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A Grounded framework for understanding the online habitus of educationists
EdD Progression Board paper –November 2011David Noble, EdD student, University of EdinburghResearch questionHow might we understand the online habitus of educationists?a)How are presence, actions and interactions described?b)Which artefacts exist and are formed?c)What is necessary to enter the field and what is brought to the field?d)How does learning happen?e)Which capitals are created and how are these maintained and used?f)Howare established forms of CPD related to the field?g)What is being dealt with?IntroductionIn this paper, I establish the basis of my empirical, Grounded approach toconstructing a framework for understanding the online habitus ofeducationists.Myresearch question incorporatesconcepts from the overview literature that movebeyond ‘the online’ and dominant computer network metaphors. In constructing aframework for understanding the online habitus of educationists, I am, despiteinterview data being abstracted, conceiving of interviewees as complex socialactors who have capacities to make personal choices. Constructing habitus allowsus to conceive of intrinsic elements, in addition to extrinsic ones such as tools, datasources, spaces and relationships, developed in my earlier Grounded analysis(Noble, 2009).I begin by outlining the educational and technological milieu inwhich I have workedand studiedsince commencing the EdD, establishing that there is, prima facie, a
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new field to be studied, as certain contemporary notions of learning networks andprofessional development appear to be converging.Inreviewing literature on theories of learning, including connectivism and ‘personallearning networks’(PLNs), I find that there is an absence of empirical research withwhich to ground this new field. I conclude that persisting with computer networkmetaphors would lead me to construct a definition of ‘personal learning network’inwhich the original interview talk of research participants would be disregarded infavour of a term already common in the social world.Byincorporatingconcepts such as habitus, identity, capital and social artefactsintothe research questions,I can ensure that my Grounded analysis of data from thesample of edonis project interviews (note 1) will lead to a humanised framework;intrinsic and familiarto those actors in andaround the field.I go on to detail how I have ensured that I have operated, and will continue tooperate, within the College of Humanities and Social Science Research EthicsFramework.I outline the principles of Grounded Theory and discuss how I have,and will deal with applying these to data collectedduring two distinct ‘windows’ ortimeperiods. I show how the thesis will make a contribution to knowledge,recognising limitations in terms of applicability and portability, nonethelessillustrating the pursuit of objectivity, validity and reliability. The intention is toconstruct an iterative framework, attractive to, for example,researchers in thefuture.The framework should also assist educationists and those within and around policycircles concerned with the independent reports, ‘Teaching Scotland’s Future’(Scottish Government, 2011a) and ‘Advancing Professionalism in ScottishTeaching’(Scottish Government, 2011b), in imagining possible futures.Itmay alsoassist convergence between management, teachers, other educationists, andtechnologies (Holmes et al, 2007).Readers of the thesis will be able toconsiderhow an online habitus maybe adopted or learntby those living through formal andother educational sites, systems and structures.
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The thesis conclusion will include a visualisation of the online habitus ofeducationists, including categories and concepts, and properties and dimensions.This will be supported by an exemplification written in the style of a Groundedmemo (see AppendixA).In deciding to construct a framework for the online habitus of educationists, I willrefer to the substantive focus of my research as a ‘field’ of activity, with perimeterand barriers to entry. Unlike one’s presence within institutions or organisations ofemployment, few restrictions appear to exist once one is ‘in’ the field.Adding thenotion of agency at this stageimplies that social actors in the field willconstruct their own common activities, etiquette, language and other codes. In thisfield, agency (or autonomy)appears to equate with freedom of individuals, ratherthan elsewhere and in the past where, for example,teacher autonomy was definedinterms of interaction with, and focus on, students (Banathy and Jenlick, 2004).The field metaphor implies that itsperiphery may be an interesting site of study,where for example, those who ‘get it’ meet those ‘looking in’.Research context: ICT supportingcareer-longlearning of Scottish teachersIn the past ten years, I have developed roles across fields of education whichenable me to co-operate with educationists in Scotland, the rest of the UK, andother countries (Appendix B). This involves: teaching, discussing policies,exchanging articles and papers, creating educational audio, and engaging withdiscourses on teacher development.A recent, widely-regarded (note 2) independent report on the career-longprofessional learning of Scotland’s teachers, ‘Teaching Scotland’s Future’, statesthat information and communications technologies (ICT) ought to be introduced orharnessed to improve continuous professional development (CPD) (note 3) andassociated processes such as professional review and development (PRD), and‘professional update’ or re-registration of the teaching profession(see Appendix C).
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