Saturday, February 25, 2017

Idea Synthesis Day

Tomorrow is the day! Tomorrow is literature synthesis day. I've been reading up on narratives and storytelling and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) the past two months. Tomorrow is the day I print out the various ideas I've collected and do a manual sorting, organization of these ideas to make a case for my study and I'm pretty excited about it. I think the way things unfolded, how my interest developed told me that the better methodology to use is the case study method rather than narrative inquiry, which can be still used as some sort of lens.

I have been waiting for this day for two months... to be finally able to make some sense out of what I've read. I hope I have read enough to do this. But even if not, this initial analysis would show me where the gaps of my reading are and help me be more directed in my search for the literature.

I've also discovered the German Didaktik through the module I'm taking with Prof. Deng Zongyi, which excites me because this method/model/theory is pretty in line with the kinds of outcomes expected in incidental storytelling in the classroom and it is also sometimes compared to PCK. :) I think when a teacher tells a story, there is a move away from hardcore knowledge transmission to some kind of there's something different for every student to gain. And this... is that potential of storytelling as a tool and also stresses on the autonomy and professionalism of teachers. How cool is that!

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Retirement

What do scholars do on their retirement?

"For many men, retirement is, initially at least, a rather painful time. The days can seem very long without a regular work schedule, frequent drinking sessions with colleagues and friends, and regular trips to the golf course. But teachers and scholars are often an exception to the rule. If they no longer teach, they can attend conferences, give speeches, contribute papers, pen reviews and even write books. Many also keep in close touch with former graduate students, since the teacher-student bond is something one can find the whole world over. In this way, academic retirees can also follow new trends, look for new research agendas, and find new problems to ponder over. In fact, they have more time to think than their younger colleagues, who are immersed in administration, committee assignments, teaching, advising, and sometimes buttering up the government officials in control of research funds. Retirees can also, if they wish, free themselves from disciplinary and institutional constraints, and return to projects left undone in the distant past." (p. 165)

Wow, what an intellectual can possibly accomplish on his or her retirement! :)

Reference
Anderson, B. (2016) A life beyond boundaries. London, New York: Verso

Libraries

"In those days libraries were still sacred places. One went into the 'stacks', dusted off the old books one needed to read, treasured their covers, sniffed their bindings, and smiled by their sometimes strange, outdated spellings. Then came the best part, randomly lifting out books on the same shelf out of pure curiosity, and finding the most unexpected things. We were informally trained how to think about sources, how to evaluate them, compare them, dismiss them, enjoy them. Chance was built into the learning process. Surprise too." (Anderson, 2016, p. 196)
I just completed reading Benedict Anderson's very special and moving autobiography. He talked so much about how it was like for him, fieldwork, and university scene over the years, and of a passing era... It felt so sad. There's a longing within me, I wished I had his kind of education, I wish I had an interest in languages, and picked up many, I wish I had access to the minds of people different from me... But... Who I am today and how I came to be... are totally different from Ben's own. I will never be like him.

They say you should only try to be yourself. And maybe I shall be... I was very intrigued by the things I am recently reading. I read another book called Making Stories by Jerome Bruner and he cited people that Ben cited about - great minds of long ago. And in one of my readings, though the article was very poorly written, the author had quoted something from Walter Benjamin, whom Ben was greatly influenced by, so I went to look for a collection of Walter Benjamin's work, and I loved an article inside about storytelling. I looked at the pages the author cited as I held that book in my hand imagining that someone once held a book just like mine in another library in another world, at that particular page 89, stopped, paused and found it quotable.

This is my own way of discovery through "chance" and "surprise", through how one person cites another. And recently, I have been more intrigued by the words of foreigners and a time long past. I don't have any background of these people, but at least I am exposed to a bit of their work and thinking.

Reference
Anderson, B. (2016) A life beyond boundaries. London, New York: Verso