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Qualitative research: Interactions in clinics and classrooms

Qualitative research: Interactions in clinics and classrooms. Peter Freebody School of Education The University of Queensland UniSA, August 6, 2005. My aims, to persuade you.

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Qualitative research: Interactions in clinics and classrooms

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  1. Qualitative research: Interactions in clinics and classrooms Peter Freebody School of Education The University of Queensland UniSA, August 6, 2005

  2. My aims, to persuade you 1) that data about social practices and events (e.g. in clinics & classrooms) are not and cannot “stand for” data on practice 2) that the long tradition of interaction analysis (from various disciplinary sources) means that “common sense” commentary is no longer acceptable 3) To follow up on some leads, with special attention to classroom interaction

  3. The significance of interaction “Social interaction is the primordial means through which the business of the social world is transacted, the identities of the participants are affirmed or denied, and its cultures are transmitted, renewed, and modified.” (Goodwin & Heritage, 1990: 283)

  4. So…? • theories, syllabuses, guidelines etc tell us what phenomena are and how they are done in supposedly context-free, generic terms; • participants’ knowledge of social phenomena is mediated through specific forms of interaction with other people; and • we simply don’t know how – somehow ‘generically’ -- such mediations (re)define e.g., teaching and learning or doctoring and patient-ing to participants

  5. An eg “found” in a clinic • The shuttling of technical / medical and social / lifeworld topics • See h/o

  6. Some initial vocab for classrooms • Moves>turns>exchanges>phases>lessons>units>syllabus> ……… • Initiation-response-evaluation cycle • Pre-re-&post-formulations in and around the IRE cycle • Accountable/portable knowledge (propositions and procedures)

  7. The jobs a pedagogy has to do • Manage the bodies and props; • Manage the attention of students; • ‘Deliver’ the syllabus; • Allow for self-expression; • Protect all individuals; • Relate to individual differences; • Monitor students’ progress; and ….

  8. A quick example of a phenomenon “found” in the classroom • Organisation around formal and commensensical interactional axes (McHoul & Watson 1984) • Shuttling (Hammond 1990) • Recasting (Gibbons 2003)

  9. Three kinds of “shuttling” • Lexical (technical <-> commonsensical) • Interactional (low <-> high latitude; running q-a) • Generic (narrative/recount <-> exposition) [Tan & Freebody 2004]

  10. Lexical… 1 T Okay, now, let's draw the simplest cell or a typical cell. What is a typical cell? 2 S1 : It’s the first few cells. 3 T : What is the word typical mean? 4 S2 : most common 5 T : The most common,(.2) now 6 S2 : Basic 7 T : basic, ok, Now, some of you say it's common, or basic. Now, essentially, what a…a typical cell is … a cell with all the essential organelles that are present… ok, it is erh…. Baby cell… meaning all cells will have these. Typical cell is also called unspecialised (2) cell. What is a baby cell? 8 S: Stem cell? 9 T: Yes, that's the name we give it, right? A stem cell. What is a stem cell?

  11. Interactional … • T What makes up fats? • S3: Fat cells \/ • Ss: ((laughter)) • T: You learnt this in year 8. What makes up fats? • S1: Muscles! \/ • T: My goodness! • Ss: ((laughter)) • T: When you digest fats, what do you get? • Ss: Energy /\// • T: //Good grief! Energy?! • S3: Glycerol./\ • T: Glycerol \/ Very good and (5) When you digest fat, you get glycerol and (2) fatty acids. And what is the enzyme that digest fats? • S1: Hydrochloric acid. • T: Why did you even bother to go to Year 8? • Ss: lipase /\ • T: Lipase\/. Very good.

  12. Generic …

  13. T:if you were to examine the cell membrane under the electron microscope, you will realise that it is not a continuous circle, what you will actually see will be…tiny little holes, alright ? And what can go in would be particles that are smaller than this opening would be able to enter and particles that are bigger would be kept outside. Similarly particles that are smaller will be able to leave, bigger ones stay inside the cell. Therefore, this acts like a sieve. You know what's a sieve? When you sieve the flour, bigger particles are kept and smaller particles are come out. So, size is the determining factor. Like the door here. The door here has a fixed size and it controls who can enter the classroom and who can leave the classroom. All of us here are smaller then the size of the door, so we can leave and we can enter. But if your were a 200 kg sumo wrestler, chances are you will not be able to enter the classroom, why? Because you are too fat, right and then the erh. opening not big enough, okay? Which reminds me of a story I read sometime back about this fat man who died in his house. He was so fat he could not leave his house, he couldn’t leave the door. S: How did he get in? T :Then you ask me how did he get in? When he was slimmer, he got into the house. Then he put on so much weight, he could not leave the house. So, he needs food to be delivered to his house. Then he died. They could not take his body out of the house, because the door was just too small. So what did they do? … T: So that determines who leaves and who comes in and the cell membrane does exactly the same thing because of its selectively permeable property. Okay, size is determining factor.

  14. from Desrosieres, The politics of large numbers, 1998: 2,5 • The student, research worker, or statistical data-user receives compact concepts, encapsulated into concise and economical formulas – even though these tools are the result of a historical gestation punctuated by hesitations, retranslations, and conflicting interpretations … In science-in-the-making (or ‘hot’ science), truth is still a wager, a subject of debate; only gradually, when science cools down again, are certain results encapsulated, becoming ‘recognized facts’ …

  15. References Desrosieres, A. (1998). The politics of large numbers: A history of statistical reasoning. Cambridge Mass.: Harvard UP. Freebody, P. & Freiberg, J. (1999). Health-literacy and social practice: Response to Nutbeam. Literacy and Numeracy Studies: An International Journal in the Education and Training of Adults. 9, 57-66. Gibbons, P, (2003). Mediating Language Learning, TESOL Quarterly, 37, 247-273. Goodwin, C. & Heritage, J. (1990). Conversation analysis. Annual Review of Anthropology, 19, 283-307. Hammond, J. (1990). Is learning to read the same as learning to speak? In F. Christie (ed.) Literacy for a Changing World, Hawthorn Vic: ACER,. McHoul, A.W. & Watson, D.R. (1984). Two axes for the analysis of "commonsense" and "formal" geographical knowledge in classroom talk. British Journal of Sociology of Education5, 281-302. Tan, A.L. & Freebody, P. (2004). Interaction, cognition, and knowledge: Reconsidering the relationship between classroom talk and thinking. Opening keynote address, Thinking Quality Initiative, 5th International Conference, Hong Kong.

  16. Some leads… • ten Have, P. Methodological issues in conversation analysis. www.pscw.uva.nl/emca/mica.htm.) • Conversation Analysis materials: http://www2.fmg.uva.nl/emca • Methodological issues in CA http://www2.fmg.uva.nl/emca/Mica.htm • Get started in CA page: http://www-staff.lboro.ac.uk/~ssca1/sitemenu.htm

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