Adopting a postmodern approach to research

Stories about learning in narrative biographical research

“…Only at the end of qualitative research can the whole that has been constructed be made clear (Laughlin, 1995). To present this whole to a reader, however, it is necessary to tell the multiple stories of the research, to describe the preparation, execution and evaluation of the research process, and to present the iterative interpretive way of making sense of the data-without withholding the personal remarks, doubts, queries and questions of the researcher, for biographical research is necessarily auto/biographical (Packwood & Sikes, 1996;West, 2000). The researcher's history, identity and personality play a role in constructing the story of the people involved and in the interaction.…”

Understanding relationships in culturally complex evaluation contexts

“…) as part of narrative interpretation' (p. 55). From this perspective, research is very much considered a dialogical process that involves the interaction of both the researcher and participants who together co-construct the narrative text (Fontana, 2002;Packwood and Sikes, 1996). Postmodernism thus moves research towards a less reductionist and more pluralistic conception, towards participatory methods of social inquiry (Lincoln, 1994;Reason, 1988), and towards the recognition that knowledge can only be defined by the plurality of perspectives and the multiplicity of subject positions (Agger, 1991).…”

The Professional Culture of Teachers in Secondary Education: A Biographical Study

“…Las perspectivas metodológicas que se vienen desarrollando en los últimos quince años y que pretenden recoger los planteamientos básicos de las posiciones postmodernistas, dando un nuevo giro de tuerca a la investigación naturalista, se nos presentó como una alternativa interesante que nos podía ayudar a dar respuesta a nuestras demandas. Fundamentalmente nos aportaba la posibilidad de construir las identidades profesionales desde la perspectiva biográfica (Packwood & Sikes, 1996;Stronach & MacLure, 1997), elaboradas desde la interacción con las estructuras culturales, y no solamente determinadas por ésta. Nos llevaba a un proceso interactivo que podría darnos posibilidades de indagar los procesos de construcción tanto de las propias biografías profesionales de los docentes, como del propio contexto cultural de la profesión docente.…”