Beyond Philology An International Journal of Linguistics, Literary Studies and English Language Teaching
The Covid-19 pandemic, 2020-2022, has been defined as a turning point and possibly a critical inc... more The Covid-19 pandemic, 2020-2022, has been defined as a turning point and possibly a critical incident (Tripp 1993) for the workstyle, professional well-being, and quality of work of thousands of academics worldwide. This type of uncontrolled, unexpected, and multifaceted event: political (procedural and administrative), biological (coronavirus inflicted deaths) and cultural (normative), has never before been experienced by the contemporary generation of professionally active academic teachers. As we assume in the presented research findings, two years of a global lockdown and the implementation of regulations which have had a destabilizing effect, must have affected the dynamics of identity shifts experienced by this professional community. Paradoxically, however, alongside this, endless possibilities have opened up for new research concerning the hardship experienced during the adaptation undertaken to deal with global and local (g/local) sociocultural changes in policy and work c...
The article presents the results of the qualitative – biographical research study conducted among... more The article presents the results of the qualitative – biographical research study conducted among a group of two Montessori training courses participants. The main aim of the research was to address the question on how the informants thematize and articulate their meanings attributed to the process of change. The research question was formulated as follows: how do the trainee Montessori 6 – 12 guides thematize their process of transformation? The article outlines the notion of educational change in the context of tacit knowledge and personal theories and then focuses on description of the research procedure that included twenty-five in-depth, individual interviews that were later analysed following Kvale’s idea of seven steps. The results show that the educational change is initiated as an overthought decision and may be characterised by two major categories: radical transformation and biographical correction. In the conclusion, the author observes that the educational reforms (in t...
Artykuł podejmuje kwestię koncepcji kształcenia studentów w uniwersytecie konceptualizowanych prz... more Artykuł podejmuje kwestię koncepcji kształcenia studentów w uniwersytecie konceptualizowanych przez nauczycieli akademickich, a jego podstawowym celem jest prezentacja wyników badań autora z zakresu dydaktyki akademickiej i odnoszących się do indywidualnych, choć kulturowo zapośredniczonych, sposobów rozumienia działalności kształceniowej nauczycieli akademickich. Autor wykorzystuje podejście badawcze w fenomenografii i posługując się semistrukturyzowanym, indywidualnym wywiadem jakościowym, dokonuje analizy dwudziestu ośmiu narracji akademików w zakresie ich sposobów pracy ze studentami. W konsekwencji zastosowania takiej strategii badawczej autor dokonuje syntetycznej prezentacji przestrzeni wynikowej, na którą składa się dziesięć jakościowo odmiennych sposobów rozumienia działalności dydaktycznej nauczycieli akademickich w uniwersytecie. Ze względu na obszerność materiału w artykule przedstawiono bliżej cztery z nich: (proemancypacyjny eskapizm, pasjonacki infekcjonizm, amatorski...
Dydaktyczna funkcja uniwersytetu wydaje się tematem, który w obecnych czasach jest słabo obecny w... more Dydaktyczna funkcja uniwersytetu wydaje się tematem, który w obecnych czasach jest słabo obecny w naukowym dyskursie pedagogiki szkoły wyższej. Wynika to z koncentracji na produktywności naukowej, ocenie parametrycznej oraz bibliometrii. Prezentowany artykuł stanowi element szerszych badań nad kulturami akademickimi szkoły wyższej i podejmuje kwestię społecznego pozycjonowania studentów w narracjach pracowników naukowo-dydaktycznych. Podstawowym celem artykułu jest zwrócenie uwagi na znaczenie postrzegania młodzieży akademickiej przez środowisko uczonych, a tym samym ożywienie dyskusji nad istotnością dydaktycznej funkcji uniwersytetu, która traktowana jest jako tak samo istotna jak działalność naukowa. W artykule najpierw szkicowo przedstawiono metodologię badania, którą stanowi Krytyczna Analiza Metafor będąca swoistą odmianą Krytycznej Analizy Dyskursu. W toku badań realizowanych w ramach dwudziestu ośmiu indywidualnych wywiadów jakościowych poddano refleksji wyrażenia metaforycz...
