For the Monday group and an invitation to colleagues:

 

5.00-7.00 1WN 3.8, Monday 27/06/05

 

After we've shared each other's news from the week (James – I hope your foot is much improved) we've lots to think about that could connect with the following:

 

Peter has started the second phase of the BERA Practitioner-Researcher e-seminar (you can join and leave this from the right hand menu of http://www.actionresearch.net) and I liked his insight that:

 

"This reinforces my concern always to listen with the greatest possible care

when I am engaged in dialogue. It reminds me of a decade ago when I was

writing my dissertation - I would frequently come to the Monday AR group

with sheaves of paper containing my latest problematic descriptions and

attempted explanations. However, rather than banging away at that locked

door, it was often the case that I would become absorbed into the discussion

of another's work. When I left the group I would find that magic had been at

work - the process engendered by the earlier engagement would start to

operate at an intuitive level on my own concerns and, almost unbidden, the

key would turn in the lock and the door to the next stage would swing open."

 

Do make a contribution to the e-seminar. The 2008 RAE will distribute in the region of £200 million to support educational research and the funding councils have already made the following point:

 

"Where researchers in higher education have undertaken applied and

practice-based research that they consider to have achieved due standards

of excellence, they should be able to submit it to the RAE in the expectation

that it will be assessed fairly, against appropriate criteria."

 

So do let's see if we can clearly communicate what we believe are appropriate criteria for judging practice-based research.

 

Moira's latest contribution on articulating the developing standards of judgement she is using to evaluate her educational influence is at:

http://www.jackwhitehead.com/monday/mlstand0605.pdf

 

and Dean Tian Fengjun's paper for our session on the 11th July, on 'How can I help my colleagues to become more collaborative and thus promote sustainable educational development?' is at http://www.jackwhitehead.com/monday/tfarrep0605.pdf

 

Je Kan is putting his draft writings for his doctorate in the living action research web-space at:

http://www.living-action-research.net/PhD_index.htm  This server is down for a few days so you might not be able to access the writings until next week.

 

Alan's ideas continue to both educate and challenge my capacity to comprehend! The idea of inclusionality as a relationally dynamic awareness of space and boundaries that is connective, reflexive and co-creative is transforming my understanding of living standards of judgement. Here is one of Alan's ideas that I'm challenged by, have intimations of its significance and hoping we can think about on Monday:

 

"If one represents inductive space (i.e. space as an attractor/receptor) as

minus (i.e. '-') and informational lining as '+' (i.e. 'I' as 'Information'

crossed through with space), then we have the fundamental indeterminate

couple:

- + -

where inner and outer/ left and right attractor spaces are coupled as

reciprocal pulls/pools through their holey intermediary/bodily lining.

 

This couple can be understood as having the fundamental form recognized in

Lere Shakunle's 'fluid logic numbers', which comprise triplets of internal

(local) and external (non-local) domains that can be linked in infinite

nested series in a way that overcomes the paradox of Cantor's 'Set

Theory' and Godel's incompleteness theory. That is, the externally situated

space of each numerical identity (not 'entity') can be linked indefinitely

with others:

 

e.g. - + - + - , and - + - + - + -  etc.  "

 

Ken – do let's continue to work on sharing your ideas through the web.

 

Joao – I know you are very busy but it would be good to see you and hear about developments in the Sensory Support Service. Alon – I'm finding your latest writings set out very clearly the scope of your doctorate and I'm looking forward very much to reading the first complete draft.

 

Marie – that was a most enjoyable meeting with your colleagues in BANES last night and if you have some writings to share on Monday, we'll have time to read and respond. Maggie's work at http://webpages.dcu.ie/~farrenm/ continues to inspire as does Paulus' at:

http://www.rac.ac.uk/~paul_murray/default.htm . So any chance you get to reference this work do please take it!

 

Now is the time to start thinking of proposals for AERA in April 2006 in San Francisco. We need to have our proposals ready and submitted by the end of July.

 

Here's one I've been invited to contribute to - a proposal being co-ordinated by Michael Broudy, the editor of Action Research Expeditions, for submission to the AR SIG of AERA. If accepted I'll be including ideas from the latest two books with Jean:

 

"How can action research contribute to societal change?

Jack Whitehead

 

As action researchers ask, research and answer questions of the kind, 'How do I improve what I am doing here?' they are already acting in a relational dynamic of social relations. Being alive involves interdependent relationships of many kinds and acting with these relationships involves influencing and being influenced by them. It is a characteristic of human beings that we learn. We can also have an educational influence in our learning. By focusing on the educational influences in learning of action researchers in the evolution of social formations I shall demonstrate how their living educational theories can engage with the interconnections between personal identity and the claim of experiential knowledge, as well as power and privilege in society (Noffke, 1997). By living educational theories I am meaning the explanations produced by action researchers of educational influence in their own learning, in the learning of others and in the learning of social formations (Whitehead, 2005).

