"Research as Experiential Praxis" -Mary Breun(g
1. "Many students do not see the value of
doing research and do not understand
the practical value of and need for
empirical evidence, seeing research only
as an academic exercise rather than as a
form of meaningful and purposeful praxis
that is, by its very nature, experiential."
2. "Primary experiences being those
experiences that consist of aimless
activity, 'easy' and quick conclusions.
inferences, assumptions and intuition as
the sole source of "data" and secondary
experiences being those that imply some
form of structured, rigorous, systematic
process of examination-what Dewey
referred to as the 'scientific method'."
3. a.) "How might we as researchers and
practitioners continue to expand upon the
ideal of building a body of knowledge and
theory through out research praxis?
b.) "...experiential educators should
continue to explore if and how their
research praxes can be employed as a
first step toward forms of social and
environmental action that can redress the
injustices found in the field site or
constructed in the very act of research
itself.
Reflectio
I felt this way as a student, but I can say
now, being in the "real world", my job
requires research. I can only now
understand how valuable the research
methods/tools are that I learned in school
because I use them everyday. Taking my
own experience & applying it to my
teaching strategies, I would like to show
students how they can use research
tools/methods in the "real world". Focus
on the research aspect - not the outcome
or grade.
As teachers, need to go beyond
traditional research ways & have high
expectations for our students. We need to
explain to them the ways in which
research is conducted & get them moving
in the process - involve bodily/kinesthetic
ways of learning, 'moving' research, &
hands-on ways that students can engage
in 'traditional research".
Teaching in a way that shows students
how to find the root of a problem through
research but continue on to show them
how further research can point to a cure/
fik/solution. IAt a sociology presentation a
few years back a gentleman spoke of this
topic- he told us that our education was
invaluable, it could tell us of the injustices
in the world but we as soon-to-be-
graduates had to apply that knowledge to
solve those injustices... this is what I got
out of this article - use the body of
knowledge to open our eyes to reality but
then we need to teach our students to
use that research to solve, fix & find
solutions to the problem.
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