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Stacey Pistorova dissertation.pdf (1.35 MB)

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Project Study Group: A Narrative Inquiry into how Individual Epistemological Beliefs and Teaching Practices are affected by Participation in a Study Group Implementing the Project Approach

Pistorova, Stacey L.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1384296285

Abstract Details

2013, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, Curriculum and Instruction: Early Childhood Education.
Narrative analysis opens up a pedagogical research space to investigate the questions of what do we teach and how, illuminating a deeper understanding of the complexity of embedding inquiry based, constructivist practices into the early childhood classroom. The following research represents a form of inquiry that exposes the tensions that emerged out of the context of a specific professional study group’s engagement in the study of the Project Approach between personal epistemological beliefs, classroom practices and the professional field of early childhood education. The narratives of four teachers tell the stories of early childhood educators seeking to implement projects into their classrooms and to open up a dialogue that invites us to take a deeper look at the findings of this research that challenge and uncover the following narrative threads: the role of experience in teachers’ ability to connect the theory of inquiry-based practices with implementation; the invitation to challenge teacher education and professional development models that disseminate content and information with the expectation that methods are assimilated into teachers’ epistemological perspectives and practices; and the need for additional, qualitative methods that expose the complexity of teachers’ lives and calls to view teachers holistically and as learners who approach teaching and learning from multiple perspectives. The stories found within this research are far from quantifiable or generalizable, but provide a new lens on project-based work and provide insight into the possibility and capacity for projects within the current field of early childhood educators. The challenge of this research is to pay close attention to the experiences of educators in the field and take the time to observe, document and tell their stories. We need to stop the efficiency model of labeling and engage in more narrative inquiry to gain a deeper understanding that can inform our practices and build the capacity for project-based, constructivist practices. When we stop isolating teachers and begin to investigate more deeply the systems within which they work then we open up a space that moves beyond prescribing teachers and their practices. This shift begins to describe the reality of teaching and learning and working within a system that often counters constructivist approaches to education and pushes the limits of pre-determined, mainstream paradigms in teacher education, educational practices and educational research. We must continue to challenge norms as the means of living in the tension and constructing new alternatives to pedagogical practices.
Ruslan Slutsky, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Sylvia Chard, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Susanna Hapgood, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Lynne Hamer, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
225 p.
Early Childhood Education; Education; Epistemology; Teacher Education; Teaching
inquiry-based practices; narrative inquiry; epistemology; personal, practical knowledge; study group

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Pistorova, S. L. (2013). Project Study Group: A Narrative Inquiry into how Individual Epistemological Beliefs and Teaching Practices are affected by Participation in a Study Group Implementing the Project Approach [Doctoral dissertation, University of Toledo]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1384296285

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Pistorova, Stacey. Project Study Group: A Narrative Inquiry into how Individual Epistemological Beliefs and Teaching Practices are affected by Participation in a Study Group Implementing the Project Approach. 2013. University of Toledo, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1384296285.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Pistorova, Stacey. "Project Study Group: A Narrative Inquiry into how Individual Epistemological Beliefs and Teaching Practices are affected by Participation in a Study Group Implementing the Project Approach." Doctoral dissertation, University of Toledo, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1384296285

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

toledo1384296285
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© 2013, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Toledo and OhioLINK.