Understanding

Just looking through the papers for the 10th European Conference on E-Learning which starts tomorrow here in Brighton...

A maze of workshops to be attended, half of them with titles that I don't understand! Just when I think I'm getting a handle on what I'm trying to do with all this, I'm thrown back into conscious incompetence mode and feel like I've learned nothing.

Gave an input to my fellow Ed D students on Saturday: forced myself to go for it because it made me clarify where I'd got to in terms of learning in this last year. Muddled through some difficult questions from the group  in terms of my epistemology but it has confirmed that my views are firmly tied up with my professional identity, and has given me some direction in terms of where I need to develop my thinking now. 

 Conscious incompetence hit here too - the impression that my learned colleagues know a lot more than I do or that they perhaps spend more time thinking it all through? I like the fact that Dewey rejected the term 'epistemology' in favour of "the theory of inquiry or experimental logic": sort of takes the sting out of all this talk of post-modernism, positivism, constructivism etc. For me the following is what is important: that no matter where we come at a problem or dilemma from, the abstract is just that, abstract, until it is applied in some way and learning is gained from that experience. 

In terms of Honey & Mumford learning styles, I come out as pragmatist/activist which fits Dewey's quotation below, that of having to apply in order to be convinced or to believe. The terminology is interesting, must do some research into their basis for using 'pragmatist' as a style....

John Dewey. Experience and Education (1938)

Twitterverse and political education

Been an interesting few weeks in terms of finishing off my Assignment 2 on research methodology and starting to think about where the Assignment 3 research project might take me.

I've been right in the thick of current campaigning about the cuts in young people's services and a lot of communication has taken place through Twitter. I've been amazed by the immediacy and power of the Twitterverse, including getting direct messages from Tim Loughton's Blackberry in answer to my challenges to him. 

ChooseYouth held a lobby of Parliament last week and asked everyone to tweet the minister at 2.30pm with a message about whether he would ring-fence budgets for youth services. Using the hashtag #p4youth, this message also successfully infiltrated the counter event being held by the government at the O2 and where Tim Loughton was speaking.

Reviewing the tweets later that evening, I was struck by the power and accessibility of this digital medium, hundreds of versions of the same message sent direct to Tim Loughton's Twitter account, delegates at the Positive for Youth event also getting on board, and then others who weren't involved in either event getting involved through re-tweeting.

So where does this take me in terms of my research. Would love to do some serious research about using Twitter for supporting campaigning and networking amongst young people but maybe this is premature or perhaps I need to find an organisation predisposed to doing this?

In Deweyian terms, this is about educators engaging with both the digital agenda and the outrage that many young people feel powerless to express in relation to cuts in services,   to  support them to get their voice heard and to see the power of their actions. 

"I believe that the only true education comes through the stimulation of the child's powers by the demands of the social situations in which he

finds himself. Through these demands he is stimulated to act as a 

member of a unity, to emerge from his original narrowness of action and feeling and toconceive of himself from the standpoint of the welfare of the group to which he belongs. Through the responses which others make to his own activities he comes to know what these mean in social terms. 

The value which they have is reflected back into them" 

 

Dewey, J. My Pedagogic Creed School Journal vol. 54 (January 1897), pp. 77-80

 

Youth workers have always used tools to promote learning, growth and development in young people. The world of digital media is no different but perhaps here we have an even better opportunity to get catch the attention of those who need to hear?  

Pragmatist ontology

Whilst I'm starting to feel that epistemology, conceptual framework, and other technical terms are starting to make sense, offering to do a small input to Ed D colleagues has put me into a bit of a spin about ontology or more specifically , what pragmatist ontology might be.

Ontology is concerned with ‘what is’- the structure of reality – and  informs the theoretical perspective of the researcher. For example,  that digital technologies are here to stay, are fast moving, that youth workers are informal educators, that digital technologies are being used as educational tools and that the two concepts are compatible. 

Dewey's ontology centres on experience, something that is constantly changing as we interact with the world.