 

Evidence of educational influence in the learning of social formations will include the accounts of action researchers in the creation a culture of inquiry in the Grand Erie District School Board (Delong, Black and Knill-Griesser, 2005). It will include accounts from China's Experimental Centre for Educational Action Research in Foreign Languages Teaching (Tian & Laidlaw, 2005). It will include living theory accounts that have been legitimated in the University of Bath for doctoral degrees (Whitehead, 2005). These will include theses submitted under regulations accepted by the University in 2004 to permit the inclusion of e-media. This change of regulation has made it possible to show how multi-media representations of embodied values can communicate new living epistemological standards of judgement. These standards will be used as appropriate criteria for judging excellence in assessing the quality of practice-based research.  

 

Theoretical insights from Boudrillard (2003), Murray (2004) and Habermas (2002) will be used to demonstrate that the living theories of action researchers are creating a new symbolic order of responsive practice (Naidoo, 2005). In creating and legitimating this new symbolic order it will be shown how action researchers are contribution to an educational response to globalisation in a way that retains a loyalty to humanity in the learning and evolution of postcolonial social formations."

 

Boudrillard, J. (2003) The Violence of the Global. Translated by Francois Debrix. Retrieved 21 June 2005 from http:/; http://www.ctheory.net/text_file.asp?pick=385

Initially published as "La Violence du Mondial," in Jean Baudrillard, Power Inferno (Paris: Galilˇe, 2002), pp. 63-83.

Delong, J., Black, C. & Knill-Griesser (2005) Passion in Professional Practice, Vol. 4. Retrieved 22 June 2005 from http://schools.gedsb.net/ar/passion/index.html

Tian, F. and Laidlaw, M. (2005), 'Action Research and the New Curriculum in China: case studies and reports in the teaching of English,' Beijing: Beijing Foreign Languages Press (in press).

Habermas, J. (2002) The Inclusion of the Other: Studies in Political Theory, Oxford; Polity.

Murray, P. (2004) Speaking in a Chain of Voices ~ crafting a story of how I am contributing to the creation of my postcolonial living educational theory through a self study of my practice as a scholar-educator. Paper presented at the BERA 2005 Conference in Manchester http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/00003811.htm

Naidoo, M. (2005) I am because we are: a living theory of responsive practice. Ph.D. submission to the University of Bath, under examination July 2005.

Noffke, S. (1997) Professional, Personal, and Political Dimensions of Action Research in, Apple, M. (Ed.) (1997) Review of Research in Education, Vol. 22, Washington: AERA.

Whitehead, J.  (2005) How Can We Improve The Educational Influences Of Our Teacher-Researcher Quests? Keynote Presentation on 16 April 2005 at the ICTR Conference at McGill University, Montreal. Retrieved 22 June 2005 from http://www.jackwhitehead.com/ictr05/jwictr05key.htm "

 

Here are the latest details from Namrata about her work as Director of the Indian School of Microfinance for Women:

 

Greetings from all at the School!

 

We are very happy to inform you of our upcoming course "Principles of Microfinance for Women Leaders" to be held at Ahmedabad, Gujarat on 22nd – 26th August' 05. The course brochure and the application form are attached with this mail. This Training programme specifically designed for grassroots women leaders helps them build a strong and vibrant Self Help Group and realize their potential as individual and members of an institution, to help them become agents of their own change. We invite you to nominate two of your grassroots women leaders to the programme.

 

The Course

Microfinance by creating an alternative source of providing financial services has changed numerous lives all over the world. We at the School believe that people's institutions are instrumental in bringing the access to financial services to the poor and therefore, we are offering this training programme to enable our members to take on their journey from a member to a manager. This programme is aimed at helping our women leaders to build skills and knowledge of how to run efficiently and effectively their microfinance operations and shall be conducted in Hindi. 

 

The methodology of the training will be practical and participatory. A variety of learning methods are employed to stimulate interest and meet the differing needs of participants – including illustrated presentations, group exercises and discussions, case studies and practical problem solving exercises

 

About the School

To briefly tell you about Indian School of Microfinance for Women or the School; we are a capacity building institute for the microfinance sector catering to the needs of its various stakeholders such as CBFI members and leaders, NGO/MFI staff and trainers, bankers and policy makers. The School is practitioner driven and locally grounded and its offerings constitute training programmes, action learning partnerships, action research, publications, consultancy, knowledge networking and distance learning. Our promoters are SEWA Bank, Friends of Women's World Banking (India) and Coady International Institute, Canada. We recognize training as a critical component and also have 'Building Institutions that respond to the need of poor women' as one of our areas of strategic focus.

 

Kindly contact Ms Swati Chowdhary, Programme Officer, The School (she can be reached at swati@ismw.co.in) for further queries and to book your place. Please confirm before 20th July '05. Looking forward to hearing from you,

 

Regards,

Namrata Sharma

Director

Indian School of Microfinance for Women

 

CC: Trustees

0.           Ms. Jayshree Vyas (Managing Director, SEWA Bank)

0.           Ms. Vijayalakshmi Das (CEO, FWWB India)

0.           Ms. Swati Chowdhary, Programme Officer, The School

 

 

Love Jack.