Relevance of Postmodernism to Theory and Practice in Educational Research

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Origins of Educational Research
Relationship between Theory and Practice
Postmodernism
Conclusion
References

Introduction

When discussing about research it is important to discuss about the definition of research and according to various sources, research is any activity that is conducted or based around investigations on an intellectual foundation and whose objectives are to discover, interpret and lead to revision of knowledge. When we are discussing about educational research we have to be more specific as it involves the study elated to issues in education that ends with knowledge that is generalizable and which can be applied to numerous situations. In layman’s language it can be termed as the search for truth. According to (Wittrock 2006) , educational research can be further divided into Descriptive, correlation, experimental, case study and qualitative study. When coming up with a solution towards motivating children within the school environment, we may have to include action research. Action research within the realms of educational research is the attempt by practitioners to come up with scientific solutions to current problems. These solutions end up guiding in the evaluations of decisions. In our case we want to improve the motivation of children within our schools. In short action research equates to looking into problems, thinking about them and acting on the issues. The processes involved in action research are collection of information, analysis and making the best decisions based on the information and facts at hand as argued by (Spodek 2006)

(Morris 2006 ), argues that when we want to talk about children’s motivation, we must first discuss about the children who are affected or is it the parents or teachers who are affected. We must also discuss about the nature of the problem. We also have to discuss and illustrate the cause of the problem that could lead to lack of motivation.After identifying the cause we must come up with a solution with how to motivate the children. Finally we have to weigh up if the methods used to motivate the children are successful or have failed. Motivation can also be discussed within paradigmatic context, positivist, post positivist and critical theory.

In educational research, there are three paradigms namely critical, interpretive and positivist theory. Of each of these paradigms, all have their benefits and their disadvantages. Positivist paradigm dictates that the research condition is driven by factors such as human behavior that is analyzed through scientific methods. Positivist research often uses scientific methods and its main point of concern is on control and prediction. It is based on actual experience, this mode of research highlights more on cause and effect. This sort of theory tends to take a broad view of the findings as one truth. What makes it highly popular is the fact that the findings are presented in a clear, definite and structured way. Just like it has its benefits, the disadvantage of this theory is that not all the phenomena and fundamentals can be collected and analyzed. Investigations into behavior of the children, their motivation and their values that could be all attributed to one factor. Natural phenomena when related and controlled are difficult to isolate, this fact has been argued by (Blankstein 2004).

It is argued by (Spodek 2006) that when it comes to interpretive theory, the children are studied together with their characteristics. Each child is noted to be having different behavior in regard to each other. Their opinions in additions to their attitudes are also considered. The major benefit when using the paradigm is the fact that one can easily find meaningful explanation of objects. Generalization tends to be more important than the meaning.hen it comes to its weakness, the result that can be found through this they could easily turn out to be more complex, hence making analysis and interpretation difficult. When it comes to research into human characteristics, especially in children studies it is good to be subjective when talking in terms of interpretive theory. In addition analysis within a data framework has to use a thinking process. (Association for Effective Schools ) argues that when it comes to research in educational context many perspectives uses various perspectives in studying phenomena. This theory results in many solutions that easily lead to a variety of interpretations. Interpretive methods have long been used to read the background cultures. Law and order has regulated man’s behaviorism towards each other in line with spiritual laws.

Critical theory looks at the influences affecting educational research. Focus is more on finding the issues affecting children issues that may be affecting their studies. Critical theory come up with ways of coming up with solution to issues and which actions to implement that will lead to solving of the problems. Solution to the problem is led by reality. This theory can use positivism in the control of the environment that the children may be experiencing.