"Because every experience is constituted by interaction between “subject”
and “object,” between a self and its world, it is not itself either merely physical
nor merely mental, no matter how much one factor or the other predominates.
. . . [experiences] are the products of discrimination, and hence can be understood only as we take into account the total normal experience in which both inner and outer factors are so incorporated that each has lost its special character. In an experience, things and events belonging to the world, physical and social, are transformed through the human context they enter, while the live creature is changed and developed through its intercourse with thingspreviously external to it. "(Dewey, 1981:251)

Dewey’s ontology  is 'transactional' (Clandinin, D & Rosiek, J.  2006:39) because it looks at the interaction between the subject and the environment in order to look at how the dynamics change and  “makes possible a new way of dealing with them, and thus eventually creates a new kind of experienced objects, not more real than those which preceded but more significant, and less overwhelming andoppressive” (Dewey, 1981: 175) . Here it can be said that knowledge, that 'which is' comes from our experiences and that these must be revisited in order to affirm our thoughts. This is where reflection plays its part, revisiting through reflection, processing that learning through experience, leads to knowledge creation. 

Have I got my head around it? Perhaps - feels ok...

 Clandinin, D &  Rosiek, J. 2006. Mapping a Landscape of Narrative Inquiry Borderland Spaces and Tensions. http://www.american-philosophy.org/events/documents/SIAP_2009_Clandinin_Proof-Ch2.pdf  accessed 20.11.2011

Dewey, J. (1981). The later works, 1925–1953: Vol. 10. Art as experience (J. A. Boydston, Ed.).
Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.

Thank God for that....!!

I've been caught by structure rather than creativity and have now found what I need to liberate my thoughts!

Within a pragmatic approach, the researcher does not have to start out by identifying set methods which are followed through systematically. Pragmatism allows for ‘the truth’ to be determined by what emerge as the best methods at the time, thus avoiding conflicts for the researcher about what they intend to do and what actually happens.

This is backed up by my experience of finding the ‘’right’’ methods, methodology and approach throughout this assignment . Whilst it was necessary for me to start out with a framework based on methods that I felt comfortable with and that I thought would work, my original thoughts were to use concept mapping as a mucn more dominant part of the process, the analysis of which being supported by some form of discourse analysis. However, the more I researched these methods, particularly having carried out my research, the more I realised that the concept mapping process could not be a primary focus, nor could what I discovered be analysed through discourse analysis in a way that would produce the meaning that I was trying to find. This journey eventually led me to the CHAT framework and pragmatism via social constructionism and constructivism. This also support the concept of ‘agency’ which surfaces in much of the discourse about CHAT, that of my ability to choose and act upon issues, both structural and theoretical within my  field of research. 

Wish I could say that Vygotsky's 'double stimulation' technique was in my master plan originally, but hey, I can now say that this is what I've done! And it is pragmatism that allows me to focus on 'what works' rather than sticking to what would have been a  flawed and 'dishonest' process perhaps..

Seeing is believing?

“If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way.” Bertrand Russell

Where does pragmatism fit with this view? I'm not sure it's just about instinct. There's also something about being able to visualise how something might work, what it would look like in practice. Pragmatism then allows for experimentation along the way in order to find what works, acknowledging that learning takes place even when things don't work so well. 

Myths are different because we all know really that they are just stories, don't we? It's surely about taking the lessons and then applying them that makes them endure? So, a common myth held within youth work currently is that young people don't want adults/youth workers in their digital space. For some, this myth is a convenient truth because it's tied up with their own interests and confidence in relation to digital tools. However, pragmatism would tell us to think about the possibilities and to give it a go, seeing what works and what doesn't. This also tied up with Dewey's idea of transactions: that a dialogue between all players enables the learning to be identified and shared, and the chance for innovation and creativity to flourish. His externalism - the view that mental events and acts are essentially dependent on the world external to the mind - links also to Vygotsky's social constructivism. The digital tools that we have access to as educators  cultural history, social context, and language and can be used as conduits to transact with young  people as well as enhancing how we engage. .

Just when I thought it was safe to......

