Pragmatic epistemology, possibly

Bored and unmotivated this morning after sleeping in. (Yesterday was my killer 8h Thursday, so I felt justified.) Things to do today include marking (I spread it out as thinly as I can while still meeting deadlines) and working on my Qual paper on case study. 

While thinking of ways to procrastinate, I suddenly remembered this blog. I'm sure it only counts as semi-procrastination! 

So while working on my Classroom Research paper I recalled L's suggestion of Pragmatism, because I was (still am) troubled by this theoretical framework thing. I'm reading up on Pragmatism, after watching a series of YouTube videos (yay YT!) on the basics of the philosophy and deciding that it might be a good fit. It doesn't seem to conflict with the approach I described in my previous post. Using Crotty's (1998) framework for theoretical frameworks (LOL), maybe I could put it this way:

Epistemology: Pragmatism

Theoretical perspective: Social practice

Methodology: Ethnographic case study

Methods: Participant observation, interviews, focus group discussions, document analysis, questionnaire (maybe)

But Pragmatism is of course more complex than as few YT videos can explain. I have to delve into the scary rabbit hole of philosophy, while I wrangle that case study paper.

Post-post-pre-confirmation thoughts

I really should have blogged after the July residential since that was a pretty major milestone -- my pre-confirmation panel. The panel threw me off-balance (to say the least) and I was pretty lost for at least a few days but by the time I left Lancaster I did have some sense of the new direction I was going to move in. 

While in London I just wanted to have fun (which I did) but from the moment I landed in Singapore it has been work, work, work. I didn't work much last semester because semesters here clash with the Jan residential, so I've been trying to make up for it this semester. As a result I probably took on too many jobs -- I'm currently teaching at NIE, NUS, SIM University and NAFA, in addition to some course development work and miscellaneous workshops. This has also made it hard for me to chase up schools for access; I'm hoping to do that at the end of the year which is school vacation in Singapore.

I worked out an overly ambitious schedule, according to which I should have started the 2nd of the 3 assignments due this semester. Which I haven't of course. I count myself lucky to be able to finish the first (and the shortest at 2.5k words) before the 30 September deadline. In the course of writing this paper, I've had some time to think about my research. In my post-panel report, I wrote that I was looking into practice theory instead, specifically Reckwitz's (2002). This is something which I found and put aside previously, and I think now it could work for me. I'm not sure, especially after the panel, if the literacies practices paradigm really works for me, and Lave and Wenger's CoP isn't quite it either. 

While at the Lancaster campus bookshop, I came across Shove, Pantzar and Watson’s (2012) book "The Dynamics of Social Practice: Everyday life and how it changes" and found it very interesting. Prof Elizabeth Shove is from the Sociology department at Lancaster, and the authors have adapted Reckwitz's framework, which is more complex, into something more streamlined and usable. They analyse practices based on the three elements of materials, competences and meanings. I like that they approach this with the aim of changing practices, not just describing them.

My methodological approach as it stands now is primarily case study, with an ethnographic perspective. I've read up further on ethnography and participant observation for the paper, and feel better prepared to explain how I'm taking up the ethnographic perspective without actually doing ethnography. In exploring ethnography, I discovered that there is a strong mixed methods tradition, which I wasn't aware of before. I guess this further explains the considerable overlap between case study and ethnography. This is useful to know if I end up administering a questionnaire. 

I know many people find coursework a drag, but I'm really grateful for it, especially at this point. I think a solid methodological foundation is important for research. Not to say that I believe that epistemologies and paradigms are unshakeable; I tried that and I think that view doesn't really work for language assessment. Maybe pragmatism really is my epistemology. 

I also think I've got a more precise notion of the research gap I'm trying to fill now. Not only is there insufficient research into the classroom-based, social and digital aspects of language assessment, but what there is currently also tends to focus on assessment tools and frameworks, which on their own don't seem to have much of an impact on assessment reform. So I'm arguing that this is why there's a need to look at things from a social practice viewpoint, which has been done in general ed assessment but not in language assessment.

This feels like a move forward for me, but that's what I feel every time there's a change in my thinking, so it might just be an illusion :P

To-do list, as of 12 April 2013

1. Flesh out HK preso for pre-confirmation: 'A few days prior to the meeting of the panel, students should provide the supervisor and other member of the panel with a written document briefly outlining their work and progress in the last year (including planned Research Questions, data, data collection and data analysis) and pointing out any issues which they consider have impeded their progress (3-4 pages).' 
2. Finish reading Understanding digital literacies: A practical introduction.
3. Sort out literature (spreadsheet, Zotero) -- what's the best way?
4. Find at least 2 schools -- follow up on possible candidates.
5. Design draft questionnaire for students (for MOE application).
6. Work on ethics and permissions docs.