Origins of Educational Research

The theory of positivism is based on the assumption that true knowledge is based on experience that is real. Positivism is commonly differentiated against naturalistic research. Naturalistic research ties to define the nature of things and the interpretation of the world. It tends to be more subjective towards investigations. A common form of naturalistic research is ethnography. Positivism has been a widely held from the time of the ancient Greeks to present day times. This concept is a developed form of idea since the 19^th century when philosophers and sociologist applied an approach to science philosophy. This notion was further highlighted by Auguste Comte who is known as one of the major propagators of positivism theory. His thoughts later propagated into logical positivism which is stricter than earlier theory (Blankstein 2004). Logical positivism originated from Vienna and since then has been widely accepted by movements such as the Anglo-American movement. Logical positivism tries to apply pure logic when it comes to statements. This is just one kind of positivism. Positivism is guided by five principles as argued by (California Center for Effective Schools 2009). All the five principle are important so as to be able for one to say that the educational research has been successfully conducted.

In all sciences, there is unity when it comes to logic of inquiry.
That result can be manipulated and predicted as long as the conditions are known
Positivism stresses on the need for research to be deductive so as scientific statements to be tested and observations to be noted.
Research should not be biased in any way as the truth should always guide any findings.
Logic and universal conditions hold be the drivers of science. Science should be used to result in knowledge without any regard to values that have been found through research.

When we talk about interpretive theory, we typically talk about the nature of human behavior and how it can be said to be a result of acceptance of free will and is subjective to the person’s environment. This theory is based on structural forces and the pull and push factors that are related to them. This theory was put out first by sociologist like Max Weber, who is responsible for consolidating interpretive volumes on religion.

At the moment schools conform to the modernistic theory which stress on the needs of security and societal conformity. This seeks to create a uniform set of truths. Modernism theory can be best described as an effort to explain the highest number of phenomena with the least number of set laws. This over time come to prove to naught as the human diversity factor is not considered. For the modernist, their only concern is being completely right. This is in total disregard of the context of the environment or the time. They are more concern with maintaining the status quo. As time continues to pass ad the number of children increase, problems within the sociopolitical and educational arena are proving to be immune to the solutions being offered in school or by the education that we are being taught. As stated by (Association of Effective, Schools. 1996).Education of children needs to take into consideration changes in race and the ever increasing gap between the haves and the have-nots. Modernist believe hat this is impossible as there is only one solution to a problem. Change within the context of the modernism theory is very slow and an option should be highly encouraged. From a school setting, post modernists ignore the notion that there is only one universal truth in order to let the other perspectives to be considered. Modernism being a way of encouraging administration was let to flourish during the end of the last century and this theory is still the one being followed by school system.

Relationship between Theory and Practice

(Kritsonis 2007)based his argument that in the past theories has been formulated in order to come up with the best practices in order to implement educational practices. These theories have come to be overtaken over time. The way they have been practiced over time has proven that they are liable to change. Theory dictates that student should be exposed to an environment whereby they are highly encouraged to be creative. Innovation will only be fostered in a setting whereby, people are allowed to be individuals rather than to conform to societal rules and regulations. Post modernism theory preaches the advantages of such a free society. Just as there are advantages such a free society is bound to be vulnerable to evil elements. Taking this into the school context the students can turn out to be social misfits within the school. The only way that individualism within the school can be encouraged without the risk of losing grip for the administrators will be the handing of punishment when and where it is due. Punishment will ensure that all are following the rules and discipline will be enforced.Such a school system is necessary such that the whole society will yield towards law and order.