The main aim of the article is an analysis of the privatization of pedagogical knowledge using an... more The main aim of the article is an analysis of the privatization of pedagogical knowledge using an example of one of the alternative pedagogies (Montessori Method). We claim that nowadays, pedagogical knowledge is treated as economic capital, and therefore subject to modifications characteristic for neoliberal culture. In our analysis we implement qualitative focus interviews conducted with various members of the Montessori community (teachers, owners and administrators of schools) who have gained access to a rare commodity – that is, knowledge regarding the teaching methodology of this particular pedagogical approach. The results of this empirical research point to mechanisms characteristic for making pedagogical knowledge classified and “gilded”, mechanisms that limit it to the closed space of a particular discourse society. We conclude that this ‘inbred’ form of knowledge transfer can lead to an inability to renew meanings and, as a consequence, to the replacement of critical and ...
This article concerns three fundamental dimensions of all educational methods: technical, epistem... more This article concerns three fundamental dimensions of all educational methods: technical, epistemological, and cultural. We perceive them as equally important in the process of (re)creating and using any educational method. It seems to us that the technical dimension is quite often the only one or at least the most essential one in the area of Polish educational practices, and sometimes also in the theory of education. This situation is, however, undesirable since it may lead to the decontextualisation of the methods, and – as a consequence – limit their educational potential. Referring to the Montessori approach and more specifi cally to one of the most signifi cant concepts within the method – namely to the idea of „prepared environment” in which three aspects can be distinguished: material, structural – dynamic, and personal, we describe the roles that they play in the procedures of constructing teaching methods showing their integral character.
The article concentrates on the issue of Montessori teachers’ attitude towards pedagogical knowle... more The article concentrates on the issue of Montessori teachers’ attitude towards pedagogical knowledge they develop during different forms of training. The analysis presented in the text is based on quasi-experiment rooted in Critical Realism research paradigm. Eighty-two Montessori teachers participated in a workshop and were asked to comment on eight different quotes. Half of them knew that these extracts had been taken from the publications by Maria Montessori and the other half did not have that knowledge. As a result, the first group of teachers formulated numerous critical remarks whereas the other one concentrated on positive interpretations. This experiment might shed some light on the power of authority and limitations to transform teachers’ implicit pedagogical presuppositions. The teachers that took part in this experiment were provided with the opportunity to problematize their personal teaching theories.
Critical and radical perspectives on the condition of University seem to share the language of br... more Critical and radical perspectives on the condition of University seem to share the language of bruising war between the powers of good and evil. Academia is in chains, under siege, and is being constantly assaulted from the air and ground. In such conditions, allied forces aimed at retaking higher education gather in a specific mode, an offensive mode, the mode of striking back. This lexis and these metaphors pre-frame the situations in which university staff meet within academia. Based on qualitative, phenomenography-oriented, in-depth interviews, the author makes an attempt to problematise – often taking for granted – the idea of meeting and presents the results of his research showing that meetings can take five different forms (from offensive to appreciative mutual understanding) resulting in (re)creating various and varied university cultures. In the final part of the article the author presents possible “interpretation paths” in the form of the spectres of the university.
The article presented is a qualitative analysis of the early education Freinet and Montessori tea... more The article presented is a qualitative analysis of the early education Freinet and Montessori teachers in relation to their educational practices in the scope of educational constructivism. Understanding constructivism as a metaphor describing process of learning, the authors outline similarities and differences in the conceptions attributed to the processes of learning between the two researched groups of teachers. The results of the analysis show the opposite “direction” of the thematizations. Freinet teachers concentrate on the techniques and then – in their narratives – outline the values related to education whereas Montessori teachers’ narratives are oriented at values and only illustrated with some technological examples. The outcomes of the analysis can be formulated in a form of provisional synthesis: The realization of constructivism in education is not connected so much with so called “active learning techniques” but rather with values, individual and shared axio-educatio...
The article addresses the issue of alternative education in the context of cultural codes. On the... more The article addresses the issue of alternative education in the context of cultural codes. On the basis of ethnographic research conducted in primary Montessori schools in Poland the author analyses the significance of local culture for the global range pedagogy, and in this way questions the thesis according to which Montessori is indifferent to cultural differences. The results of the research show, that all three cultural codes, including the totalitarian and folwark ones are present in many different situations investigated during the research. At the same time Polish Montessori schools are undoubtedly these places in which the modernization code is overwhelmingly present.
