doctor educators that have been legitimated as
contributions to educational knowledge by the Academy. By focusing on the
generation of standards of judgment from the ethical standards and standards of
practice I want to explain how the OCT could establish a world leadership in
educational standards of practice and judgment.
To provide a bridge between the OCT
visual narratives of ethical standards and standards of practice, and the living educational standards of judgment in the embodied knowledge of master and doctor educators, I focus on a
point made by Catherine Snow in her Presidential Address to AERA in 2001:
"The ....
challenge is to enhance the value of personal knowledge and personal experience
for practice. Good teachers possess a wealth of knowledge about teaching that
cannot currently be drawn upon effectively in the preparation of novice
teachers or in debates about practice. The challenge here is not to ignore or
downplay this personal knowledge, but to elevate it. The knowledge resources of
excellent teachers constitute a rich resource, but one that is largely untapped
because we have no procedures for systematizing it. Systematizing would require
procedures for accumulating such knowledge and making it public, for connecting
it to bodies of knowledge established through other methods, and for vetting it
for correctness and consistency. If we had agreed-upon procedures for
transforming knowledge based on personal experiences of practice into 'public'
knowledge, analogous to the way a researcher's private knowledge is made public
through peer-review and publication, the advantages would be great (my
emphasis). For one, such knowledge might help us avoid drawing far-reaching
conclusions about instructional practices from experimental studies carried out
in rarified settings. Such systematized knowledge would certainly enrich the
research-based knowledge being increasingly introduced into teacher preparation
programs. And having standards for the systematization of personal knowledge
would provide a basis for rejecting personal anecdotes as a basis for either
policy or practice." (p.9)
While my own
preference is for strengthening the validity of personal stories in enhancing
the knowledge-base of education, rather than appearing to reject the personal
anecdotes, I do agree with Snow about the importance of establishing procedures
for accumulating the embodied knowledge of professional educators. Here is how
I think it has been done at the University of Bath as I have been seeking to
contribute to fulfilling the part of the mission of the university to have a
distinct academic approach to the education of professional practitioners.
I think the
procedures are identical with those being advocated by the OCT for the
construction of visual narratives. Our language differs slightly in that I
include the experience of living contradiction (Ilyenkov, 1976, p. 313) in my
discussions of ethical dilemmas and conflicts. The only difference that I
detect between the OCT procedures and my own is in the desire to see the
embodied knowledge of professional educators legitimated as valid educational
knowledge in the Academy.
In what follows
I am seeking to justify my advocacy of two approaches to establish the world
leading credentials of the OCT in terms of standards of practice for
professional educators and in terms of standards of judgment for accrediting
the embodied knowledge of master and doctor educators.
The first
approach concerns the legitimation of the embodied knowledge of professional
educators in the Academy. The second approach concerns the forming and
sustaining of a culture of inquiry (Delong, 2002) for the creation of the
visual narratives of professional educators. The two approaches are linked by
the research-based professionalism of educators as they recontextualise their
embodied knowledge from their workplaces into the legitimated and accredited
knowledge-base of professional educators in the Academy (Whitehead, 1988; http://www.bera.ac.uk/addressdownloads/Whitehead,%201988.pdf
)
Legitimating
the embodied knowledge of professional educators in the Academy.
In legitimating
the embodied knowledge of professional educators in the Academy I am aware of
making a distinction between standards of practice and standards of judgment. I
think the distinction bears repeating. Standards of practice are expressed in
what we are doing in our professional practices as educators. Standards of
judgment are what we use to evaluate the quality/validity of our claims to know
what we are doing in our professional practices. The significance of this
distinction is in the processes we use to clarify our ontological and ethical
values in the course of their emergence in practice. As our ontological and
ethical standards are clarified they can form the living epistemological
standards of judgment we use to evaluate the quality/validity our visual
narratives are making to the educational knowledge-base.
