Transcript What does it mean to be philosophical?

What does it mean to be
philosophical?
What is real
What is
knowledge
based on
What is moral
How can
thoughts be
organized
Idealism
Unchanging
universal
mind
Realizing
latent ideas
Absolute and
eternal
Deductive
from
universals
Realism
An external
material
world
Natural law
Sense
experience
Both
deductive
and
inductive
Pragmatism
Interaction
of an
individual
with the
world
Relative and
situational
Constant
examination
of change
Inductive
Existentialism
Human being as creator of
his or her own existence
Total freedom of choice and
total responsibility for choices
• Read Ornstein and Levine
We are interested in philosophy
because there is a link between
our beliefs about what is real,
how we know, and what we
believe is ethical, and what our
actions may be.
Education
• Idealism
– Emphasizing great ideas
• Realism
– Scientific method
• Pragmatism
– Problem solving
• Existentialism
– Stimulating self-awareness
Read
• Eisner—Curriculum
Qualitative Research
The larger philosophical position
• Positivism (Postpositivism)
– We know things through sensory experience
and logic
– All explanations are empirically testable
• Events are instances of regularities
• Interpretivism
– Facts are relative to a symbol scheme and thus
they change based on how they are observed
And then …
Positivism
• Social Constructivism
– Understanding lived experiences
• Pragmatism
– Determining best outcomes
Interpretivism
• Critical Theory
– Facilitating emancipation
Examples
• Harry Wolcott followed a principal around
for a couple of years and wrote The Man in
the Principal’s Office.
• Michael Apple examined what was really
being taught in schools and wrote Ideology
and Curriculum.
• Maria Montessori investigated how to
educate socially challenged children and
wrote The Absorbent Mind
Habermas and cognitive interest
• Prediction and Control
– Technical—Experimental research
• Social integration
– Practical—Interpretivist research
• The adequacy of knowledge itself
– Emancipatory—Self-reflection and dialogue
Why This Is Important
• Positionality
• How you gather and analyze data is
influenced by what you intend to do with
the results.
different purposes—different processes
• You have to be careful that you get the right
process for the right purpose
Creswell’s Approaches
• Narrative Research
–
–
–
–
The stories from one or a few respondents
Examines a phenomenon
Usually context bound
Usually analyzed thematically
Creswell’s Approaches
• Phenomenological Research
– Common meaning generated usually from
interviews of a group about lived experiences
– Examines a phenomenon
– Usually analyzed by identifying significant
statements
– Ends with a discussion of the essence of the
lived experience
Creswell’s Approaches
• Grounded Theory Research
–
–
–
–
Generation of a unified theoretical explanation
Examines processes over time
Usually analyzed by selective coding
Ends with a discussion of the theory of the
process.
Creswell’s Approaches
• Ethnographic Research
– Generation of shared patterns within a group
– Examines social organization through
fieldwork
– Usually analyzed by developing themes from
direct quotes
– Ends with a discussion of how the culture
works and how new members find their way.
Creswell’s Approaches
• Case Study Research
– Generation of an understanding of a case
– Examines a individual or a small group usually
– Usually analyzed by developing a case
description from multiple sources of data
– Ends with assertions about the meaning derived
from the case.
• For next time read chapters 3 and 4