... declare my epistemology......! Thought I'd never be able to say the word let alone understand it! However, just when I thought I knew where I stood, I find yet another thing that relates even better! I suppose that's good really but I'm worried that I might not be able to settle.

However, these comments do relate what I'm experiencing. I'm pretty clear that Dewey is the one and he was there all along. I guess he was too obvious really, but I'm reassured that I can return to him. I love this idea of  'experience as transactions between worlds' (Elkjaer, 2009) as a way of describing Dewey's pragmatism and his definition of experience.

I thought that I was into social constructionism and had written quite a lot although I had feedback about it seeming 'tight' which is exactly what it was - forced. It's still relevant, the idea that we construct our realities and learning and that it cannot be constructed for us. However, pragmatism seems to fit better- ironic really since I'm a pragmatist/activist (Honey & Mumford) in terms of one of my learning styles.

The best part about pragmatism in the Dewey sense is that it is about forward-thinking, about being able to imagine how the future could be based on experience. It's also about experimentation in the light of that imagination, a permission to creativity and innovation. Forward-thinking is also about being solution-focused - "experience is had in the active process of living and life is lived with an eye on tomorrow" (Elkjaer, 2009).

The visual learner in me loves the imaginative bit, in that that's what I do...I see the possibilities in my thought process. Maybe that's why I'm so interested in digital media... it allows me to experiment, it's visual and it's also hands-on which appeals to my kinesthetic/activist side.

A pragmatist researcher isn't bound by having to live by strict rules, theories or boundaries in order to understand a particular areas of interest because pragmatism allows for the researcher to use the  rules, theories and boundaries that are appropriate to each situation and that might be different. A bit like youth work really, it's needs-based.

I'm also really interested in the 'pragmatic' link between Dewey and Vygotsky... just never thought I would be!

Where do good ideas some from?

 In the context of my last post, this is interesting - "ideas need time to incubate". Blogging is one of the spaces where this can happen. The thoughts about whether technology is changing the way that we think:  that our multi-tasking, multi-modal way of processing information might somehow dilute powerful thoughts, rendering us incapable of producing depth and intensity....

To blog or not to blog?

Am I a blogger? I am certainly attracted to the concept and am intrigued by networks and their formation. Micro-blogging in the form of 'tweeting' fills one space: a good way to pass on links and points of interest and it's curious how people find you and seem to think you're worth following...

Blogging in this format is more complex I think. I go for days or weeks without writing anything, mainly because the thoughts that see to be worth writing about occur when I'm in the car, or waiting for a train or in a meeting - all the places where I don't have immediate access to a computer.

So, how do you set about blogging? There's something about having something to say, and that's wrapped up in feelings of worthiness. Have I the agency to be saying what I'm saying, some might say 'insight blogging': somehow showing the inner workings of my though processes.

Like many, I find the process of writing at the computer easier these days, and I in fact, I haven't kept a journal since I was a teenager. However, this ease of  'cut and paste', of being able rewrite, rearrange and delete thoughts as they tumble out of my head is a useful tool. Something that makes me have to stop and think.

It's been an interesting process, preparing to deliver a short input on blogging for colleagues -  http://prezi.com/7dwqt0ki8tiv/blog/  - and it's made me stop and think about how I am currently using this blog as a tool for reflection. It has currently been purely around reflection, posing thoughts that can be returned to or 'parked' perhaps. Next post will be an experiment, based on the wish to of create some dialogue around a specific question to see who's out there, and this will hopefully lead to a collaboration of ideas which takes it into a whole new sphere, I guess.

Constructivism, constructionism, social constructionism....??

Trying to locate my epistemological perspective and whilst this has taken some time for me to get my head around, I think I am now starting to know where I am.

As an informal educator in terms of youth work , the constructivist theories based on Vygotsky,  Piaget, and Dewey in that the individual's unique contact with the world creates their own reality, knowledge and understanding, and that an educator can promote learning by facilitating and supporting experiences with young people, is definitely where I am. 