Postmodernism

Post modernism tries to describe the current state of events with regard to past phenomena which could be in cultural context or intellectual context. The rise of post modernism rose was seen in the 1920’s as a new movement and was related to the arts and political outworking. It takes a rather radical view of the modern theory and is seen as a distrust of the ideologies that existed at the time. The theory tries to reintroduce concepts hat were seen as traditional and viewed in both extremes. This theory was largely driven by the disillusionment that came about because of the Second World War. It normally refers to non aspect of the history. Post modernism has historically developed within the subject of arts and architecture. Statement that have been passed by (Kritsonis 2007).The role of any educator is to make sure that policies are drawn such that children are encouraged to be the best that they can be. When it comes to post modernity in the education fraternity, goals have to be measured and for results to be achieved then data have to be delivered in time. Discipline has to be first cultivated by an effective principal or headmaster. He or she must portray valuable leadership skills that are necessary for communication to members of the school fraternity. Post modernist only opposes the notion that there is universal standard law. They go ahead and act upon the ideas that at times could seem immoral and times absurd. This is one of the ways that communication barrier between the principal and students can be broken. With a post modern frame of mind, educators must realize that there are various forms of the truth and all of them must be considered. All the elements of education cannot be fixed by a single bullet or a single solution. The greatest mistake that educators can try to commit is to practice towards one theory. This not only serves to create disharmony within the school environment but may also seek to develop lack of motivation within the students themselves. Unlike the theory of modernism, post modernism seeks to unite the knower with both the process of knowing and known. Asd argued by (Kritsonis 2007), this further encourages the educators to use intuition and logic when passing information to the students. Logic is used to support the belief that comes about die to intuition. A good example of post modernism way of thinking is the way that the colour red is associated differently when put to different contexts, for example. The colour red hen shown on the traffic lights means stop or danger but when viewed with a ladies dress could easily be interpreted as another meaning all together. This brings about the importance of educators and other people involved in the education sector to modify their temporary understanding when it comes to passing of information. Post modernism encourages creativity and innovation as it give s the children the ability to make choices hence this leads to motivation. Personalization is highly encouraged under an environment of postmodernism. Human diversity is not only important in education but is also important when talking about developing of human character. This gives the educators more freedom to pursue more truths as the human diversity is highly considered as a solution and should not be considered as a threat towards modernity or those in authority this is according to (Harper 2008).Different backgrounds have impacted society in a way that they have led to the different behaviorisms amongst person.

The notion that there I only one way to doing things are quickly rubbished as there are all theories face challenges. The educators who know his are quick to accept the fact that motivation within the school environment is highly encouraged through creative education that pursues thinking outside the box as argued by (Kumar 2005 ).A postmodernism leader in educational matters is able to open up leadership to include all the stakeholders involved in the education process of the children. Education process is all about the children and hence should be more futuristic and focused more towards their needs this has been mention on several occasion by (Kritsonis 2002).

Conclusion

It is time that we should realize that the knowledge e knew then has been overtaken by time and that we need to change the way that we view the meaning of children education as stated by (McEwan, 2003). For children to be motivated to learn, a proper environment where creativity and innovation has to be nurtured. Such an environment ill have to contend with the reality that it will first be difficult to change the notion of modernist. The notion that there is only one absolute truth and all else is false needs to be revised. It has been quoted on several occasions that ignorance is doing the same things over and over again and expecting a different result. This is especially true when the technique applied is not working at all. Post modern theory highly relies on the core values of knowledge of one self and surrounding, reality and values parted to the student.

Steps to promote motivation in our current education system

High valued assessment should not rely on regular testing: High valued assessment such as graduations should be judged differently from the way other assessments are judged. This is because the consequences of failing high stake are disastrous. As we consider that the world is becoming a global village, we must consider the background of individuals before subjecting hem to the same assessment. The ability of an individual should not be subjected to one assessment as the assessment are known to be very one dimensional. The work ethic of an individual or his ability to work cannot be solely based on assessments but are rather known when the person is subjected to practical environment. Conformity is further encouraged by testing; this has seen an education system that is more result based rather than trying to gather knowledge as argued by (Fichtman 2008).In some instances we have seen very bright students failing on the day of examinations simply because they encountered incidences that they could not avoid. Maybe being involved in an accident prior to doing the exam. This will cost the student a chance to perform to his level best and the result will be disastrous on the candidate. According to (Williams 2009), courses should be scheduled to be flexible around the students: The courses being offered by schools should focus more on being flexible towards learning times that the student will be able to grasp more. It has been stated by (Klein 2005 ) that the notion that students should sit the whole day in order to gather knowledge should be abolished as each and every student have their times when the brain is most able to learn and take in more knowledge. Introduction of block scheduling can go a long way in ensuring that the student is not hindered by barriers in time. We have heard many times about the students who have to break off from school in order to take care of other responsibilities, such cases will not exist if a clear and definitive block system is put in place as expressed by (Epstein 2009)

