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Friends in the Orchid Room: an Inquiry Into Value-Creative Dialogue

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Friends in the Orchid Room: an Inquiry Into Value-Creative Dialogue DePaul University Via Sapientiae College of Education Theses and Dissertations College of Education 6-2018 Friends in the Orchid Room: An Inquiry into Value-Creative Dialogue Melissa R. Bradford Follow this and additional works at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/soe_etd Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Bradford, Melissa R., "Friends in the Orchid Room: An Inquiry into Value-Creative Dialogue" (2018). College of Education Theses and Dissertations. 127. https://via.library.depaul.edu/soe_etd/127 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Education at Via Sapientiae. It has been accepted for inclusion in College of Education Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Via Sapientiae. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DePaul University College of Education FRIENDS IN THE ORCHID ROOM: AN INQUIRY INTO VALUE-CREATIVE DIALOGUE A Dissertation in Education with a Concentration in Curriculum Studies by Melissa Bradford © 2018 Melissa Bradford Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education June 2018 iii ABSTRACT This study asked, what value is created by two education practitioner-scholars who engage in a years-long sustained dialogue about value-creating, or Soka, education inspired by Daisaku Ikeda’s ethos of value-creative dialogue? The purpose of this study was to analyze Ikeda’s philosophical perspectives and practice of value-creative dialogue and to use this analysis as a framework for analyzing the author’s own inner transformation and value creation through dialogue with her friend and interlocutor for the study. The study empirically evaluated the content of Ikeda’s dialogues as the theme of dialogue emerged and evolved over time in Ikeda’s discourse by using thematic analysis. In order to conduct the dialogues, we employed a method of dialogic inquiry that evolved organically and aligned with a participatory inquiry paradigm. Findings focused on purposes and types of value-creative dialogue, influences on and processes of value-creative dialogue, and outcomes of value-creative dialogue, and highlighted the power of dialogue for inner transformation toward value creation. This study is the first to empirically analyze the practice of value-creating dialogue in the emerging field of Ikeda/Soka Studies in Education. Implications for teacher practice and for dialogic research design include the use of dialogue for teacher professional development, practical applications of value-creating education, and the use of dialogic inquiry in qualitative research. Keywords: Daisaku Ikeda, dialogue, Soka Studies, value creation, value-creating education, dialogic inquiry, teacher collaboration, teacher professional development. iv Table of Contents LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER ONE: A JOURNEY TOWARD VALUE-CREATIVE DIALOGUE ......................... 1 The Need for Dialogue in Education for Democracy ................................................................. 2 A Personal Journey of Dialogue ................................................................................................. 4 Learning to Listen ................................................................................................................... 4 A Search for Something Different .......................................................................................... 7 The Study: Two Teachers and Daisaku Ikeda’s Ethos of Value-Creative Dialogue ................ 12 First Steps to Dialogue .......................................................................................................... 12 Formulating My Inquiry ....................................................................................................... 13 Research Questions ............................................................................................................... 14 Statement of Purpose ............................................................................................................ 15 Overview of Methodology .................................................................................................... 15 Significance of Study ............................................................................................................ 16 Researcher Assumptions, Limitations, and Delimitations ........................................................ 17 Assumptions .......................................................................................................................... 17 Limitations ............................................................................................................................ 18 Delimitations ......................................................................................................................... 18 Definitions of Key Terminology ............................................................................................... 19 Nichiren Buddhism and the Lotus Sutra ............................................................................... 19 Human Revolution ................................................................................................................ 20 Value-Creating (Soka) Pedagogy ......................................................................................... 21 Value-Creating (Soka) Education ......................................................................................... 23 Human Education.................................................................................................................. 23 Organization of the Rest of the Dissertation ............................................................................. 24 CHAPTER 2: DIALOGUE, EDUCATION, AND VALUE CREATION ................................... 25 The Need for Relational, Dialogic Education ........................................................................... 26 Overview: The Field of Dialogue as Philosophy and Practice ................................................. 28 Philosophers of Dialogue ...................................................................................................... 29 Ikeda’s Philosophy of Dialogue ............................................................................................ 31 The Practice of Dialogue ...................................................................................................... 33 Ikeda’s Practice of Dialogue ................................................................................................. 34 Philosophies in Dialogue and Education ...................................................................................... 37 v Vygotsky and the Dialogue of Development ........................................................................ 37 Bakhtin and Dialogue as Existence....................................................................................... 38 Freire and Dialogue for Transformation ............................................................................... 39 Dewey, Growth, and Dialogue for Democracy .................................................................... 40 Value Creation, Value-Creating Pedagogy, and Value-Creating Education ............................ 41 Theory of Value Creation and Value-Creating Pedagogy .................................................... 41 Knowledge Cultivation ......................................................................................................... 43 Value Creation as Dialogic Process ...................................................................................... 44 Ikeda’s Dialogic Human Education .......................................................................................... 46 Human Education and Human Becoming ............................................................................. 46 Interconnectedness, Creative Coexistence, and Dialogue .................................................... 47 Ikeda’s Value-Creative Dialogue and its Relation to Education .............................................. 49 Ikeda’s Statements Linking Value Creation and Dialogue ................................................... 49 Value-Creative Dialogue and Education .............................................................................. 50 Conclusion: Actualizing an Ethos of Value-Creative Dialogue ............................................... 52 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY AND METHODS ....................................................... 55 The Search for a Methodology Aligned with Buddhist Humanism ......................................... 57 Pondering a non-Western Research Methodology ............................................................... 58 From Buddhist Humanism to Dialogue ................................................................................ 61 Dialogic Inquiry as a Form of Qualitative Research ............................................................ 64 “Playing” with Dialogue ........................................................................................................... 65 Experimenting with Duoethnography as a Form of Dialogic Inquiry .................................. 66 My Dialogue Partner ............................................................................................................
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