 I was very struck with a conversation with my mother and my partner about a film that they'd both been to see (Cowboys and Aliens) and how their experience and interpretation of it were so different. My partner, a cinema 'buff' who goes most weeks, thought the story was weak and that the aliens were reminiscent of the original Alien films with Signourney Weaver. He was 'checking out' the film to see if it was suitable for our 12 year old, and the verdict was 'not suitable' even though the certification was.

My mother was motivated by seeing Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford in the same movie, and the fact that it was a rainy day with nothing else to do. She goes to the cinema rarely  and certainly doesn't understand the concept of CGI. She liked Daniel Craig, spent some time trying to see the 'strings' that the flying aliens were being operated by, and thought that it was good for her to have experienced a 'modern' story rather than something like the King's Speech which would be her usual genre. 

So, two people go in to see the same film, taking with them the motivation for their choice of film and a lifetime of experience (62 and  77), and they each come out with a very different experience, because of how they make sense of it or how they 'construct' meaning from what they've experienced. It also explains how students sit in the same lecture but take different things away and sometimes interpret what is said/heard in completely opposite ways. 

One of the principles contained within NLP is that each individual has their own 'window on the world', that we all have this movie playing in our heads that enables to make sense of what's going on. I'm interested in the fact that the brain will look for connections in order to make meaning, and that maybe explains why it is sometimes difficult to get one's head around new concepts.  Takes me back to a time when I was being taught to do a 'hockey stop' on ice skates and I couldn't do it because I was fearful of falling on the hard ice. When I was asked if I skied and whether I could do the same action on skis, the answer was not only 'yes' but also 'confidently'. I was then able to do it.

Social constructionism gives me a label to something that I have adhered to as an educator for a long time: not only do we construct our own meaning through the experiences that we have and how we interpret them, but that the social context that we are in also impacts i.e. whether on familiar territory on the ski slope or the unfamiliar territory of the ice rink. This has got to help me find my way through the constantly changing landscape of digital media in relation to the informal educator's role.....

Activity Theory

So, whilst struggling once again with the broadness of my questions,  I've just discovered activity theory which starts to make sense in relation to this idea of having a conceptual framework.

I like the idea that it  is  a  meta-theory or framework rather  than being a  theory that sets out to predict what will happen and why. I also like the idea that it stems from Vygotsky whose theories relate very much to informal education: ideas of a cultural psychology. It enables the researcher to consider the entire work or activity system within the chosen context, from the micro to the macro (including teams, organizations, etc.) which is particularly important in my case, since the motivations of the youth workers that I am researching are inevitably impacted by the organisation, policy or instruction from management, of which I was once a part. The idea that the totality of what is accomplished is beyond just one person gives permission to the researcher to take account of the environment, personal histories, culture, role of the 'artifact', motivations, complexity of real life action, etc.

The  analysis is  directed towards the subject's motivation for performing an activity, which in turn is directed at an object or goal. Activities are defined as conscious actions directed at specific goals, but the elements that make up the activity  are not fixed and  can  change.

Engestrom (1991, 1990) is known for developing the activity triangle that looks at how individuals, artifacts and systems  engage in purposeful activities :

 Breaking down barriers, innovation, and participation in a youth work sense often involves practitioners in the creation of new rules, structures and roles, something that is evident in the practice of the 2 youth workers that I have interviewed, They were chosen because they are at the forefront of this work within their local context, often battling with attitudes and motivations from colleagues that have not moved towards the usage of digital media in the same way.

Somekh (2001) states that "activity theory  not only explains the link between radical societal changes and new technology tools, it also provides a model for how similar changes could occur in schools". Her discourse relates this to a need for radical curriculum change in schools to something that looks familiar! More of an emphasis on informal education, in fact, youth and community tutors are even mentioned as are the words 'groupwork' and 'ownership'!.

Engestrom gives me the possibility of analysing what I'm interested in as follows :

• a collective activity system can be taken as a unit of analysis, giving context and meaning to seemingly random individual events
• the activity system and its components can be understood historically
• inner contradictions of the activity system can be analysed as the source of disruption, innovation, change, and development of that system, including its individual participants (1996:65)

I'm reminded of one of the quotes that I used in a previous post about constuctionism:
“Truth or meaning comes into existence in and out of our engagement with the realities of the world. There is no meaning without a mind. Meaning is not discovered, but constructed.” (Crotty, 1998 ). 

