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POSSIBLE FUTURES FOR TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS: A META-THEORY ORIENTATION by Jared C. Svendsen A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The College of Education In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, Florida August, 2016 Copyright 2016 by Jared C. Svendsen ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author wishes to express sincere gratitude to his committee members for all of their patience, guidance and support. The author also wishes to extend a special thanks to his co-advisors for their keen insights and wisdom, as well as their ability to bring out the very best in him, as a scholar, throughout this process. iv ABSTRACT Author: Jared C. Svendsen Title: Possible Futures for Teacher Education Programs: Meta-Theory Orientation Institution: Florida Atlantic University Dissertation Advisors: Dr. Ira Bogotch and Dr. Dilys Schoorman Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Year: 2016 This study problematizes teacher education, and its accreditation guidelines as set forth by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation. The analysis herein conceptualizes teacher education as contextually contingent on sociocultural metanarratives, as functioning paradigmatically through consensus and gatekeeping mechanisms, and as a structure existing within a matrix of discipline and surveillance that is designed to perpetuate status quo power dynamics. This conceptualization grounds dominant teacher education modalities within a specific meta-theory orientation. Through this analysis, the author also explores an alternative conceptualization of teacher education that appeals to the educative power of contextual awareness, ontological sensitivity, and democratically recursive pedagogical and relational processes. Such a conceptualization reflects an alternative meta-theory orientation. v For the purposes of this analysis, the author employed textual analysis of sampled website literature from Teacher Education Programs in six geographic regions within the United States. This textual analysis was grounded in the aforementioned conceptualizations and was intended to reveal meta-theory orientations as expressed in a program’s official text. vi DEDICATION This work is dedicated to Sarah, Emma and Caroline for their undying love and support throughout this process. POSSIBLE FUTURES FOR TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS: A META-THEORY ORIENTATION LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... xvii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... xviii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY .......................................................... 1 The Problem in Context ................................................................................................ 1 Teacher Education Situated Theoretically and Methodologically .......................... 5 Positivism via Scientism - The Quest for Certainty ................................................ 7 Positivism and Education ................................................................................ 13 Gender and Academic Bias ................................................................................... 15 Gender Bias - The Deskilling of the Profession ............................................. 16 Academic Bias - Conforming Standardization ............................................... 18 Social and Political Influences .............................................................................. 21 Social Influences - Economization of the Profession ..................................... 22 Political Influence - Playing the Numbers Game ........................................... 24 Significance of Study .................................................................................................. 26 Research Questions ..................................................................................................... 27 Key Concepts .............................................................................................................. 28 Chapter 2 Overview .................................................................................................... 29 Chapter 3 Overview .................................................................................................... 31 viii CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................... 34 Introduction to Part I (Themisean Meta-Theory) ........................................................ 34 Themisean Framework: Metanarratives ................................................................ 38 Metanarratives ................................................................................................. 42 Lyotard's Metanarratives and the Postmodern Condition ............................... 43 Metanarrative 1: Scientism ............................................................................. 44 Scientism: The Problem of Legitimacy .................................................... 46 Scientism: Determinism ............................................................................ 48 Scientism: Philosophical Problems ........................................................... 51 Metanarrative 2: The Technologization of Knowledge .................................. 53 Technologization: Political and Moral Apathy, and Impoverished Reasoning .................................................................................................. 54 Technologization: Power Implications ..................................................... 56 Technologization: Historical and Contextual Considerations .................. 57 Technologization: Re-engineering Education ........................................... 58 Metanarrative 3: Performativity ...................................................................... 60 Performativity: Measured Outcomes and Acontextual Efficacy .............. 61 Performativity: Transfer of Educational Authority ................................... 62 Metanarrative 4: Manageralism ...................................................................... 65 Manageralism: Accountability Redefined ................................................ 65 Manageralism: Social Relationships Redefined ....................................... 66 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 68 Themisean Framework: Paradigms ....................................................................... 70 Kuhn: The Social Dimension of Scientific Research ..................................... 73 ix An Important Consideration ..................................................................... 73 Paradigms .................................................................................................. 74 Paradigms, Scientism and the Social Sciences ............................................... 78 The Progressivism Paradigm .................................................................... 85 Paradigm as an Analytic Tool ................................................................... 86 Normal Science ......................................................................................... 88 Paradigm Shifts ......................................................................................... 92 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 97 Themisean Framework: Epistemes ....................................................................... 98 Foucault's Episteme ...................................................................................... 102 Technologies of Power ........................................................................... 107 Discipline Through Control .................................................................... 112 Challenges to the Episteme ..................................................................... 115 Introduction to Part II (Erisean Meta-theory) ........................................................... 118 The Nature of Theory .......................................................................................... 119 Theory as Language-based ........................................................................... 121 Theory as Historical and Evolutionary ......................................................... 122 An Alternative Model for Teacher Education .................................................... 123 Erisean Richness: Awareness ....................................................................... 125 Erisean Recursion: Problematization and Reflexivity .................................. 127 Genealogy and Archaeology ................................................................... 129 Producing Genealogies ........................................................................... 130 Erisean Rigor: Appreciation of Perspective and the Power of Language ....................................................................................................... 131 x Discourse ................................................................................................. 134 Erisean Relations: Growth and the Transformation of the Self ................... 135 Research and the Self .............................................................................. 138 Language and the Self ............................................................................