In that the
narratives of educators about their professional learning contain explanations
for their educational influences in their own learning, in the learning of
others and in the learning of social formations, I have taken to calling these
explanations, living educational theories (Whitehead & McNiff, 2006). I like this term because it enables me
to stress the importance of recognising ourselves as living contradictions as
we hold an experience of wanting to live our values as fully as we can,
together with an experience of seeing ourselves negating these values in our
practice.
I also like the
idea of living standards of practice and judgment because the idea of 'living'
keeps in mind the need to continuously regenerate the standards. Moira Laidlaw
first emphasised for me the importance of living standards of judgement in the
course of her doctoral enquiry as she both expressed her embodied knowledge as
an educator in her classroom and legitimated this knowledge in the Academy as a
doctor educator. (see Laidlaw, M.
(1996) How can I create my own living educational theory as I offer you an
account of my educational development?
Ph.D. thesis, University of Bath. Retrieved 12 November 2006 from http://www.actionresearch.net/moira2.shtml
http://www.arexpeditions.montana.edu/articleviewer.php?AID=87
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MEd: Geoff Suderman-Gladwell: The
Ethics of Personal Subjective Narrative Research |
As the lead learner, Delong researched her own
educational practices for her doctoral degree as she supported the development
of a culture of inquiry within GEDSB and this was also awarded in 2002.
Delong, J.
(2002) How Can I Improve My Practice As
A Superintendent of Schools and Create My Own Living Educational Theory? Ph.D. University of Bath. Retrieved 19
February 2004 from http://www.actionresearch.net/delong.shtml
Of vital importance in generating this culture of
inquiry was the leadership shown by teacher-researchers in organizing meetings
to talk about what they were doing and to share their written accounts.
Questions that focused on gathering data to make a judgment on influences in
student learning, also helped to focus and sustain the inquiries. The five
volumes of Passion in Professional Practice (http://schools.gedsb.net/ar/passion/index.html
) bear witness to the success of the generation of a culture of inquiry that
supported the teacher-researchers inquiries into improving their educational
influences in their students' learning.
I am suggesting that this masters programme developed
in partnership between Brock University and the Grand Erie District School
Board could lead the way in showing how the embodied knowledge of educators in
Ontario could be recognized and legitimated in the Academy as that of master
and doctor educators.
While
this was a one-off programme in the sense that it was not sustained, I believe
that there is a possibility of another programme beginning in 2007 with support
from Brock University and the Grand Erie District School Board. At the
University of Bath, such programmes have been sustained over many years and you
can see some of the accounts of the master educators at:
http://people.bath.ac.uk/edsajw/mastermod.shtml
Over
recent years masters degrees for educators have evolved into a number of units
and a dissertation. The numbers of units, length of assignments and
dissertations can vary. What I like about the masters degree programme at the
University of Bath is the way it permits educators to bring their embodied
knowledge into the Academy through such units as educational enquiry,
understanding learning and learners and an action research dissertation.
For
a number of Educational Enquiry and Research Methods in Education writings
produced this year by a group of master educators see:
Research
Methods in Education
Steve Bamford, The Creation of
Quality Experience - How Do I Research This in My Classroom?
http://www.jackwhitehead.com/tuesdayma/rme06/stevebamfordrme.htm
Nina Denley, What am I learning as I seek to
integrate a child with 'autistic spectrum disorder' (ASD) into my mainstream
class? How can I research this in my classroom?
http://www.jackwhitehead.com/tuesdayma/rme06/ninaclaytonrme.htm
Claire Formby,
How can I research the difference my values make to the children I teach?
http://www.jackwhitehead.com/tuesdayma/rme06/ninaclaytonrme.htm
Rosalind Hurford, If the development of an
emotionally literate classroom is fundamental to my own values and philosophy
of education, how can I show the impact of it on the well-being and learning of
the children I teach? How do I research this in my classroom?
http://www.jackwhitehead.com/tuesdayma/rme06/roshurfordrme.htm
Margaret White, How do I research the relationships
that are created within my primary classroom?
http://www.jackwhitehead.com/tuesdayma/rme06/margaretwrightrme.htm
Educational Enquiries
Ed Harker, How can I carry out Masters level
educational research without abandoning my own educational values?
