Living educational theory

Living educational theory (LET) is a research method in educational research.

Overview

The idea of Living Educational Theory as action research as a living practice entered the mainstream of action research from the book Action Research as a Living Practice by Terrance Carson and Dennis Sumara in 1997.[1] Carson and Sumara transformed the concept of traditional action research with the idea that, ..." participation in action research practices are particular ways of living and understanding that require more of the researcher than the "application" of research methods. Rather, action research is a lived practice that requires that the researcher not only investigate the subject at hand but, as well, provide some account of the way in which the investigation both shapes and is shaped by the investigator (Carson & Sumara 1997, p. xii). This requires what Martin Buber called an "I-Thou" approach toward other and this approach applied to action research as well. To make Buber's language more modern and accessible, LET translated Buber's "I-Thou" approach toward another human being to an "I/you/we" approach to action research. Director of the Philosophy for Children Project at Notre Dame de Namur University William Barry proposes LET focuses on the connections between the researcher and the other person or subject where the lives of action researchers are inextricable linked in a profound manner with the individuals and communities involved in the subject of study.

The methodology and process augmenting an algorithm used to empower the world's first socially advanced mind file artificial intelligence robot to successfully complete a university course was created by former visiting West Point Professor, William Barry's original architecture for conducting Living Educational Theory (Barry, 2012). This occurred in combination with a non-hierarchical theory for understanding human basic needs (Glasser 1998). Dr. Barry synthesized LET with a valid and reliable framework for understanding the meaning of quality modified from Robert Pirsig's exploration of quality in his bestselling book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Pirsig, 1974). Bina48 became the first artificial intelligence robot in the world to be recognized by school and government authorities as a university student and to use Transformational Quality Theory combined with Living Educational Theory (TQ Theory in robotics (https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/12/21/robot-goes-college)%5B%5D and a co-teacher (https://www.axios.com/robot-ai-teaching-college-course-at-west-point-98ce5888-873b-4b72-8de5-0f7c592d66b0.html).

A major difference of William Barry's[2] version of living educational theory, which was the focus of his Ph.D. thesis at Nottingham Trent University, UK, is the essential question behind the living educational theory approach to action research (Barry 2012). The question is not "How can I generate a living legacy for myself through an I-It theory approach toward knowledge and other forms of life?" Rather the essential question is, "How does one conduct a life that includes the practice of educational action research?" (Carson & Sumara 1997, p. xvii). According to Barry the theory/practice problem disappears when honesty about one's biases regarding spiritual, existential, and emotional intelligence are made clear in the action research process. While Professor Barry presents a rationalist definition of Living Educational Theory, Jack Whitehead forwards an empirical understanding and addresses these issues in Living Theory Research as a Way of Life.[3]

Definition

A Living Educational Theory (Living Theory) approach focuses attention on the experiences and implications of living values that carry hope for the flourishing of humanity. These values are the life-affirming and life-enhancing values that give meaning and purpose to the researcher's life. They are clarified as they emerge in the course of researching questions such as, 'How am I improving what I am doing?' They form the explanatory principles and standards by which improvements in both practice and knowledge-creation are judged.

The approach stresses the importance of extending the influence of these ontological and relational values and understandings in explanations of educational influence. In a Living Educational Theory approach to research and a human existence, individuals hold their lives to account by producing accounts of their living-educational theories; that is 'explanations of their educational influences in their own learning, the learning of others and the learning of social formations, in enquiries of the kind, 'How am I improving what I am doing?(Whitehead, 1989). In the eyes of Whitehead, radical constructivism is at the core of living educational theory research.

See also

References
  1. Carson, Terrance R.; Sumara, Dennis J. (1997). Action research as a living practice. Peter Lang. ISBN 978-0-8204-3865-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. Barry, W. J. (2012). "Challenging the Status Quo Meaning of Educational Quality: Introducing Transformational Quality (TQ) Theory©" (PDF). Educational Journal of Living Theories. 5 (1): 1–26.
  3. Whitehead, Jack (2018). Living Theory Research as a Way of Life. Brown Dog Books. ISBN 978-1785452758.
  • Atkins, L.; Wallace, S. (2012), Qualitative Research in Education, London: Sage Publications.
  • Barry, William J. (2012), How can I improve my life-affirming, need-fulfilling, and performance enhancing capacity to understand and model the meaning of educational quality? (Ph.D. thesis), Nottingham Trent University.
  • Berger, David Aubrey (2006), Living Education: The Power of the Circle, Toronto: The Living University Press.
  • Buber, M. (1970), I and Thou, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
  • Gorlewski, J.; Gorlewski, A.; Portfilio, B., eds. (2012), Using Standards and High-Stakes Testing for Students: Exploiting Power with Critical Pedagogy, New York: Peter Lang, ISBN 9781433115561, OCLC 802286130.
  • Freire, P. (1970), Pedagogy of the Oppressed, New York: Continuum.
  • Hart, T.; Nelson, P.; Puhakka, K., eds. (2000), Transpersonal Knowing, Albany: State University of New York Press.
  • Kincheloe, J. (2000), Critical Pedagogy, New York: Peter Lang.
  • McNiff, Jean (2007), "My Story is My Living Educational Theory" (PDF), in Clandinin, D. (ed.), Handbook of Narrative Inquiry: Mapping a Methodology, pp. 308–329, doi:10.4135/9781452226552.n12, ISBN 9781412915625
  • Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur (2005), "What we do", Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur: California Province
  • Thompson, Heidi (1992), Habermas, Philadelphia: Pennbridge
  • Wink, Joan (2011), Critical Pedagogy, San Francisco: Pearson.
  • Whitehead, Jack; McNiff, Jean (2006), Action Research: Living Theory, SAGE Publications, ISBN 9781412908559
  • Whitehead Jack Vol. 1 of Jack Whitehead's Ph.D. (1999) How do I improve my practice? Creating a discipline of education through educational enquiry. University of Bath. http://www.actionresearch.net/living/living.shtml
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