May 23…On the Nature of a Discipline or Field of Study…Steward of What?
Have you ever thought about the potential for unintended
consequences in acquiring disciplinary expertise? While one might assume that you see the
rewards as worth the risks, this might not be the case, as some of you might be
in the program more for the post-credential opportunities than for a genuine
desire to become an “expert.” How does all of this relate to your situation and
also to the current state of Doctoral
Education in Education?
Christy Moore here. This response might overlap a bit with the second post. One thing I have feared is becoming disconnected from the local context. As I’ve gone to a part-time position this year, I’ve already experienced the growing chasm between teachers and scholars. I fear that growing in expertise might make me seem disengaged from my peers, and as a result somehow unapproachable. I want to grow in knowledge, but I do not want that growth to result in a distance between my colleagues and me.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I already see the distance between myself and my former colleagues. A few time they have called me "Professor" or made a joke that I don't have to be up to my elbows in clay anymore. I also realize that I am seeing their work differently, and I speak differently about those shared interests now. I'm sure they see it too. I just don't want to ever be read as pretentious or condescending by them, as I respect their experience greatly.
DeleteThe sentiment of rewards being worth its potential risks presents such an undeniable allure, yet proves challenging for me to readily accept as my role as a full time doctoral student spirals my parallel investments as a full time teacher. Personal interpretations of what constitutes rewards, risks, and value as a doctoral student and middle school teacher may be independent from how my classes experience the same circumstances. Because the trajectory of my work as a doctoral student carries with it the weight of responsibility to my pupils, I often contemplate the ethics of my young learners standing as a notable component of what influences the configurations of my perspective, beliefs, and actions from year to year. Have any of you grappled with similar concerns?
ReplyDelete-Sandy Ting
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ReplyDeleteI found a few of the introductory statistics in “Doctoral Education in Education” particularly striking, especially the lack of any recent data on career outcomes for doctoral students. The author notes that most recipients are assumed to return to (or remain) in their prior workplace rather than enter into academia. Surely, we can assume that some percentage of those students must take with them the skills of inquiry they acquired during their studies, perhaps implementing them as part of their professional practice. This gap in outcomes data raises the stubborn binary between practice and research. The author notes that for most doctoral graduates, “ ‘researcher’ is not, nor will it ever be, at the center of their professional identity”. Further, this is problematic for faculty “for whom research is usually an integral part of their professional identity”. I think the discussion indicates a broader kind of disciplinary hang-up about the respective roles of the practitioner and the scholar. Richardson’s model of stewardship seems to me to more closely approximate how I might situate myself in the discipline of educational research. Stewardship in educational research allows for a potential collapse of the researcher/practitioner binary, and Richardson’s article suggests that one of the central conflicts of the discipline of educational research, is its compulsion to embody the criteria of other traditional disciplines, when the practice of education calls for it to be something quite different. Research and scholarship seem to me to be two different things. Research is a system of inquiry, but scholarship appears to have more to do with the dissemination of the products of inquiry. They are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but conflating the two practices seems deeply tied to the tension that exists in educational research as a discipline.
ReplyDeleteUntil I read this, I hadn't thought about the fact that I was accepting this without reservation because it resonated internally. But, you are right. What does the data say? I also like the way you visualized the collapsing of the researcher/educator binary.
DeleteGreat thoughts, Herb! Thanks for sharing!
DeleteI was also left a bit discouraged by the dichotomy you noted. Faculty keep researching, teachers keep teaching... is it truly that divided? And if so, why do we do the work we do (on either side)? There seems to be a call to action embedded somewhere in these texts. The university should be more closely aligned with the local school, and not just through student teaching placements. I wonder if the isolationism that exists among high school teachers is as rampant among faculty researchers? These articles cry out for open doors and greater access, but in my mind that will require the k-12 teacher to shift his or her mindset just as much as it will the university professor.
Posted by Jacqueline:
ReplyDeleteThe risk of acquiring disciplinary expertise is disconnection from the “big picture.” Nothing in life or discipline occurs in a vacuum especially in education. The term “education” is so broad and interrelated to some many other disciplines that is may be a disservice to be too narrowly focused. The rewards of becoming an expert with a narrow focus is not worth the risk of missing valuable and potentially interconnected information that may inform research focus or inference. With an interest in social justice in education in the area of curriculum and instruction, it would be remiss of me not to explore areas such as policy, symbolic interaction, power theories, political and social structures, historical data, and the like. Any attempt to acquire disciplinary expertise is going to require a working knowledge of multiple other disciplines.
Jen here. Admittedly, I get hung up in the words. I appreciate the idea of stewardship, as it aligns more with the idea I have what the future will hold. However, the idea of this stewardship occuring because of “expertise” in the field is problematic for me. I have encountered plenty of professionals who are actively engaging and affecting change in art education, without any title. Their efforts are founded on the same research I am exposed to, they simply chose the practice instead of the theoretical...did I do the opposite? Several of my encounters with those that have PhDs are often situated in the realm of possibility and not reality, and I still remember the frustration of those moments. Could I become this? Added to this concern is that I may stay in theory and leave the world of creating. I haven’t made art in a while, mostly out of the loss of freedom to do so. I am in an art education track, and have spent maybe 10% of that time making and exploring materials and methods through the theoretical lens, and via research done in the studio or museum. Why? Finally, I am already seen that my desire to pursue the PhD has pulled me out of the classroom and away from my peers. I echo Christine's sentiments that this is unfortunate, as this is where I come from and who I hope to help.
ReplyDeleteHi! This is Vivian. When I think about myself as an “expert,” I don’t necessarily consider the consequences to be negative in terms of what I can contribute to the field or art education, communication or education. I do see this word or title to be a little intimidating. I question what will it take for me to feel comfortable and call myself an “expert” and achieve a level of expertise that is acceptable within these fields? Yes, I consider that getting a PhD is worth the risk and time. My concern in becoming “the expert” is more about what does it mean it terms of commitment to the field, to society, to my students, to my family. My worries are more about balancing my time and expectations as a researcher, teacher and expert. How do I invest my time? As a Latina woman with a full-time job in higher education and family, I think about how do I learn to cope with the research expectations as I grow as a scholar and as a researcher/expert.
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