http://www.jackwhitehead.com/tuesdayma/ehee06.htm
Joy Mounter's Educational Enquiry, How can I live my personal
theory of education in the classroom to promote self reflection as a learner? http://www.jackwhitehead.com/tuesdayma/joymounteree.htm
For
the narratives of doctor educators see:
http://people.bath.ac.uk/edsajw/living.shtml
I
want to draw your attention to the doctoral theses of Mary Hartog, Bernie
Sullivan and Mairin Glenn. Mary
has recently been awarded a National Teaching Award in recognition of the
quality of her influence in student learning. Mary's was one of the first
visual narrative doctorates in the University of Bath to include e-media
because of a change of University regulation in 2004 that permitted the
submission of e-media. This has opened the way to the submission of visual
narratives such as the ground-breaking thesis of Marian Naidoo on her emergent
living theory of inclusional and responsive practice:
http://people.bath.ac.uk/edsajw/naidoo.shtml
The
doctorates of Bernie Sullivan and Mairin Glenn have recently been submitted and
examined at the University of Limerick in the Republic of Ireland.
Sullivan, B. (2006) A living theory of a practice
of social justice: Realising the right of Traveller Children to educational
equality. Graduated September 2006 from Limerick University. Supervisor,
Jean McNiff. Retrieved 13 November
2006 from http://www.jeanmcniff.com/bernieabstract.html
Glenn, M. (2006) Working with collaborative projects: my
living theory of a holistic educational practice. Under examination. Supervisor, Jean
McNiff. Retrieved 27 November 2006 from http://www.jeanmcniff.com/glennabstract.html
It is my belief
that these theses place the educational knowledge-base of the University of
Limerick at the forefront of the global movement to legitimate the embodied
knowledge of professional educators. They join the living theory thesis of
Margaret Farren at Dublin City University in its flow through webspace (see Farren, M. (2005) How can I create a pedagogy of the
unique through a web of betweenness? Ph.D. University of Bath. Retrieved 13 November 2006 from http://www.bath.ac.uk/~edsajw/farren.shtml).
Farren, like myself, has focused her attention on legitimating the
embodied knowledge of professional educators into the Academy. You can
appreciate her success with the learning resources and living theory
dissertations flowing from her web-space at http://webpages.dcu.ie/~farrenm/
The
main point I am making in this section is that the OCT have established
appropriate procedures for generating the visual narratives of professional
educators as they live their standards of practice in relation to the OCT
ethical standards and standards of practice. To become world leading in both
standards of practice and standards of judgment I am advocating the development
of partnerships of the kind developed between Brock University and the Grand
Erie District Board but with the addition of the inclusion of the OCT ethical standards and standards
of practice for recognising and accrediting the embodied knowledge of master
and doctor educators within the Academy. Because I am suggesting that it is
essential to generate the conditions that formed and sustained the kind of
culture of inquiry established in the Grand Erie District School Board between
1996-2006 I now want to consider this in more details.
Forming and
sustaining cultures of inquiry (Delong, 2002) for the creation of the visual
narratives of professional educators as they recontextualise their embodied
knowledge from their workplaces into the legitimated and accredited
knowledge-base of professional educators in the Academy.
If the ideas and
processes advocated in the OCT draft publications on Living The Standards
become widely disseminated there remains the issue, recognised by the OCT, of
generating the cultures of inquiry that will support this approach to
professional learning and development.
In 2002
Jacqueline Delong was awarded her doctorate from the University of Bath for her
thesis on How Can I Improve My Practice As A Superintendent of Schools and
Create My Own Living Educational Theory? You can access
the thesis from http://people.bath.ac.uk/edsajw/delong.shtml . It contains the following abstract that stresses the
importance of generated a culture of inquiry and the importance of educational
leaders of learning being willing to research their own professional practice.
