RESEARCH METHOD AS ‘SIFTING CONCEPTS’ – a 3-level approach for Teacher Reflection

RESEARCH METHOD AS ‘SIFTING CONCEPTS’ – a 3-level approach for Teacher Reflection
The 3-level ‘sifting’ method described below I used in my doctoral thesis. Obviously it is a lengthy process and could even be life-long! However a shortened version could be useful for teacher or student reflection. It aims to expose the model of education that is tacit or implicit in us, and at the very least to expose to ourselves what is most important in values and processes – as opposed to what is merely important!”
Ideally then before the student focuses down on to her or his ‘specialist’ individual study and research s/he is asked to go through a three stage process ending with some form of ‘one sentence’ model, or sub-model of what they believe education should be. Depending on the level of research ‘specialist’ study could be investigation of a particular concept e.g. The role of compassion or empathy or ‘degrees of alienation’ etc.

One interesting discussion needs to be the student’s answer to this question, “What is the warp and weft of the sieve by which you do the sifting?” One answer of course = the values you hold. Others are the vision you have, the model you have of what it means to be human, what constitutes holistic development of the individual, or what constitutes social justice.

If there is the luxury of lots of time it would be very interesting to use PCP Personal Construct Psychology methods in conjunction with the 3-level sifting approach. PCP is very powerful in revealing to the indvidual her or his way of construing the world – i.e the warp and weft of the sieve!

FIRST LEVEL
At the first level students are asked to generate and examine a range of concepts. They can be given a list, or generate them via discussion and add some from literature – or better still a combination of all three. This list is the ‘Master’ list and can be added to as when concepts strike the individual as at least ‘important’.

A MASTER LIST OF CONCEPT-ELEMENTS
As an example my master list of concept-elements. The list here is without definitions and discussion (see Dictionary-in-progress for these).

The concept-elements in the list below are all seen as being ‘important’. From the list the students can the make their own ‘very important list’, preparatory to your final ”most important list’ (the actually number of concept-elements doesn’t matter but the final list should be much shorter).

Aesthetic/s see Creative
Abilities
Action see Behaviour – Experience
Affective see feelings
Attitudes
Adulthood
Alienation
Aims & Objectives & Goals
Appearance & reality
Authenticity
Authority
Autobiography see story
Autonomy
Awareness
Beauty – see the Creative
Behaviour see Action
Being & becoming
Belief/s
Brain – ‘left brain’ & ‘right brain’
Caring
Certainty
Change
Childhood
Cooperative learning – see community
Commitment
Communication
Community
Compassion and empathy
Conceptual development
Conflict resolution
Conformity
Connectedness see holism
Construe/Construction
Conscience
Consciousness & c. raising/expanding
Consultation – group process
Contemplation
Content
Control
Creative thinking
Creative /ity
Crisis
Critical thinking
Criticality
Culture
Curriculum
Decision-making
Deconstruct
Democracy and democratic process
Detachment
Development
Dialectical = problematization + dialogue
Discipline
Discovery
Discrimination
Doing
Dualism
Discovery (inc. curiosity)
Ecology see environment
Education
Educational environment
Emotion/s see affect
Empathy see compassion
Empowerment
Energy see spirit & chi
Engagement – see modes
Environment/ecology/inner being
Essence
Ethics – see moral/ity education
Ethos/Atmosphere
Existence
Existential/ism
Experience
Experimentation
Faith
Falsity
Feelings see affect
Free will- see will
Freedom
Global development
Goodness – see caring
Group process-PFC/Consultation
Team work/co-operation
Growth see development
Habit
Harmony – h. in diversity
Having c.f. being/doing/becoming
Holism/whole/Holistic Ed
Human being & being human – h. nature/spirit
Humankind – humanity
Human Rights
Ideals
Imagination
Independence see autonomy
Individual/ity c.f. individualism
Indoctrination
Indwelling/intuition/inner being
Information – i. and knowledge
Initiation – education as
Inner being/spiritual/insight – see
interiority
Insight see intuition &
Interiority
Integrity
Intuition – insight/inner development
Insight
Instinct
Intelligence
Involvement – participation
Judgement
Justice
Justification – see knowledge
‘Know that’ – see Knowledge
Knowledge I WE IT voices
Language
Law
Learning & Teaching
Life-force/energy/spirit/chi/inochi
Literature
Love – affect/spirit – see caring
Management
Materialism
Mechanistic models
Meaning & Meaning making
Meditation c.f. contemplation
Memory
Men/gender – see left brain/right brain
Metaphor
Methods in learning
Mind
Modes of experience & engagement
Moral development & sensibility
Moral sensibility
Mystery (in human nature)
/potential/subconscious/unknown
Narrative see story
Nature
Needs
Negotiated learning – see democratic
process
Non-reflective learning
Norms
Objectivity
Openness
Paradigm
Paradox
Participation – involvement
Perception/attention/forms/field &/
Person/hood see human being
Personal history see story autobiography
Personhood – see also
authenticity/autonomy
Philosophy
Philosophy for children PFC
Psychology – the mental sphere
Physical self/Embodiment
Planning
Play
Poetry
Politics
Positivism
Potential
Power & empowerment
Principles
Problem-solving v posing
Qualitative the
Qualities, spiritual e.g. empathy
Questioning
Rationality/reason/able/ness
Real/ity
Reductionism
Reflection – reasoning/meditation
Reflective learning
Rejection
Relationships
Relativity
Religion
Science – see also objective knowing
Self
Self-esteem
Self-image
Self-knowledge
Sensitivity
Service to others
Socialization
Society
Soul
Spiritual/ity/ization/ see energy
Spiritual qualities (e.g. empathy)
Stakeholders
State
Story/Narrative & Autobiography
Subjectivity
Tacit knowledge – see knowledge
Teacher Education
Teaching & Learning
Teacher thinking
Teacher thinking about the child’s
spirituality/holistic development
Thinking /caring /creative /criticality
see mind
Time
Tradition
Training (v. education)
Transformation
Truth/beauty & goodness
Understanding
Utilitarian
Validity
Values – higher-order values
Vision
Volition – see will
Wholeness – see holistic
Will
Wisdom
Women/gender – see left & r. brain
Wonder
Work – re identity & purpose

