Prior to conducting educational research, my entire discipline was steeped within a quantitative lens. As a physics educator, I once believed that the positivist tradition, which the quantitative paradigm exists in, was the gold standard for research (Denzin & Lincoln, 2011). However, over time and through personal revelations, I realized that quantitative and qualitative approaches have different merits for answering different questions. If researchers are attempting to ascertain statistical trends and patterns, such researchers would lean on hypothesis testing and statistical treatments for data analysis. However, as these scholars have identified, if one wants to understand the how and why questions, qualitative methods best answer these questions.
In order to establish why this artifact is a chosen item for consideration, I draw upon two course readings from the EDU 9005 course with Dr. Corinne Haigh (Acadia). In Dr. Haigh’s course, she introduced us to two important readings. The first reading was from Clarke and Visser’s (2019) article on the pragmatic research methodology in education. Secondly, Dr. Haigh introduced us to Finlay’s (2002) journal on personal reflexivity. Clarke and Visser use the analogy of the swamp from Finlay’s journal to describe the methodological mire tied to novice researchers. Due to the inexperience of novice researchers, such beginning investigators may opt to favouring the well-worn, tried and true methodological approaches.
Prior to starting my Master-thesis, my methodological toolbox only contained quantitative approaches. While I had a rudimentary understanding of qualitative methodologies, as I explored further, I realized I could adopt both methodologies. Ultimately, I chose a mixed-methods approach. When the COVID-19 pandemic occurred in March of 2020, my research was put on hold and, it was only in June of 2020 that I decided to pivot. Fortunately, I was introduced to autoethnography. That monumental decision opened a whole new world of different epistemological ways of thinking. Consequently, while the ‘ghost of positivism’— a euphemism used by Thomas and Corbett (2018) to explain the “analytic habits and traditions that mark and reflect the positivist legacy” (p. 173) within social sciences—quantitative approaches still influenced my thought processes. However, due to the enormous amount of time I had available due to the pandemic, it provided the necessary opportunity for me to explore something new. Because of this, I came into the PhD program with an open-mind to learn new things.
In one of the major assignments from Dr. Brigham’s EDU 9002 course, students were asked to investigate a research construct that we were not familiar with. Having already chosen my PhD dissertation topic, I chose to investigate Afrocentricity as an alternative research methodology. Although I already knew about Colonialism and how it continues to have significant ramifications within our society, I knew little about methodological approaches that challenges the Eurocentric viewpoint around objectivity, reliability and validity within the research process. Because of this powerful learning opportunity, I chose to embed facets of Afrocentricity within my pending dissertation. As I will show in another artifact, this learning opportunity was pivotal in planting the seeds, which blossomed later on into my methodological chapter.
Artifact 3: Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE)
McGill University in Montreal, Quebec
Artifact 2: Individual Research Construct
Visual presentation on Afrocentricity.
EDU 9002: Dr. Susie Brigham, MSVU
NOTE:The Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE) conference will occur between June 12 to 17, 2024. Because of my teaching obligations with the Halifax Regional Centre for Education (HRCE) during this time period, I will only be attending for the first four days of the conference (June 12 to 15). More details regarding my attendance at this conference will be provided for the PhD portfolio upon my return.
Click here for my doctoral program objectives, student outcomes, reflective statement and my references associated to this artifact.
General Knowledge
In this particular artifact, I share one of my very first short papers conducted with Dr. Patricia Gouthro in my initial EDU 9001 summer institute course. While I freshly defended my Master-level thesis one month prior to taking Dr. Gouthro’s class, the discoveries and revelations I made through this work allowed me to situate my understanding around deficit versus structural ideologies. While writing my thesis, I originally wrote a section within my narratives, describing students as Tabula Rasa. Initially, I had intended this with good meaning. When students entered into my Physics 11 classroom, I did not want students to enter with any negative perception of what Physics was. I want them entering with a fresh slate. However, through feedback, one of my advisors strongly recommended me to remove that term and rephrase it. While I sought out a reason as to why this statement should be rephrased without the Tabula Rasa term, I did not understand its consequence until taking this course.
One of the concepts that Paulo Freire shares is the notion of banking education. Essentially, in the banking model of education, students are treated as repositories to deposit knowledge. However, through learning Freire’s (2018) work around the notion of humanization, my interpretation of a dehumanizing practice in education is the act of turning students into docile drones incapable of agency when learning. I have always understood that, in order to cultivate a culture where students can excel, educators cannot simply coexist with students. However, Freire’s work not only provided the necessary epiphany around the Tabula Rasa term, but it also reinforced the importance of good teachers co-constructing learning opportunities (i.e., Freire’s educational projects) so that students can have a higher likelihood of success.
Broad familiarity with understanding prominent social and scientific and educational theoretical traditions and trends related to educational studies.
Artifact 1: Secondary Source Assignment
Examining Student Engagement for Alienated Youths in Schools: Insights using
Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
EDU 9001: Dr. Patricia Gouthro, MSVU