The research involves leaders of learning in producing publically available
narratives of their own learning as they generate their own living educational
theories. Jean McNiff (2006) has recently stressed the importance of this in
her work on 'My Story is my Living Educational Theory'. Here is the Abstract
from Jacqueline Delong's thesis:
Abstract
One of the basic tenets of my philosophy is that
the development of a culture for improving learning rests upon supporting the
knowledge-creating capacity in each individual in the system. Thus, I start
with my own. This thesis sets out a claim to know my own learning in my
educational inquiry, 'How can I improve my practice as a superintendent of schools?'
Out of this philosophy emerges my belief that the
professional development of each teacher rests in their own knowledge-creating
capacities as they examine their own practice in helping their students to
improve their learning. In creating my own educational theory and supporting
teachers in creating theirs, we engage with and use insights from the theories
of others in the process of improving student learning.
The originality of the contribution of this
thesis to the academic and professional knowledge-base of education is in the
systematic way I transform my embodied educational values into educational
standards of practice and judgement in the creation of my living educational
theory. In the thesis I demonstrate how these values and standards can be used
critically both to test the validity of my knowledge-claims and to be a
powerful motivator in my living educational inquiry.
The values and standards are defined in
terms of valuing the other in my professional practice, building a culture of
inquiry, reflection and scholarship and creating knowledge.
The thesis
demonstrates how an educational leader of learning does just what is claimed in
the Abstract. It follows the processes outlined for the creation of visual
narratives by the OCT and shows how embodied educational values can be
transformed into the educational standards of practice and judgement in the
creation of a living educational theory of a doctor educator.
In the UK, we
have what is known as the Research Assessment Exercise where the quality of
research is judged in terms of its originality, significance and rigour in
relation to whether it is world leading, internationally excellent,
internationally recognised and nationally recognised. I am presently convening
the British Educational Research Association Practitioner-Researcher Special
Interest Group 2006-7 e-seminar on standards of judgement for evaluating the
quality of the educational knowledge and educational theory generated by
practitioner-researchers. You can join or leave the seminar from the What's New
section of http://www.actionresearch.net
and I am hoping that you will share your ideas in this e-forum.
What I am
suggesting is that the work of the OCT could become world leading in terms of
its standards of practice and procedures for generating visual narratives, by
accrediting the embodied knowledge of master and doctor educators in
partnership with higher education. I am thinking of partnerships in which
higher education recognises its responsibility to legitimate the embodied
knowledge of professional educators with as little distortion as possible. I am
thinking of partnerships in which the OCT advocates a recognition of their
ethical standards and standards of practice in the accreditation of educational
knowledge by Higher Education. Such partnerships will include a recognition by
Higher Education of the living standards of judgment used by educators to
generate their own living educational theories of their educational influences
in learning. I see the ethical standards of OCT, when clarified in the course
of their emergence in educational relationships between educator and student,
to be such living standards of judgment.
Through such
partnerships I am suggesting that the living standards of practice of the OCT
will be continuously regenerating to meet the changing challenges of sustaining
humanity in our global contexts and communities without violating the integrity
of individuals to take responsibility in forming and sustaining their own
humanity.
One partnership
with such global implications has been developed over the past five years in
China in work with Moira Laidlaw through Voluntary Service Overseas and through
the newly constituted Ningxia Teachers University in its transformation from
Guyuan Teachers College. The University hosts China's Experimental Centre for
Educational Action Research in Foreign Language Teaching (CECEARFLT). Working
with Dean Tian Fengjun and Li Peidong, two of the leaders of the Centre, Moira
Laidlaw has been supporting the development of a living theory approach to
professional learning and development with Chinese characteristics. The initial
accounts of the Chinese action researchers can be accessed from:
http://people.bath.ac.uk/edsajw/moira.shtml
with more developed analyses on the work of action
researchers at Ningxia Teachers University already published (Tian &
Laidlaw, 2005 & 2006; Li & Laidlaw, 2006). Global partnerships between colleagues in OCT, Brock
University, Limerick University, University of Bath, Ningxia Teachers
University and VSO would do much to sustain the world leading, research-based
development of educational standards of practice and judgment. Ningxia Teachers
University is moving towards the accreditation of its first masters programme
in 2008 and developing its research expertise in doctoral programmes.
