12.07.2015 Views

by clicking here. It is a 9.9 Mb file and will take some time to download

by clicking here. It is a 9.9 Mb file and will take some time to download

by clicking here. It is a 9.9 Mb file and will take some time to download

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

From these words I <strong>take</strong> validation for my approach since I see that it <strong>is</strong> in the very antithes<strong>is</strong> ofplanning, quantification <strong>and</strong> verifiability that meaning <strong>is</strong> derived from my reflections on thoseexperiences which have catalysed my own professional learning. Twenty years ago, I did not se<strong>to</strong>ut <strong>to</strong> develop a longitudinal study of the effect of ICT on myself. I didn't document it, create anoeuvre, set down a text (after Foucault, 2007 pp 5-8) or move <strong>to</strong> a labora<strong>to</strong>ry, but then, I didn'treal<strong>is</strong>e until later that I was involved in a thought experiment. Th<strong>is</strong>, then, <strong>is</strong> a necessarilyretrospective research project w<strong>here</strong> I am the 'work itself', edging <strong>to</strong>wards a 'working concept'(Foucault, 2007 ibid).Foucault's critique of contemporary ep<strong>is</strong>temology <strong>is</strong> redolent of Papert's (see above) morepragmatic approach since he <strong>is</strong> quite clear that simply building on past knowledge, assimilated<strong>by</strong> conventional means <strong>will</strong> no longer suffice, since t<strong>here</strong> are many d<strong>is</strong>courses, many h<strong>is</strong><strong>to</strong>ries,many structures <strong>and</strong> many solutions, all of which may contribute meaning. He cites Bachelardas a key source <strong>here</strong>:"T<strong>here</strong> are the ep<strong>is</strong>temological acts <strong>and</strong> thresholds described <strong>by</strong> Bachelard: They suspendthe continuous accumulation of knowledge, interrupt its slow development, <strong>and</strong> force it <strong>to</strong>enter a new <strong>time</strong>, cut it off from its empirical origin <strong>and</strong> its original motivations, cleanse i<strong>to</strong>f its imaginary complicities; they direct h<strong>is</strong><strong>to</strong>rical analys<strong>is</strong> away from the search for silentbeginnings, <strong>and</strong> the never-ending tracing-back <strong>to</strong> the original precursors, <strong>to</strong>wards thesearch for a new type of rationality <strong>and</strong> its various effects." (Foucault, 2007 p. 4)I find th<strong>is</strong> particularly interesting on reaching th<strong>is</strong> point in my studies for two reasons: First, Idid not learn how <strong>to</strong> use technology in ways cons<strong>is</strong>tent with my prior learning, so I had nounderst<strong>and</strong>ing of the 'empirical origins' of, say, computer science <strong>and</strong> had not been involved inthe 'continuous accumulation of knowledge'. Rather, I found myself in 1989 on the other side ofa threshold that I wasn't even aware I had crossed. I joined in a d<strong>is</strong>course that was alreadyunderway. By way of compar<strong>is</strong>on, I have since experienced several occasions when the learning139Simon Hughes Ph.D. Thes<strong>is</strong> (Oc<strong>to</strong>ber 2012)

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!