Pensamiento y Religiones en Corea a Través de sus Textos 5.5.1.1.1 Datos Básicos del Nivel 3

A paradigm describes a ‘worldview, or thinking, or school of thought, or set of shared beliefs, that informs the meaning or interpretation of research data’

(Kivunja and Kuyini 2017:26). To begin, it is worth the reminder that when it comes to educational research and theoretical frameworks, andragogical concepts should not be ignored. There are characteristics that are unique to adult learners and I strived to keep these at the forefront when developing the research design. Key characteristics of adult learners are self-directedness, life experience, learner readiness, and problem centeredness in the present time (Knowles 1990). Additionally, the purpose of education for adult learners is about more than satisfying ‘the identified learning needs of individuals,

organizations, and society, but they should seek to help adult learners transform their very way of thinking about themselves and their world’ (Knowles 1990:98).

Adult learners are self-motivated and have a reason for returning to school, preceded by a series of unique life experiences. This breeds transformative potential, should the opportunity lie in their educational environment. The paradigm I selected had to allow for exploration of a variety of stories and unique human experiences.

In addition, evidence of transformation in PTE could be sought through a

straightforward evaluation of the instructional design and teaching methods, but what is less clear is how transformation comes to fruition, if at all, in the

student. The need to explore what is, and what isn’t, understood in terms of transformation within the participants requires an openness to possibilities, rather than a prescribed set of either-or inquiry. In this same spirit, the methodology and research design are modeled as such to prospect for opportunities of discovery.

4.2.1. Positivism

Positivism assumes that reality exists independently of humans (Rehman and Alharthi 2016). Facts can be discovered through enquiry by scientific method and the researcher is essentially an objective bystander. The ontological assumptions serve a singular truth, and the epistemological stance is of a reality that can be objectively defined.

Whilst I am not exploring perceptions of professional technical education, I do strongly acknowledge they are a driver. The concept of perception, our ways of understanding something, allows for differences in opinion. What one person sees from their point of view is different to that of others, so I question the ability to hold an absolute truth across time and space. Likewise, perceptions of transformation are also subjective. Transformation is present if the person transformed believes it to be so. I therefore ruled out positivism for its short-comings in studying social phenomena due to the ‘complexity of laws governing individuals, their idiosyncrasies, their relationship with each other, with

institutions and with society’ (Rehman and Alharthi 2016:53) being in

juxtaposition to a concept that relies upon a singular truth. Positivism lacks the subjectivity necessary for understanding people’s stories, and what their

experiences mean to them.

4.2.2. Post-positivism

Popper criticizes positivist thought in its struggle with what he called the

problem of demarcation: ‘the problem of finding a criterion which would enable us to distinguish between the empirical sciences on the one hand, and

mathematics and logic as well as ‘metaphysical’ systems on the other’ (Popper 1959:11). Post-positivism emerged as a means for coping with the abstract notions of humanity in the natural world and now appears as a bridge between traditional positivist thought and the more modern interpretivist views. Whilst acknowledging the abstract, post-positivism still abides by a scientific method aimed at identifying an absolute truth and driven by causal relationships. I seek not causation, but transformative potential. Remaining rooted in andragogical assumptions of adult learning, there are numerous factors that may contribute to transformation. What can be identified in teaching may not be directly linked to the presence of transformation in the student.

4.2.3. Interpretivism

Interpretivism does not see direct knowledge as possible; it is the accounts and observations of the world that provide indirect indications of phenomena, and thus knowledge is developed through a process of interpretation (Waring 2012:16).

Interpretivism rejects the notion that a single, verifiable reality exists independent of our senses (Rehman and Alharthi 2016) and recognizes the researcher as an integral part of the research process. We all have a point of view and the job of the researcher is to understand that of the participant. I therefore sought a framework that made room for participants’ perceptions as they reflect realities of PTE.

The methodological framework is interpretivism based on the ontological stance that reality is in the eye or the beholder. The perspectives of PTE identified in chapter two weighed heavily in my choice as the literature suggested that perceptions of reality are often unique to the individual. Because of this, positivist and postpositivist theories do not provide a good framework. My focus is on the potential for transformation of the student in a PTE setting, and for this, an interpretive theoretical framework is the best fit in exploring

participants’ understandings of PTE and transformative learning.

Interpretivism provides room to explore perceptions. These are not absolute truths but unique to each of us. To explore whether or not evidence of transformation was present in PTE, I conducted qualitative semi-structured interviews scaffolded by interpretive notions of individual reality. Within the interpretive paradigm, semi-structured interviewing synchronized with the research questions as I hoped to understand the participants’ stories to evaluate how transformation may, or may not, have been facilitated via professional technical education.

Table 4.1 illustrates how the primary research question might be treated

according to each of the paradigms ontological and epistemological assumptions.

Is Transformative teaching and learning present in professional technical education?

Positivism Post-positivism Interpretive/ Constructivism Critical

Ontology factors in any given time and space.

Epistemology How I can know it.

Objective measurement of reality.

Survey the curriculum & the students for a baseline, then for elements of transformative learning. How do we know if someone is transformed – looks at causation.

Transformation is part of the larger cultural, political, etc, influences and must be critically examined according to what groups hold power and

influence. learning practices – compared to a control group.

Define PTE students as oppressed due to the identified perceptions. Use the focus group to challenge the current standards.