In relation to the theme of the 2007 American
Educational Research Association on The World of Educational Quality I think
we could do much (Whitehead, 2006c) to show how we are contributing to the
creation of a world of educational quality through the creation and sharing of
our living educational theories. I
like the title 'Passion in Professional Practice', for the publications of the
teacher-researchers in the Grand Erie District School Board. Passion and
emotional literacy are crucial qualities in education as is a desire to
contribute to the Common Good. The latest living theory of a professional
educator to flow through web-space is that of Mairin Glenn I mentioned earlier
and I do hope that you will access it at:
http://www.jeanmcniff.com/glennabstract.html
In her Abstract Mairin makes the point that:
A distinctive feature of my research account is my
articulation of how my ontological values of love and care have transformed
into my living critical epistemological standards of judgement, as I produce my
multimedia evidence-based living theory of a holistic educational practice.
Through working with collaborative multimedia projects, I explain how I have
developed an epistemology of practice that enables me to account for my
educational influence in learning.
I am hopeful that you will add to the flow of living
educational theories through web-space in contributing to the creation of a
world of educational quality.
In the concluding section of this presentation I want
to show that I am also doing what I am advocating that others should do! Here is a visual narrative of my living
educational theory as I seek to contribute to the creation of world leading
educational practitioner-researcher. I am thinking of research that embodies the
living standards of practice and judgment that are consistent with the ethical
standards, standards of practice and professional learning framework of the
Ontario College of Teachers.
The Standards of Practice and Judgment in my Living
Educational Theory
Having started my initial teacher education programme
in 1966, this Institute marks my 40 years of professional engagement in
education and some 33 years at the University of Bath on my research programme
into the nature of educational theory. So, how do I condense my learning over
these years into a form of living educational theory to show that I am doing
what I have been advocating in this Institute of OCT on Living The Standards?
My first step is to make available the writings that
explain my educational influences in my own learning, in the learning of others
and in the learning of the social formations in which I live and work. In my
most ambitious publication to date in Action Research Expeditions you can
access
DO ACTION
RESEARCHERS' EXPEDITIONS CARRY HOPE FOR THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY? HOW DO WE KNOW?
An enquiry
into reconstructing educational theory and educating social formations
at
http://www.arexpeditions.montana.edu/articleviewer.php?AID=80
This
e-journal allows you to access the story of the growth of my educational
knowledge in the two phases between 1973-1993 (Whitehead, 1993 – see http://people.bath.ac.uk/edsajw/bk93/geki.htm
) and between 1993 and May 2004. As you might expect from such a lifelong
journey of learning there are several episodes involving conflict, lack of
recognition, anger and humiliation as well as experiences of great pleasure,
love, fulfillment and recognition that enhance the flow of my life-affirming
energy. The 1993 text includes experiences of successful responses to attempts
to terminate my employment at the university, responses to university
regulations that refuse to permit, under any circumstances, questions about the
judgments of examiners of two doctoral submissions I made to the university in
1980 and 1982. It includes responses to the claim that my activities and
writings were a challenge to the present and proper organization of the
university and not consistent with the duties the university wished me to
pursue in teaching and research. The later response included a report from a
Senate Working Party on a Matter of Academic Freedom in 1991 that pleased me
with the recognition that while my academic freedom had not been breached that
this was due to my persistence in the face of pressure. What I think the 1993
text establishes beyond reasonable doubt is that I clarified the living
meanings of my embodied passion for academic freedom in the course of its emergence
through my practice. The contents of the text also show the expression of my
love of learning as I engage with and use the ideas of other researchers in the
generation of my own living educational theory.
