Not education research binaries: just parts of a whole

Abstract

Reflecting on my lived experience of making the transition from teacher to researcher brought the realization that a number of constructs that I had once taken for granted as being fundamental binaries were in fact just parts of a whole rather than positions on either end of a continuum. For example I had once considered the constructs of teacher and researcher, silence and speech, making a choice and being chosen, as being obvious examples of the binaries that exist in the world of research. This chapter explores how these binaries were found to be woven into a metaphorical maze of perceptions closely tied to the language used within a specific context. Ultimately language use revealed the lack of substance upon which past perceptions had been built. These revelations emerged from my involvement in three significant pedagogical exploration events: involvement in a school revitalization project called Innovative Designs for Enhancing Achievement in Schools (IDEAS); a Multiliteracies Action Research project; and, an on-going learning journey which has led to further study and to my becoming a teacher-researcher working on a Doctor of Philosophy thesis. Hermeneutic phenomenology plays an integral part within this exploration of pedagogy as it forms the methodological stance that helped reveal the insubstantial nature of the binaries and is a key player in the making a choice and being chosen scenario.