Conceptualising College Phronēsis for Teacher Professionalism: A Cartographic Research Assemblage
Working for three decades in educational research on pupil voice and practitioner research in the UK has allowed me to witness, at first hand, the transformative impact that research can have on teaching and learning in schools. These experiences have led to this professional doctorate study which explores the transformative potential of a collegial conceptualisation of Aristotle’s phronēsis (also known as ‘practical wisdom’) as a values-led interweaving of research, professional knowledges, theory and policy offering a new philosophical foundation for teacher professionalism. As a professional doctorate study this research is grounded in my practice as a researcher and educator: it therefore embodies a duality in perspective and purpose that is unique to professional doctorate studies (Burnard et al, 2018). This study’s innovative methodology of cartographic research assemblage has a composite structure incorporating three charts to produce a three-dimensional, conceptual mapping of a tentative conceptualisation of collegial phronēsis for teacher professionalism. The first chart - Mapping Phronēsis Through Research in Schools and Classrooms - is a critical autoethnographic study of my work with teachers, researchers, policy makers and students. The second chart - Mapping Phronēsis and Teacher Professionalism in the Literature - is a discursive literature review of theory, research and policy relating to the concept of phronēsis and the concept of teacher professionalism. The third chart - Mapping Phronēsis for Teaching Professionalism: Co-creating Innovative Praxis - explores a set of published narrative vignettes, authored by teachers and researchers who are co-creating innovative praxis in their own professional settings. The three charts are brought together in the cartographic research assemblage which involves multi-layered analysis, tracing out the complex, entangled threads identified across the three charts. The study’s conclusion proposes a set of recommendations arising from the conceptualisation of collegial phronēsis for teacher professionalism which centre on the role of professional bodies for the teaching profession. It is suggested that these professional bodies should: (1) build collegial phronēsis for teacher professionalism through the establishment of cohesive professional values, collaborative dialogue and partnership across all educational sectors, including further and higher education; (2) create open access repositories for curating professional praxis, research and professional knowledges; (3) develop structures for professional standards and qualifications (including professional doctorate programmes); (4) strengthen the teaching profession’s collaboration with policymakers to inform educational policymaking and (5) seek to raise the teaching profession’s status and trust within the public domain.
Cartographic Research Assemblage, Educational research, Phronesis, Professional Collegiality, Teacher professionalism
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