Between May 2004 and today (21 November 2006) you can
see the growth of my educational knowledge in the keynote to Action, Reflect,
Revise III on living inclusional values in educational standards of practice
and judgment at http://www.nipissingu.ca/oar/new_issue-V821E.htm
and in the following visual narrative. In particular I want to draw your
attention to the significance of inclusionality in generating living
educational standards of practice and judgment. Following Alan Rayner (2004,
2006) I see inclusionality as a relationally dynamic awareness of space and
boundaries that is connective, reflexive and co-creative. Marian Naidoo's
doctoral thesis on her emergent living theory of inclusional and responsive
practice, with a DVD visual narrative to show her living meanings of a passion
for compassion, will I think inspire you in seeing the importance of adding
your living educational theory to the flow of such cultural artifacts through
web space:
I
am a story teller and the focus of this narrative is on my learning and the
development of my living educational theory as I have engaged with others in a
creative and critical practice over a sustained period of time. This narrative
self-study demonstrates how I have encouraged people to work creatively and
critically in order to improve the way we relate and communicate in a
multi-professional and multi-agency healthcare setting in order to improve both
the quality of care provided and the well being of the system.
(Naidoo, 2005, Abstract – see http://people.bath.ac.uk/edsajw/naidoo.shtml
)
The following visual narrative brings me to my present
interest in exploring living standards of practice and judgment that can
sustain humanity in the face of colonizing pressures and violence fueled by
totalizing beliefs. One of the major evolutions in a social formations at the
end of the last Century was in South Africa with the success of the
anti-apartheid movement in transforming the governance of a country sustained
by a racist principle of white supremacy where 'whiteness' is understood as the
power relations that sustain white privilege and supremacy. One of the values
supported in the new constitution of South Africa is Ubuntu as a way of being
that serves to replace the power relations of whiteness with those that serve
the values of Ubuntu. Yaakub Murray introduced me to the idea of Ubuntu in his
doctoral enquiry in 2002 and his web-site celebrates this way of being at
http://royagcol.ac.uk/%7Epaul%5Fmurray/
Here is a video-clip where I am talking with passion
and commitment about Ubuntu to the participants in a workshop on action
research with Jean McNiff and Joan Whitehead as co-presenters at the University
of the Free State in South Africa in February 2006. I include this clip as part
of a visual narrative of me seeking to live my values of sustaining humanity as
fully as I can through my work in education.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkKyeT0osz8
The second clip is from a meeting with Yaakub Murray
at one of the Monday evening educational conversation gatherings I convene in
the Department of Education at the University of Bath. It shows both of us
focusing with great concentration on a text Yaakub brought in on Progressive Islam. As a
progressive Muslim Yaakub (Murray 2006) is seeking a greater understanding of
Islam and focusing on particular passages in the text. I am relating to Yaakub
through my responsibility as a supervisor and a feeling of friendship and
pleasure in our relationship.
Here is the video-clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ud-zPjvae8
What I see in this clip are two
educators and researchers studying intently the ideas in a text brought into the conversation by the doctoral researcher. There is a
shared passion for enquiry and a love of learning that seems to me offer hope
for a sustaining humanity. I am thinking here of relationships that can hold
together, in educational enquiry, individuals with very different spiritual
convictions. I am thinking of a relationship that not only accepts differences
in diversity but also moves on with the expression of pleasure in a flow of
life-affirming energy. When I look at the two video-clips above they resonate
for me with: the ontological standards of love of learning and life affirming
energy; the ethical standards of trust, care, respect and integrity; the
standards of practice of the OCT of commitment to students and student learning,
leadership in learning communities, ongoing professional learning, professional
knowledge and professional practice.
By emphasizing the importance of sharing
our visual narratives, together with our pupils, students and others I am
hopeful that we can enhance our contributions to the creation of a world of
educational quality. I am looking forward to seeing your accounts and the
accounts of your students and colleagues. I am thinking of these accounts as
cultural artifacts that can join those that are already following through
web-space as we strengthen our contributions to the creation of a world of
educational quality fit for our families our students and ourselves.