NB The list is live and growing and open to further additions!

Below are my own ‘very important’ list and ‘most important’ list of concept elements as examples – ending with a one sentence and even one word versions!

EXAMPLE LIST OF ‘Very Important’ LEVEL 2 CONCEPTS

Below are sixty+ ‘Level 2’ concept-elements.

1 Abilities
Action
Aims & Objectives & Goals
Authentic
5 Autonomy
Awe, wonder & amazement
Balance
Being & becoming
Belief/s
10 Certainty
Compassion and empathy
Content
Curriculum
Democracy
15 Dialectical Spiritualization
Dialogue see Dialect Spiritualization
Education, ed. as an art c.f. a science
Encouragement
Energy see spirit & chi
20 Engagement
English the teaching of & as an art
Environment/ecology/inner being
Experience
Faith
25 Group process-PFC/Consultation/dialogue
Healing
Heart-mind
Humanization & de-humanization
Identity
Imagination
Intuition insight/inner develop/. Holism/whole/Hol Ed
30Human being – h. nature/spirit
Justice
Knowledge & Knowing
35Learning & Teaching
Life-force/energy/spirit/chi/inochi
Love – affect/spirit – see caring and
compassion and empathy
Maturation
Meaning & Meaning making
40 Meditate/meditation
Metaphor
Mind
Modes of experience & engagement
45 Moral ed. + m. sensibility
Mystery transcendentally & in human nature
Personhood authenticity/autonomy
Philosophy & philosophical inquiry & Philosophy for children PFC
Process & process philos & theology
50 Purpose and identity
Real/ity
Science as criticality & objective knowing
Soul see also human spirit, mind
Spiritual/ity/ization/ s. qualities
55 Story & Autobiography
‘Sun’ as source of spiritualization
Teacher Education
Teaching & Learning
Text and Context
60 Truth/beauty & goodness – correspond
to Criticality, Creativity & Caring
Will volition and motivation
Wisdom
Wonder

EXAMPLE LIST of ‘Most Important’ Concept-Elements

The 24 concept-elements that I chose for my model, SunWALK, I arranged as a ‘one-sentence’ version of the model. These 24 elements are used as organizing elements to which other concept-elements at the ‘Most Important’ and ‘Very Important’ levels can be related. The organizing concept-elements can metaphorically be compared to a magnet to which less-powerful ‘filings’ are attracted.

Each student is asked to arrange her/his final selection of concept-elements that constitutes her/his model, or sub-model, in ways that are suitable or memorable.

a) What’s wrong with education as it is?

b) The SunWALK holistic model of

c) spiritualizing pedagogy sees

d) human education as

e) the storied

f) development of

g) meaning, which is

h) constructed, and de-constructed,

i) physically mentally and spiritually, through

j) Wise &

k) Willing

l) Action, via

m) Loving and

n) Knowing – developed in

o) Community, via the

p) ‘Dialectical Spiritualization’ of

q) Caring, Creativity & Criticality

r) processes, all undertaken in the light of the

s) ‘Sun’ of chosen higher-order values & beliefs, using best available, appropriate

t) content to provide a

u) dynamic curriculum based on the appropriate involvement & empowerment of

v) stakeholders (parents, communities, children, teachers & governement.

There are 24 key concept-elements, (inc. Caring, Creativity & Criticality as 3Cs and inc. ‘What’s Wrong with Ed’ plus.)

A VERSION OF MY ONE-SENTENCE MODEL
SunWALK = education as walking the life journey in dialogue with friends – acting wisely through loving and knowing – in the light of the ‘Sun’ of higher-order values.

A ONE WORD VERSION!
SunWALK

 

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All postings to this site relate to the central model in the PhD. Summaries are HERE