Rethinking leadership education: narrative inquiry and leadership stories

This narrative essay shares observations and insights about how instructors can use creativity, student voice, and personalized learning to create more responsive educational leadership pedagogy. Three stories, as told by a professor and two former students, explore how students’ narratives can naturally inform educational leadership preparation across international borders. We aim to demonstrate how students’ narrative experiences in education can contribute to exisiting discourse and research on effective and innovative pedagogical practice in educational leadership preparation.     

Judging the quality of qualitative inquiry: Criteriology and relativism in action

Statement of problemA variety of conceptions of qualitative research exist. This leads to a situation in which there are competing claims as to what counts as good-quality work. These competing claims revolve around the issue of criteria and how they are used to pass judgment on qualitative research. Those involved in sport and exercise sciences need to reflect on this issue with a view to generating further dialogue and a greater understanding of difference within the research community.MethodTwo ideal types of researcher, one a criteriologist the other a relativist, are constructed to illustrate how each might judge qualitative studies of different kinds.ResultsA comparison of the ways in which the criteriologist and the relativist draw on different assumptions to judge qualitative studies illustrates the constraining nature of the former and the expansive possibilities of the latter.ConclusionsCriteria should be viewed as lists of characterizing traits that are open to reinterpretation as times, conditions, and purposes change. Researchers need to adopt the role of connoisseur in order to pass judgment on different kinds of study in a fair and ethical manner.     

Towards reflexive practice: Engaging participants as co-researchers or co-analysts in psychological inquiry

This paper considers some of the implications of reflexivity for the practice of psychological research. After a brief consideration of the theoretical background to a concern with reflexivity, the paper goes on to examine how various researchers have attempted to incorporate components of reflexivity in their research practice. While a group of sociologists of science have operationalized reflexivity by self-conscious concern for their own role in the construction of social—scientific knowledge, new paradigm co-operative inquirers interpret a need for reflexivity by including their participants as fully self-reflexive co-researchers. Mulkay's suggestion for a dialogic analytical exchange with one's participants is also considered. The second half of the paper illustrates an attempt at reflexive practice in the authors' own research. This was a project concerned with identity change during the transition to motherhood, and aimed to allow the women a strong hand in helping to shape the project's direction. Preliminary analysis of a woman's data was taken back to her for her comments, and her reflections on the data were incorporated in the final case study. A detailed example of the investigator and participant's discussion of a piece of data is provided.     

Principles of coparticipant inquiry: An introductory outline and implications for therapeutic action

Abstract

Historically, two paradigms have been dominant in clinical psychoanalysis: the classical paradigm, which views the impersonal analyst as objective mirror, and the interpersonal/relational model, which views the analyst as intersubjective participant-observer. An evolutionary shift in psychoanalytic consciousness has, however, been quietly taking place, giving rise to coparticipant inquiry, a third paradigm that integrates the individualistic emphasis of classical theory and the social focus of participant-observation, avoiding the reductionism of each. This new perspective, which is rooted in the radical teachings and clinical experiments of Sandor Ferenczi, represents a significant shift in analytic theory and has major clinical implications. This essay articulates the seven guiding principles of coparticipant inquiry and reviews its contribution to the psychoanalytic theory of therapeutic action. The curative process of reconstructive new experience in the analytic situation, referred to as the “living through” process, is seen to subtend curative change, for both patient and analyst. The inherent mutuality and bi-directionality of this beneficial “living through” process is examined in both its direct and its dialectic coparticipatory aspects.     

Writing therapy in brief workplace counselling: Collaborative writing as inquiry

The purpose of this collaborative research was to reflect on one client's experience of using writing therapy during brief workplace counselling. The client/co‐researcher used expressive and creative writing between counselling sessions, the benefits of which are reported. A brief review of the literature on writing therapy is provided. The focus of the study is on investigating the process of writing therapy from the client's point of view. The epistemological assumptions and research methods are influenced by narrative inquiry. Feminist values inform both the therapeutic practice and research.     

An ethnographic inquiry of cooperative learning implementation

Qualitative research methods were employed to explore variations in teacher implementation of a research-based model of cooperative learning. Participants included five middle school math and science teachers who were trained in the Johnson, D.W. and Johnson, R.T. [Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (1983). The socialization and achievement crisis: Are cooperative learning experiences the answer? Applied Social Psychology, 4, 199-124.] model of cooperative learning. Implementation was examined via interview and observation. Principles from cognitive psychology defined constructs for study, which included teacher concepts, plans, and enactment of cooperative learning in the classroom. Study design included features characteristic of ethnographic inquiry: prolonged engagement, purposeful sampling, persistent observation, multiple source data collection, and recursive interpretation. Triangulation of data sources revealed that relationships between concepts, plans and enactment were mediated by teaching style, teaching context, and degree of teaching expertise. Findings suggest that when attempting to implement cooperative learning lessons, teacher may benefit from attention to teacher and student roles, curricular requirements, instructional time, and classroom management skills. Findings further demonstrate the important contributions of qualitative research to the cooperative learning literature.     