Until July 2007 I am convening an
e-seminar for the British Educational Research Association Special Interest
Group on Practitioner-Research. The seminar has the theme 'What standards of judgement do we use
in evaluating the quality of the educational knowledge and educational theories
we are creating as practitioner-researchers?' . The seminar
is intended to contributed to a conversation on how to judge the originality,
significance and rigour of practitioner-research in terms of it being world
leading, internationally excellent, internationally recognised and nationally
recognised. These are criteria used to determine government funding for
educational research in what is known in the UK as the Research Assessment
Exercise. You can join the e-seminar from the What's New section of http://www.actionresearch.net and I do
hope that you will share your ideas in the ongoing conversations.
In this BERA
SIG e-seminar I am focusing my own practitioner researcher on contributing to
the creation of a world of educational quality through developing a better
understanding of the standards of judgement used to evaluate the quality of the
educational theories and knowledge of practitioner-researchers. I am hoping
that you will help with accomplishing this purpose by sharing your evaluation
of my claim about a world leading approach to standards of practice and
judgement. Because of my sustained interest in the work of the OCT since its
formation it feels particularly significant to ask the following question at
this Institute on Living The Standards:
Do the ethical
standards and standards of practice developed by the Ontario College of
Teachers, together with the action research processes for generating visual
narratives in masters and doctoral degree programmes at the University of Bath, Dublin City University and Limerick University,
and the partnership created between 2000 and 2002 between Brock University and
the Grand Erie District School Board, offer a world leading approach to the
creation of a world of educational quality?
References
Delong, J.
(2002) How Can I Improve My Practice As
A Superintendent of Schools and Create My Own Living Educational Theory? Ph.D. University of Bath. Retrieved 19
February 2004 from http://www.actionresearch.net/delong.shtml
Delong, J., & Whitehead, J. (1998).
Continuously regenerating developmental standards
of practice in teacher education: A
cautionary note for the Ontario College of Teachers.
Ontario Action Researcher, 1(1). Retrieved 12 November 2006 from http://www.nipissingu.ca/oar/archive-Vol1-V113E.htm
Ilyenkov, E.
(1976) Dialectical Logic. Moscow; Progress Publishers.
Li, P.
& Laidlaw, M. (2006) Collaborative enquiry, action research, and
curriculum development in rural China: How can we facilitate a process of
educational change? Action
Research Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 333-350.
McNiff, J.
(2006) My Story is my Living Educational Theory, in Clandinin, J. (Ed.) (2006) Handbook of Narrative Inquiry, New York, London; Sage. (In
press)
Murray, Y.
(2006) Welcome to my multiracial and inclusive Postcolonial Living Education
Theory - practice, research and becoming. Retrieved on 14 November 2006
from
http://royagcol.ac.uk/%7Epaul%5Fmurray/
OCT (2006a)
Casebook Guide For Teacher Education, pp. 20-21, Toronto; Ontario College of
Teachers. Retrieved 12 November 2006 from http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:tEMxeX5EL6YJ:www.oct.ca/publications/PDF/casebook_supplement_e.pdf+casebook+guide+for+teacher+education&hl=en&gl=uk&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=firefox-a
OCT (2006b)
Classroom Practice: A Teacher's Story. Ontario College of Teachers; Toronto.
Rayner, A. (2004)
Inclusionality and the role of place, space and
dynamic boundaries in evolutionary processes. Philosophica 73, pp. 51-70. Retrieved 20 November 2006
from http://www.jackwhitehead.com/rayner/arphilosophica.htm
Rayner, A.
(2006) Essays and Talks about 'Inclusionality' by Alan Rayner. Retrieved 20
November 2006 from http://people.bath.ac.uk/bssadmr/inclusionality/
Serper, A. (2006) An Ethically-Laden Heuristic
Approach to An Ontological Living Theory of An Individual's Being-In-The-World Presentation to 7th
World Congress of Action Learning, Action Research and Process Management, 23
August, 2006, Groningen, Netherlands. Retrieved 14 November 2006 from http://people.bath.ac.uk/pspas/ARWCWORKSHOP.htm
Snow, C. E.
(2001) Knowing What We Know: Children, Teachers, Researchers. Presidential
Address to AERA, 2001, in Seattle, in Educational Researcher, Vol. 30, No.7, pp.3-9.