Promotion of Vocational skills to all students: It is a well known fact that not all students will finish college or will join college. Hence it is the responsibility of the education system to come up with other means in order for all people to be useful members of the society regardless of whether they finished school or not vocational skills will provide the students with enough hands on experience in order to foster survival in today’s cut throat world. For the students who are deemed to have passed, the training will come as an added on advantage that they can use while for other people who did not pass so much, the training will o a long way in ensuring that they are integrated in the society. Post modernist educational leaders are able to realize the benefits of such programs and implement hem as soon as possiblethis has been argued by (Wittrock 2009).
Provision of a safe school environment: On several occasions English ( 2003 pp. 98), argues that leadership within the school environment plus the physical setting of the school must be in a position to support the teachers and students in order for the process f learning and teaching to take place. The school environment should be independent from vices such as drug abuse, violence or any other behaviour that hinders the learning environment. (Kelly 2009) argues that respect to the rights of each and every member of the school community should be highly encouraged and discipline to persons not following the rules and regulations must be enforced. A safe school environment can only be fostered when both the teaching fraternity and the students learn to be proud of the school. It is not only bad behavior that should be checked but also a safe environment away from natural or manmade disasters is very important. This can be done by practicing drill such as fire drills, tornado drill an others to ensure that the lives of the person within the school fraternity are saved in case of any disaster.
Hire the Best: as argued by (Steffe 2003) A postmodern educational leader is fully aware of the challenges facing his students and teachers; hence he will take the necessary steps in order to ensure that the students get quality rather than quantity. Hiring of intelligent and innovative staff will often lead to higher motivation in the school population. Each teacher is different in regard to the teaching styles this encourages creativity within the school environment. Individualism should be encouraged and this should be coupled with hard work.
Promotion of an all inclusive school culture: A school culture that is based on the virtues of respect and equality both in and outside the classroom will lead to a boost in the student’s morale/ The diverse nature of each and every student should be seen as a contributing factor when it comes to cultures and knowledge. Differences should be celebrated instead of being shunned. This will boost morale within the school fraternity (Kritsonis, 2007).
Supporting the students in order to educate the rate of school dropouts: Alternative classes and co curricular activities should be encouraged among the student community, as a way of ensuring the rate of school dropout is reduced: Learning to understand student will go along way in dealing with the cause of why students drop out of school. Research has identified that the main reason why students drop out is because of different emotional stress that each endures. The level an impact of emotional stress may vary. Drug abuse and other related problems may also plague the students and this can turn out to be a stumbling block towards the completion of students unless support is given. This support can be given in term s of care of the student community as stated by (Deal, T. E., & Peterson, K.D. 1999).
Equipping the staff community: The school staff must be equipped with the relevant tools and knowledge, which will be necessary for a student community that has always been changing: (Foreman 2006). States that the staff must be dynamic in the way the way they carry themselves and the way that they address current issues facing the students today. The school must invest in both personal and professional growth of the school staff. By doing this the students will learn to appreciate the staff and the efforts taken in order to pass the knowledge to them. Also the teachers will also be proud of the school and will be ready to sacrifice in order for the students to be motivated.

Post modernism offers a way for the future as it will encourage creativity and ill motivate students within the school environment to be respectful towards authority which will in turn be reflected in the general society, for other factors to also run in harmony; postmodernism has to be embraced within the school environment. This will lead to a culture of respect for the elders. Creativity has been used in the past in order for big business to run and capitalism to exist. For capitalism and the big wheels of business to continue, we have to consider the theory of postmodernism. The idea of individualism both within and without has been use to make people focus on the strengths and less on their weaknesses. People and more students will be motivated to identify and user their talents. Conformity is the greatest enemy to the path of self discovery this is according to (Williams 2009).

What will lead to this massive cultural change that we expect? Probably modernists think that it may be by sticking to the status quo and by following the one solution to each problem, For postmodernist this can only be attained by ensuring that individualism is encouraged and that each and everybody has something to bring to the table. The diversity that we all share amongst ourselves is a sign that e were all meant to be individuals by ourselves. The day when we can be able to tolerate each other’s opinion Is the day that we may all learn that each human being was create for a purpose.

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