Is it starting to come together? 

The Fifth Discipline, revised edition (2006) - peter Senge.pdf

Haven't been blogging for a while but have now got 'head space' to really think about what I've been researching and what that might relate to...

Strangely enough, my thoughts have been taken into a realm of Eraut and Senge in relation to how practitioners or professionals make decisions about their intervention tools or methodology. Not sure how this might relate at the moment to digital literacy or how individuals become pre-disposed to explore the 'new' in relation to practice or not...

Eraut (2001: 2009) looks at how knowledge contributes to professional performance and has examined the processes for acquiring and interpreting information which by his analysis, means that we have a tendency to see what we want and expect to see.. I'm not sure in relation to the usage of social media in informal education contexts: as with the nature of social media itself , I see a lot of practitioners 'playing' with tools, sometimes with young people, sometimes not. The 'playing' is about experimentation: the basis of what informal educators term, experiential learning - the bedrock of youth work. Eraut's description of meta-processes or meta-cognition does fit here: the continuous evaluation of what works, what is possible, and the tweaking and adapting of ideas and tools to meet need.

One of the questions that pops up here in relation to the usage of social media is about how youth workers work with this meta-processing to enable them to think differently and to question assumptions?

Peter Senge (2006) in the Fifth Disciple however, talks about 'personal mastery': living life creativily rather than reactively. He states that we need creative tension to learn and develop as it is this that enables us to be curious and to question what we think we already know. A constant reappraisal of one's personal vision is one of the features of 'personal mastery': does this relate to those who are constantly seeking to improve or be engaging, 'playing' with new tools in order to work with young people on their level rather than their own?

Decision-making and the processes involved is an interesting area: maybe a focus for the next research assignment ....?

Am I a constructionist?

" When faced with the challenge of studying a world to which we are linked by all sorts of specific investments, inextricably intellectual and ‘temporal’, our first automatic thought is to escape; our concern to escape any suspicion of prejudice leads us to attempt to negate ourselves  as ‘biased’ or ‘informed’ subjects automatically suspected of using the weapons of science in the pursuit of personal interests, to abolish the self even as knowing subject, by resorting to the most impersonal and automatic procedures, those, at least in this perspective (which is that of ‘normal science’), which are the least questionable.”(Bourdieu, 1984 )

Starting to slowly get my head around epistemology - theoretical perspective - methodology - methods and how all these might link together to frame my work. Came across the above quote from Bourdieu which basically give permission for us to claim our 'vested interest' I guess.

I feel that I want to research this area of interest not only because I am interested in it, but because I also feel that I have the experience to have an opinion. Not exactly an unbiased position! This gives me the reassurance that I can imprint something of me in all of this.

I like the idea of being a constructionist although am yet to understand the finer points of the difference between constructinism and constructivism.  That means
“Truth or meaning comes into existence in and out of our engagement with the realities of the world. There is no meaning without a mind. Meaning is not discovered, but constructed.” (Crotty, 1998 ).

As I understand it , this allows me to build by understanding block by block, and it also allows me to demolish structures along the way too, as I perhaps find out new things that add to my understanding or to the meaning that I give to certain things. The giving of meaning is also key, since this will inevitably be influenced by what has gone before, what I think now, and what I might think in the future, dependent on research. 

Forums

Been working on setting up a forum for the Community of Practice to be launched next week. Guided by DK from Mediasnackers, I realised that I did have the necessary knowledge etc to set something up, it's the compelling stuff I need to include - the stuff that will make people want to engage.

Very interested in working from a digital dialogue or digital conversation perspective. It's about just that - communication, but we'll need to persuade some people of the value of that through social media, I guess.