Social epistemology as a rhetoric of inquiry

Fuller's program of social epistemology engages a rhetoric of inquiry that can be usefully compared and contrasted with other discursive theories of knowledge, such as that of Richard Rorty. Resisting the model of conversation, Fuller strikes an activist posture and lays the groundwork for normative knowledge policy, in which persuasion and credibility play key roles. The image of investigation is one that overtly rejects the storehouse conception of knowledge and invokes the metaphors of distributive economics. Productive questions arise as to how notions of creation and distribution might guide this rhetoric.     

Beyond "healthy eating" and "healthy weights": harassment and the health curriculum in middle schools

In this paper we use data from interviews conducted with grades 7 and 8 girls to explore connections between body-based harassment and girls’ body modification practices. We discuss how the elementary health curricula fail to consider harassment and other cultural factors that influence the body modification practices and eating patterns of diverse girls. More specifically, we argue that the “healthy eating, healthy weights” approach of the grades 7 and 8 Ontario health curriculum has five limitations: (1) it sends contradictory messages; (2) it increases anxieties about body weight; (3) it ignores the multiple causes of eating problems; (4) it marginalizes issues most relevant to racialized girls; and (5) it ignores dilemmas associated with physical development. We conclude with suggestions for developing a curriculum on body dissatisfaction and eating disorders prevention that considers the various socio-cultural factors influencing the range of body monitoring and modifying practices taken up by girls.     

The given of achievement and the reluctance to assent: Argument and inquiry in the post-postmodern world

Changes in the social, political, and intellectual climate worldwide portend radical changes in how humans view themselves and their world. This essay argues that the twenty-first century will usher in apost-postmodern age. The new epoch will be one in which argument practices more closely resemble their modernist forbears. The given of achievement will overcome the postmodern reluctance to assent. Argument will be practiced against the backdrop of realist philosophical frameworks and will be viewed as contributing to the accretion of knowledge.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Speech Communication Association Annual Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, November 1991.To assert that moral, aesthetic, and factual arguments are statistically derived, is not to argue that there is no such thing as absolute goodness, beauty, or truth. It is to declare that these ultimate values have little relevance in practical argument.- Daniel McDonald     

Applying a relational lens to ethnographic inquiry: Storied insight into the inner workings of multicultural teams in men's elite football

ObjectiveTo examine the impact of transnational migration on the functioning of multicultural teams in men's elite football and to explore the cultural transition experiences of transnational players from the relational perspective of receiving football environments.Designand Method: This 26-month ethnographic study adopted a researcher-practitioner approach to investigate two elite European football clubs during the course of two complete seasons. Over 80 male participants from 18 different countries were involved in the approximately 1200 h of field observation (e.g., practices, games, closed-door meetings, etc.) and 50 h of transcribed interviews. Detailed field notes and interview data were thematically analyzed, followed by a narrative analysis of structure and form. Finally, the genre of ethnographic creative non-fiction was employed to present the findings.FindingsBy applying a relational lens to the study of cultural transitions, this investigation illuminates the centrality of relations in the daily functioning of multicultural teams embedded in transnational networks and spaces. The complex interactional dynamic between transnational players and members of the receiving environment as well as the structural constraints shaping footballing (sub)cultures and behaviours highlight the salience of restrained agency as a collective phenomenon in elite men's football. Moreover, the study explores the hows of cultural transition by engaging with temporality and proposing a complementary perspective that extends current understandings in the narration of cultural transition experiences.ConclusionsThe findings carry applied utility that can benefit stakeholders and practitioners working with culturally diverse teams in the deployment of culturally informed club management strategy, educational tools, and interventions.     

Connecting to belonging: a cross-disciplinary inquiry into rural Australian Anglican Church engagements with people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds

People from diverse backgrounds enrich the rural, regional, and remote communities where they relocate and settle. Research about rural diversity tends to focus on demographics (age, gender, country of origin) while ignoring personal narratives of integration, for example, engagements with religious institutions (such as the local Christian church). This article presents the research themes from an investigation using co-operative inquiry into rural diversity and the Anglican Church, with specific reference to the Australian experience. It is a cross-disciplinary dialogic exchange between social workers and theologians. Positive narratives about connection, welcome, participation, and belonging are shared.     