Tian, F. & Laidlaw, M. (2005) How can we enhance
educational and English-Language provision at our Action Research Centre
and beyond? Retrieved 13 November
200 from
http://www.arexpeditions.montana.edu/articleviewer.php?AID=87
Tian, F. & Laidlaw, M., (2006), 'Action
Research and the New Curriculum in China: case studies and reports in the
teaching of English', Shan'xi Tourism Publication House, Xi'an, China.
Whitehead,
J. (1999) How do I improve my practice? Creating a
discipline of education through educational enquiry. Ph.D. University of Bath.
Retrieved 19 February 2004 from http://www.actionresearch.net/jack.shtml
Whitehead, J.
(2006a) Case Commentary in OCT (2006) Casebook Guide For Teacher Education, pp.
20-21, Toronto; Ontario College of Teachers. Retrieved 12 November 2006 from http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:tEMxeX5EL6YJ:www.oct.ca/publications/PDF/casebook_supplement_e.pdf+casebook+guide+for+teacher+education&hl=en&gl=uk&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=firefox-a
Whitehead,
J. (2006b) Living inclusional values in educational standards of practice and
judgement. Keynote Address for the 2005 Act, Reflect, Revise III Conference,
Brantford, Ontario. Ontario Action Researcher 8.2.1. Retrieved 12 November 2006 from http://www.nipissingu.ca/oar/new_issue-V821E.htm
Whitehead, J. (2006c) Creating a
World of Educational Quality Through Living Educational Theories. Accepted
proposal for presentation at AERA 2007 in Chicago. Retrieved 13 November from http://www.jackwhitehead.com/jack/jwaera07.htm
Whitehead, J. & McNiff, J.
(2006) Action Research Living Theory, London; Sage.
Appendix
For the OCT Institute on
Living The Standards
Agenda
|
Meeting: |
Standards
Institute – Day 1 |
|
Date: |
November
20, 2006 9:00
am-5:00 pm |
|
Location: |
Ontario College of Teachers 121 Bloor St. East,
Toronto 6th floor:
Council Chamber A |
8:45-9:00
|
Refreshments
|
Process
|
|
9:00-10:00
|
Introductions – Sharing values, purposes and
issues.
|
10:00-11:00
|
Understanding the Revised Ethical Standards and
Standards of Practice.
Exploring the
standards multi-media resource: Living the Standards. |
11:00-11:15
|
Break
|
11:15-12:30
|
Understanding the development of Living the
Standards of practice and judgement by practitioner-researchers associated
with the University of Bath. Exploring web-based resources in the living
theory and master educator's program.
|
12:30-1:30
|
Lunch
|
1:30-3:30
|
i. A living theory approach to the
research-based development of professional educators.
ii.
The
standards of practice and
judgement of other professions.
iii.
Moving
through action reflection cycles for the expression, clarification and
communication of the values, skills and understandings in professional
learning.
iv.
Focusing
on research methods in education for enhancing the validity and rigor of
living standards of practice and judgement. |
3:30-3:45
|
Break
|
3:45-5:00
|
Focusing on the individual questions and interests
of the participants in generating the programme for day 2.
|
Agenda
|
Meeting: |
Standards
Institute – Day 2 |
|
Date: |
November
21, 2006 9:00
am-5:00 pm |
|
Location: |
Ontario College of
Teaches 121 Bloor St. East,
Toronto 6th floor:
Council Chamber A |
8:45-9:00
|
Refreshments
|
Focus Areas
|
|
Focus 1
|
Exploring the implications of the College's
revised standards and multi-media resources
|
Focus 2
|
Communication of
the College's ethical standards, standards of practice and multi-media
resources within various professional contests (schools, District School
Boards, initial teacher education, in-service teacher education) |
Focus 3
|
How can the systemic influences of educational
leaders enhance improvements in learning through the development of living standards of practice with the
College's standards and multi-media resources?
|
Focus 4
|
How can the continuous regeneration of living standards of practice inform and
enhance improvements in educational influences in learning with the College's
standards and multi-media resources?
|