So, what to use? Playing with Blogger and Wordpress and each has different pros and cons. Obviously, these are blogs not websites so there are limitations. Have a look at http://gyroscopese.wordpress.com/category/welcome/  and http://gyroscope-se.blogspot.com/ . I think that they're both very different.

It's been interesting looking at the construction of these pages from a this perspective. How to best promote conversation and interaction, but also what widgets will enable easy access and some quick wins? Both are work in progress but the next week or two will be interesting....

Slow down...

This made me smile this morning ... Have had some thinking time stimulated by the blog that it's from, particularly

http://demotivatorsblog.com/slow-down/ .  Yes I've got a pile of marking to do, but I also need to think about Assignment 2.

Also, by  using this blog as my reflective journal, is this exactly what I'm doing? Making my stupidity more accessible to others??? I'm excited that I've got followers, comments and am starting to build a network but what is that about? It's an interesting challenge to try to write stuff that you think will be interesting/stimulating for others, but is that what I should be doing I wonder?  No doubt that networking is giving me links to interesting stuff and I've got back in touch with people that will be useful and who stimulate my thoughts..

Just occurred to me that the community of practice idea that I'm working on might be something - however, I do need to get my skates on. Seems that everything is done on the run at the moment. Need to draw breath and think  things through properly.

Will be diarying some Ed D time otherwise I can see what will happen.. I'll be in the south of France, sitting on the beach with my laptop! Or maybe that's what you're supposed to do when doing an Ed D?

Where to next?

So, it's on to research methods... Having deliberately had a couple of weeks away from thinking about the digital world, my mind has been pulled in numerous directions this morning in relation finding a focus for the next assignment.

With a primary focus on the research method(s) chosen rather than what I might chose to research, I still want to do something that will contribute, that feels meaningful. However, where to go?

Had an interesting time reading critical articles with reference to the digital natives debate and in particular,  abstracts relating to 2 research papers from Holland identifying Traditionalists, Gamers, Networkers, and Producers rather than digital natives and that not all of today’s youth are active in interactive media production as described in the Net Generation literature. Guess I could have told them that! Any UK youth worker working with young people in deprived communities or with multiple issues in their lives would probably observe the same thing....

Mark Bullen writing on Net Gen Skeptic starts his comments with the title "Another Dutch research project fails to find the Net Generation". Interesting in terms of language. I think that we do have an internet generation: young people who have grown up with the internet, never knowing what it was like before, and inevitably that has to have an impact. Google handles 245 million searches per day globally. Granted, not all of these are conducted by young people, however, what did we used to do before we could just press a button? The Net Generation has to apply somewhere here, a generation that has maybe never posted a letter or used a reference book to research, but not as an exclusive concept that is age-based.

Still of interest to me is the issue of educators  choosing to use or not use digital tools for their work. I came across a 43 year old educator recently (within a football coaching context) who steadfastly refuses to have a computer at home or an email address, and who panics when asked to do a task online or to download information. And yet, when motivated by a subject or interest, used Youtube  clips on an interactive whiteboard to promote a great debate. What is that about? This refusal to move in one digital arena, when I suspect that he probably watches football at home on the latest technology!

So, the digital natives, digital immigrants concept is of interest in relation to youth work practitioner  and as a motivator to try to find answers to some of these questions. Maybe that's one piste to follow? Compare and contrast as they say...

CEOP Ambassador training

Just delivered this training again and the safety focus always highlights the naivety of practitioners, especially in relation to their own children. Always get people coming up to me afterwards saying that they're going to check more carefully on their teenagers...

Guess that's good for me - ticking off the outcomes, but it's also scary that people don't realise the huge potential for danger and damage.

On the flip side, the message is also about the positive and fantastic resource that the internet gives us, already changed so much since my last presentation a year ago, for example, the prevalence  of smartphones. I wonder where it can all go to and will it start to slow, or come to a complete stop at some point?

On a lighter note, watched the remastered Star Trek last night. Wow - those writers predicted it all: flip phones, blue tooth hands-free, ear pieces, GPRS. Spock's tri-corder was a bit of  a let down though - looked like a squeezy bottle mounted on a handlebar grip. Probably was!