The Issue of Subjectivity in Teacher Transformation: Embracing East Asian Epistemology in Action Research Advising

• In Event: Action Research Ways of Knowing and Understanding: Alternative Praxis, Poetic Inquiry, Pedagogy of Hope, and Local Knowledge

Abstract

In Western cultures, subjectivity has often been seen as the "black sheep" of educational research because of its heavy emphasis on objectivity. However, mentoring teachers’ practice improvement research often requires us to go beyond the objective dimension and encompass the subjective dimension of the research process such as teachers’ intuition, tacit knowledge and personal meaning-making. The challenge that lies in front of us is how to mindfully make sense of the role of subjectivity in teachers’ action research projects. This paper examines this issue in terms of three case studies of in-service teachers’ action research projects and points to what it takes for us to mindfully embrace subjectivity in mentoring teachers’ action research projects.

Author

• Noriyuki Inoue, Waseda University