The sum is greater than the parts: Understanding teacher educators' epistemological shifts through dual (interpretive and post-structural) meta-analyses

Type of content
Publisher's DOI/URI
Thesis discipline
Degree name
Publisher
University of Canterbury. School of Maori, Social and Cultural Studies in Education
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
Date
2012
Authors
Abbiss, J.
Quinlivan, K.
Abstract

This paper describes how meta-­ethnography was used to provide an in-­depth analysis across a range of research projects undertaken in a particular study relating to teacher educators’ shifting understandings of knowledge and learning. This research was undertaken in the context of teacher education at the University of Canterbury, Aotearoa/New Zealand. A unique part of the meta-­ethnography was the use of dual analyses, from two different theoretical perspectives; specifically, from interpretive and post-­structural positions. The interpretive analysis was concerned with making sense of how the participating teacher educators made sense of their lived experiences, focusing on teacher educators’ narratives of issues raised in shifting conceptualisations of knowledge and learning. The post-­structural analysis was focused on situating the teacher educators’ experiences within broader social and discursive contexts. Particular emphasis was placed on power relations in knowledge production and how participating teacher educators used the project strategically as a way to re-­signify discursive understandings of knowing and learning. It is contended that the use of dual analyses enriched the meta-­ethnography so that the sum was greater than the parts. The complementary insights and more nuanced findings provided by dual theoretical analyses enabled the researchers to engage more fully with the complexities of understanding teacher educators’ epistemological shifts.

Description
Paper presented in session 10 SES 02 A, 18 September 2012, 15:13-16:45. Programme available online at  http://www.eera-ecer.de/ecer-programmes/conference/6/network/134/<br />
Citation
Abbiss, J., Quinlivan, K. (2012) The sum is greater than the parts: Understanding teacher educators' epistemological shifts through dual (interpretive and post-structural) meta-analyses. Cadiz, Spain: The European Conference on Educational Research (ECER), 18-21 Sep 2012.
Keywords
teacher education, meta-­ethnography, complementary theories and methods
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Field of Research::13 - Education::1303 - Specialist Studies in Education::130313 - Teacher Education and Professional Development of Educators
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