An effective strategy for integrating ethics across the curriculum in engineering: An ABET 2000 challenge

This paper describes a one-day workshop format for introducing ethics into the engineering curriculum prepared at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez (UPRM). It responds to the ethics criteria newly integrated into the accreditation process by the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET). It also employs an ethics across the curriculum (EAC) approach; engineers identify the ethical issues, write cases that dramatize these issues, and then develop exercises making use of these cases that are specially tailored to mainstream engineering classes.The different activities and strategies employed in this workshop are set forth. Specific references are made to the cases and exercises developed as a result of these workshops. The paper ends by summarizing the different assessments made of the workshop by addressing the following questions: how did it contribute to the overall ABET effort at UPRM; could other universities benefit from a similar activity; and how did the participants evaluate the workshop?     

A reflection on a humanistic approach to narrative inquiry into the lived experience of women casual academics

Qualitative research is said to add flesh to the bones of quantitative data, and narrative inquiry, more specifically, is described as emotionally comforting, reassuring and validating for participants who share their stories. But little is said of the impact of the flesh, bone and emotions of the narrative inquirer on the qualitative research process. This paper explores a humanistic approach to a narrative inquiry into the lived experience of women casual academics in Australian universities, and exposes the emotional and embodied labour involved in researching others’ stories. Through reflecting in and on her practice as a narrative inquirer, the author discusses how she was affectively and ideologically motivated to investigate the lives of women casual academics and demonstrates how her heart worked in conjunction with her head when ‘handling’ the narrative data. The author finally explores how reflecting on a humanistic approach to narrative research exposes that emotional and cognitive alignment can create research ‘flow’, and that fully embodied engagement with research aligns with ‘slow’ and feminist ‘in-the-making’ scholarship where journey and outcomes emerge and cannot be pre-determined.     

Spontaneity: a psychoanalytic inquiry

Abstract

This paper examines the experience of consulting to experiential groups and endeavours to draw some conclusions about this significant element in training.     

Impact of personality traits and personal values on curriculum choice of young adults

In the present study, an attempt was made to investigate the role of personality and personal values in the curriculum choice. Four hundred students (200 males and 200 females) ranging in age between 18- and 25-years-old participated in the study. Eysenck Personality Questionnaire – Revised (EPQ-R) and The Aspiration Index (AI) were used to measure the personality traits and personal values respectively. Regression analyses indicate that individuals scoring high on extraversion and having high intrinsic value orientation (Importance) are more likely to choose arts/humanities (A/H) academic discipline. While individuals with high scores on psychoticism, neuroticism and having extrinsic value orientation (Importance) tend to opt for business/technical (B/T) academic stream. Findings are explained in terms of the Self-determination theory and the changing choices leading to the possible shift in the value system. Gender differences in personality and values; and their impact on academic choice have also been studied. Extraversion plays the strongest role in the choice of A/H academic choice irrespective of gender. Females are guided by intrinsic values while choosing A/H streams while males are influenced by extrinsic values while opting for B/T streams.     

Task analysis in curriculum design: a hierarchically sequenced introductory mathematics curriculum

A method of systematic task analysis is applied to the problem of designing a sequence of learning objectives that will provide an optimal match for the child's natural sequence of acquisition of mathematical skills and concepts. The authors begin by proposing an operational definition of the number concept in the form of a set of behaviors which, taken together, permit the inference that the child has an abstract concept of "number". These are the "objectives" of the curriculum. Each behavior in the defining set is then subjected to an analysis that identifies hypothesized components of skilled performance and prerequisites for learning these components. On the basis of these analyses, specific sequences of learning objectives are proposed. The proposed sequences are hypothesized to be those that will best facilitate learning, by maximizing transfer from earlier to later objectives. Relevant literature on early learning and cognitive development is considered in conjunction with the analyses and the resulting sequences. The paper concludes with a discussion of the ways in which the curriculum can be implemented and studied in schools. Examples of data on individual children are presented, and the use of such data for improving the curriculum itself, as well as for examining the effects of other treatment variables, is considered.     

When girls versus boys play alone: nonsocial play and adjustment in kindergarten.

The goal of the present study was to examine the relations between different forms of children's nonsocial play behaviors and adjustment in kindergarten. The participants in this study were 77 kindergarten children (38 boys, 39 girls; mean age = 66.16 months, SD = 4.11 months). Mothers completed ratings of child shyness and emotion dysregulation. Children's nonsocial play behaviors (reticent, solitary-passive. solitary active) were observed during free play. In addition, teachers rated child behavior problems (internalizing and externalizing) and social competence; academic achievement was assessed through child interviews. Results from regression analyses revealed that different types of nonsocial play were differentially associated with child characteristics and indices of adjustment. For some forms of nonsocial play, the nature of these associations differed significantly for boys and girls.