Misc stuff to follow up, as of 12 April 2013

From CR forum exchange with D:
Could the conventional concept of a construct could also be challenged if it assumes a theoretical perspective of 'practice' rather than 'skill'?

Case studies with ethnographic perspective? According to U on DL forum: 'Call it taking an ethnographic perspective - in the sense that you seek the emic perspective, look at things in context/as situated, so you share something with ethnography, but doing it in a more condensed and probably less 'deep' way. Lots of people these days speak about their research being ethnographic, but that doesn't mean it is ethnography in the sense anthropologists define it. Often what they do is qualitative research or case study research.'

Or multi-sited ethnography? U: 'The issue is that the research questions might lead you into different directions, requiring you to look in different places, hence multi-sited. These directions might not be physical or virtual places, but rather issues or questions - hence more abstract.'

HK presentation (Feb 2013)

On the last lesson of the Classroom Language Assessment module, I presented my latest research plan to the class. L says it can be developed into research plan for pre-upgrade in July.

Notes:

BACKGROUND 
Hot topics in educational research but not so much in language assessment
Issues are LINKED
Issues central to lifelong learning (self-assessment, SDL, learner autonomy) and to preparing us for this age of exponential changes

RATIONALE 
Increasing importance of ICT in teaching & learning
Singapore MOE's 3rd Masterplan for ICT in Education:
'...enrich and transform the learning environments of our students and equip them with the critical competencies and dispositions to succeed in a knowledge economy.'
'Strengthening integration of ICT into Curriculum, Assessment and Pedagogy'

Future Schools testbeds for innovation

New syllabus acknowledges multimodal literacies, e.g. Writing and Representing, not just writing.
Doc mentions 'visual elements', 'multimodal texts', 'experiment with the use of sound, imagery and language', 'use a range of technologies'.

Importance of 21st C skills, e.g. various digital literacies (c.f. critical competencies & dispositions)
Singapore is a founding member of ATC21S (Assessment & Teaching of 21st C Skills)

How it's being assessed and WHAT is being assessed (i.e. the construct) important

METHODOLOGY 
Literacies & assessment as social situated practices - must be considered along other social & cultural practices
Literacies (multiple) not as skills but as activities
Skills view does not capture the diversity and complexity of people’s reading and writing activities in everyday life
Think about all the kinds of writing you do everyday, esp tech-mediated

Assessment practices also not neutral, but also shape and are shaped by society & culture

"A ‘practice’ (Praktik) is a routinized type of behaviour which consists of several elements, interconnected to one other: forms of bodily activities, forms of mental activities, ‘things’ and their use, a background know-ledge in the form of understanding, know-how, states of emotion and motivational knowledge." Reckwitz (2002)

Notes from Feb 2013 HK meetings

New RQs foregrounding e-assessment:

RQ1. What role does ICT play in the assessment practices of EL teachers in Singapore secondary schools?
RQ2. How do they balance formative and summative e-assessment in the classroom?
RQ3. What are the factors that enable and inhibit their use of formative e-assessment?

To be considered:

• Refocus on digital writing instead (because e-assessment difficult to rationalise for research).
• Rationalise digital writing research from literacy practices perspective, 21st c edtech development in last 5 years
• Literacies and assessment as social practices, not skills
• Challenges to construct of writing.
• Instead of including formative/summative in RQ, refer to them simply as practices.
• Grounded Theory -- Lincoln and Guba (1984)?
• Theory of Planned Behaviour TPB -- Azjen (social psychologist)
• Innovation Theory as an orientating theory (?) to start with
• Paul Gruba on e-assessment and blended learning

Notes from Jan 2013 Residential

My RQs at this date:

RQ1. What are the assessment practices of EL teachers in Singapore secondary schools actively engaged in integrating ICT in teaching and learning?

RQ2. How do they balance formative and summative assessment in the classroom?

RQ3. What are the factors that enable and inhabit their use of formative assessment?

RQ4. What role does ICT play in their (formative) assessment practices?

New focus on e-assessment (mostly writing) requires definition:

• MOE?
• Research literature?
• What about e-portfolios?

Consider infrastructure and resources as factors.

Consider literature on curriculum reform, particularly those studies which are concerned with situational or environmental analysis (essentially, those studies that look at factors which enable and inhibit). Also innovation theory in ELT (see Markee's book).