As a budding researcher, I need to be consciously aware of the underlying epistemology of the different cultures of inquiry in order to utilize their methods appropriately. That also means I have a responsibility to understand my personal epistemology and its potential effects on my research. I need to "take responsibility not only for producing knowledge but for knowing why it is knowledge and defining what knowledge is and integrating it into one's self..." (Bentz & Shapiro, 1998, p.34).
So let me begin this journey of mindful inquiry with a clear statement of my personal epistemology. I am a constuctivist with a strong bend towards social constructivism. I believe that knowledge is created through the collection and dissemination of information. It is a process that is affected by the availability of information, the environment in which it is found, past and present experiences, personal beliefs/values and the societal influence of my peers. In other words, knowledge is created by what we do with the information in our environment; it does not just exist. My bend towards social constructivism can be seen in my belief that knowledge creation works best by engaging the social element, but I also believe that it can occur on an individual level through direct interaction.
References:
Bentz, V.M. & Shapiro, J.J. (1998). Mindful inquiry in social research. Thousand Oaks, CA:Sage. Retrieved from the Ebscohost e-book database.
Epistemology. (2015). In Merriam-Webster's online dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epistemology
Tagul. (2015). Epistemology [image]. Retrieved from https://tagul.com/show/mmwnayyrpzo3/Epistemology
From one constructivist to another - well said!
ReplyDeleteFrom the cultural contexts I have been a part of over the last ten years teaching overseas I have become quite the pragmatic constructivist - hoping the pragmatic influence will be able to dissipate with time.
It seems as though firmly establishing and taking into account our personal epistemological view is a necessary before meaningful and relevant research can begin. This makes a lot of sense when you really think about it :)
I can also relate to your social constructivism views - teaching in an ESL environment, the more the students are talking and discussing, the more they are learning.
I wonder about how your desire for social interaction as a tool for learning can be leveraged for those more introverted types such as myself. To develop comfort in a group environment I often need to have already established trust in some way and am curious as to how you implement.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great question! Social does not always have to be face to face. When it is, I like to build the social interaction gradually within a class. I often start with team building activities targeting trust specifically.
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