Beyond Philology An International Journal of Linguistics, Literary Studies and English Language Teaching
The Covid-19 pandemic, 2020-2022, has been defined as a turning point and possibly a critical inc... more The Covid-19 pandemic, 2020-2022, has been defined as a turning point and possibly a critical incident (Tripp 1993) for the workstyle, professional well-being, and quality of work of thousands of academics worldwide. This type of uncontrolled, unexpected, and multifaceted event: political (procedural and administrative), biological (coronavirus inflicted deaths) and cultural (normative), has never before been experienced by the contemporary generation of professionally active academic teachers. As we assume in the presented research findings, two years of a global lockdown and the implementation of regulations which have had a destabilizing effect, must have affected the dynamics of identity shifts experienced by this professional community. Paradoxically, however, alongside this, endless possibilities have opened up for new research concerning the hardship experienced during the adaptation undertaken to deal with global and local (g/local) sociocultural changes in policy and work c...
The article presents the results of the qualitative – biographical research study conducted among... more The article presents the results of the qualitative – biographical research study conducted among a group of two Montessori training courses participants. The main aim of the research was to address the question on how the informants thematize and articulate their meanings attributed to the process of change. The research question was formulated as follows: how do the trainee Montessori 6 – 12 guides thematize their process of transformation? The article outlines the notion of educational change in the context of tacit knowledge and personal theories and then focuses on description of the research procedure that included twenty-five in-depth, individual interviews that were later analysed following Kvale’s idea of seven steps. The results show that the educational change is initiated as an overthought decision and may be characterised by two major categories: radical transformation and biographical correction. In the conclusion, the author observes that the educational reforms (in t...
Artykuł podejmuje kwestię koncepcji kształcenia studentów w uniwersytecie konceptualizowanych prz... more Artykuł podejmuje kwestię koncepcji kształcenia studentów w uniwersytecie konceptualizowanych przez nauczycieli akademickich, a jego podstawowym celem jest prezentacja wyników badań autora z zakresu dydaktyki akademickiej i odnoszących się do indywidualnych, choć kulturowo zapośredniczonych, sposobów rozumienia działalności kształceniowej nauczycieli akademickich. Autor wykorzystuje podejście badawcze w fenomenografii i posługując się semistrukturyzowanym, indywidualnym wywiadem jakościowym, dokonuje analizy dwudziestu ośmiu narracji akademików w zakresie ich sposobów pracy ze studentami. W konsekwencji zastosowania takiej strategii badawczej autor dokonuje syntetycznej prezentacji przestrzeni wynikowej, na którą składa się dziesięć jakościowo odmiennych sposobów rozumienia działalności dydaktycznej nauczycieli akademickich w uniwersytecie. Ze względu na obszerność materiału w artykule przedstawiono bliżej cztery z nich: (proemancypacyjny eskapizm, pasjonacki infekcjonizm, amatorski...
Dydaktyczna funkcja uniwersytetu wydaje się tematem, który w obecnych czasach jest słabo obecny w... more Dydaktyczna funkcja uniwersytetu wydaje się tematem, który w obecnych czasach jest słabo obecny w naukowym dyskursie pedagogiki szkoły wyższej. Wynika to z koncentracji na produktywności naukowej, ocenie parametrycznej oraz bibliometrii. Prezentowany artykuł stanowi element szerszych badań nad kulturami akademickimi szkoły wyższej i podejmuje kwestię społecznego pozycjonowania studentów w narracjach pracowników naukowo-dydaktycznych. Podstawowym celem artykułu jest zwrócenie uwagi na znaczenie postrzegania młodzieży akademickiej przez środowisko uczonych, a tym samym ożywienie dyskusji nad istotnością dydaktycznej funkcji uniwersytetu, która traktowana jest jako tak samo istotna jak działalność naukowa. W artykule najpierw szkicowo przedstawiono metodologię badania, którą stanowi Krytyczna Analiza Metafor będąca swoistą odmianą Krytycznej Analizy Dyskursu. W toku badań realizowanych w ramach dwudziestu ośmiu indywidualnych wywiadów jakościowych poddano refleksji wyrażenia metaforycz...
