DE LA INUNDACIÓN A LA SIEMBRA: APRENDIZAJE DE LA

This study was guided by the tenets of phenomenography, an approach that

evolved in the 1970s at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, in response to educators' questions about the different meanings students ascribe to information content. Marton (1981) highlighted the significance of the development of the phenomenographic approach because it was designed specifically to answer questions about thinking and learning, and differs from cognitive psychology because the emphasis is on the content of thinking rather than on the physiological processes used by humans to perceive the world. I view phenomenography as an application of hermeneutic (interpretive) phenomenology to educational disciplines, and appropriate for this study because the goal is to inform the educational practice of public librarians. In the field of information science, Limberg (1998) used phenomenography to delineate relationships between two concepts by looking at how student conceptions of information seeking and use interact with their conceptions of subject matter.

Phenomenography uses descriptions of "knowledge in terms of the individual's understanding of something in terms (sic) of the meaning that something has to the individual" (Svensson, 1997, p. 163). In this sense, phenomenography is inherently a decolonizing epistemology, because truth extracted by the inquiry is defined and co- constructed by those who contribute qualitative data to the researcher about concepts as understood in their own minds. When this epistemology is applied to information science, researchers "attempt to enter the 'life-world' of the information user and to interpret variation in experienced meaning within some context" (Bruce, 1999, p. 9).

Phenomenography's object of study is the meaning of a concept as opposed to an

investigation of a particular experience, as in phenomenology. In this study, for example, the meaning of reading is the object of study, and the experience of homelessness is the context.

Brookfield (1994) provides another example of the phenomenographic approach related to this proposed study. The object of his study was adult critical reflection. Results revealed significant themes about the experiences of adult educators when participating in critical reflection events, including journaling, conversations, classroom discussions, and structured autobiographical analyses. Thus, the idea of adult critical reflection was described through data depicting various ways adult educators choose to reflect, deconstructing how critical reflection is conceived differently among the participants.

Phenomenography is profoundly constructivist and cannot be undertaken without the researcher's commitment to the primacy of the participants' active and leading role throughout the inquiry. A phenomenographic approach is appropriate when the purpose

of the research is to "identify and describe qualitative variation in people's experience of phenomena" (Dortins, 2002, p. 297). Ontological and epistemological validity are dependent on faithfulness to a specific research process (Ashworth & Lucas, 2000) including the analysis of in-depth and open-ended qualitative interviews.

In phenomenography, the transcription of this kind of interview can become a process that transforms the researcher by creating some distance between the interviewer and the interview situations and participants. When conversation becomes text, the researcher may edit out her own emotional responses to the conversation, an internal re- orientation from personal interaction to an analysis of a transcript in light of a particular analytical framework utilizing a hermeneutic method (Dortins, 2002). This transports the researcher from entering the life world of participants to a more dispassionate outcome space (Ashworth & Lucas, 2000). Kvale (1996) conceptualizes transcription as a form of translation. For the interviewer, everyday language becomes academic, sensitive

information becomes objective, and a social space is transformed into a framework, a productive interaction (Marton, 1994) that is often a new experience for the participant. The process ameliorates researcher positionality in some ways but raises the possibility of stripping the data of its authenticity. While phenomenographic interviews must be

creative (in an epistemological sense), phenomenographic studies, like other qualitative research, have been criticized when analysis veers too far into interpretive speculation about the meaning of the data.

The phenomenographic approach seeks to analyze copious amounts of data until two or three differing patterns emerge comprising a small number of categories of description. Phenomenographers look for variation in ways of understanding a specific

concept, in this case, the experience of reading, within a context (homelessness) shared by the participants. The epistemology of phenomenography asserts: "they do not... understand (the concept) in their own unique way; rather, a set of qualitatively different ways of understanding can be arrived at which has an internal logic…" (Booth, S., 1994). 3.3 Data Collection

The methods of data collection for this study included semi-structured interviews, participant observation, document reviews, and taking notes while attending two

fundraising events. In the early stages of the study, observation was used primarily to obtain an overview of the local phenomenon of homelessness and community response to homelessness in Columbia, SC. Additional data about the surrounding context of

homelessness was collected as well through structured interviews and informal

conversations with gatekeepers and service providers (see Appendix D), and by analysis of program documents (available for review.) I also attended a series of meetings of the Midlands Area Consortium for the Homeless at the United Way of the Midlands

headquarters.

Later observations served to identify potential study participants by observing adults in the act of reading as they accessed services designed to address their needs in various locations, including feeding programs, a facility for showers and laundry, the public library, and church services.

This study also included participatory methods of data collection. I facilitated both an art course and a creative writing class as a volunteer at Transitions homeless shelter three days a week over a period of six months. Participants who wished to write stories and/or poems were interviewed later about their reading lives. Similarly, the

production of art work (e.g., Jordan, J., 1995) and dramatic presentations (e.g., Conrad, 2014), followed by corresponding interviews, proved to be effective in establishing rapport and trust. Thomas, Gray, McGinty, and Ebringer (2011) demonstrated how the engagement of homeless adults in art provides encouragement for self-expression and social inclusion: "The non-threatening approach of the facilitator and opportunity to engage freely at any level helped individuals who were socially isolated…to become involved and accepted members of a group. Art is a safe way to express oneself" (p. 434). The artifacts produced through these activities became evidence of the participants'

personal contributions to the study as well as data to guide me through purposive sampling to select participants for in-depth interviewing.

Participants were invited to member-check conclusions and interpretations. This proved to be problematic due to the transient nature of homeless populations. Member checking was more successful with stakeholder informants.

In summary, I anticipated gathering a massive amount of data in the form of observational field notes, participant interview transcripts, documents, and participant- produced artifacts ranging from paintings to poetry. Interviews with stakeholders provided additional information to document the study's context in the library, at the homeless shelter, and in other locations.