The main aim of the article is an analysis of the privatization of pedagogical knowledge using an... more The main aim of the article is an analysis of the privatization of pedagogical knowledge using an example of one of the alternative pedagogies (Montessori Method). We claim that nowadays, pedagogical knowledge is treated as economic capital, and therefore subject to modifications characteristic for neoliberal culture. In our analysis we implement qualitative focus interviews conducted with various members of the Montessori community (teachers, owners and administrators of schools) who have gained access to a rare commodity – that is, knowledge regarding the teaching methodology of this particular pedagogical approach. The results of this empirical research point to mechanisms characteristic for making pedagogical knowledge classified and “gilded”, mechanisms that limit it to the closed space of a particular discourse society. We conclude that this ‘inbred’ form of knowledge transfer can lead to an inability to renew meanings and, as a consequence, to the replacement of critical and ...
This article concerns three fundamental dimensions of all educational methods: technical, epistem... more This article concerns three fundamental dimensions of all educational methods: technical, epistemological, and cultural. We perceive them as equally important in the process of (re)creating and using any educational method. It seems to us that the technical dimension is quite often the only one or at least the most essential one in the area of Polish educational practices, and sometimes also in the theory of education. This situation is, however, undesirable since it may lead to the decontextualisation of the methods, and – as a consequence – limit their educational potential. Referring to the Montessori approach and more specifi cally to one of the most signifi cant concepts within the method – namely to the idea of „prepared environment” in which three aspects can be distinguished: material, structural – dynamic, and personal, we describe the roles that they play in the procedures of constructing teaching methods showing their integral character.
The article concentrates on the issue of Montessori teachers’ attitude towards pedagogical knowle... more The article concentrates on the issue of Montessori teachers’ attitude towards pedagogical knowledge they develop during different forms of training. The analysis presented in the text is based on quasi-experiment rooted in Critical Realism research paradigm. Eighty-two Montessori teachers participated in a workshop and were asked to comment on eight different quotes. Half of them knew that these extracts had been taken from the publications by Maria Montessori and the other half did not have that knowledge. As a result, the first group of teachers formulated numerous critical remarks whereas the other one concentrated on positive interpretations. This experiment might shed some light on the power of authority and limitations to transform teachers’ implicit pedagogical presuppositions. The teachers that took part in this experiment were provided with the opportunity to problematize their personal teaching theories.
Critical and radical perspectives on the condition of University seem to share the language of br... more Critical and radical perspectives on the condition of University seem to share the language of bruising war between the powers of good and evil. Academia is in chains, under siege, and is being constantly assaulted from the air and ground. In such conditions, allied forces aimed at retaking higher education gather in a specific mode, an offensive mode, the mode of striking back. This lexis and these metaphors pre-frame the situations in which university staff meet within academia. Based on qualitative, phenomenography-oriented, in-depth interviews, the author makes an attempt to problematise – often taking for granted – the idea of meeting and presents the results of his research showing that meetings can take five different forms (from offensive to appreciative mutual understanding) resulting in (re)creating various and varied university cultures. In the final part of the article the author presents possible “interpretation paths” in the form of the spectres of the university.
The article presented is a qualitative analysis of the early education Freinet and Montessori tea... more The article presented is a qualitative analysis of the early education Freinet and Montessori teachers in relation to their educational practices in the scope of educational constructivism. Understanding constructivism as a metaphor describing process of learning, the authors outline similarities and differences in the conceptions attributed to the processes of learning between the two researched groups of teachers. The results of the analysis show the opposite “direction” of the thematizations. Freinet teachers concentrate on the techniques and then – in their narratives – outline the values related to education whereas Montessori teachers’ narratives are oriented at values and only illustrated with some technological examples. The outcomes of the analysis can be formulated in a form of provisional synthesis: The realization of constructivism in education is not connected so much with so called “active learning techniques” but rather with values, individual and shared axio-educatio...
The article addresses the issue of alternative education in the context of cultural codes. On the... more The article addresses the issue of alternative education in the context of cultural codes. On the basis of ethnographic research conducted in primary Montessori schools in Poland the author analyses the significance of local culture for the global range pedagogy, and in this way questions the thesis according to which Montessori is indifferent to cultural differences. The results of the research show, that all three cultural codes, including the totalitarian and folwark ones are present in many different situations investigated during the research. At the same time Polish Montessori schools are undoubtedly these places in which the modernization code is overwhelmingly present.
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