Abstract Title
An exploration into teachers’ perspectives of pedagogical love within the context of the first year of primary school in Victoria.
Abstract
A. Motivations and Influences: The proposed investigation into teachers’ perspectives of pedagogical love – i.e. how they understand and demonstrate unconditional compassionate agape-style love to their students – was motivated by conversations with pre-service teachers regarding attachment and neurological development of young children and by current discourse around professional love, care and boundaries.
B. Research Questions: The overarching question guiding this investigation is: What are teachers’ perspectives of pedagogical love within the context of the first year of primary school in Victoria? In addressing the overarching question, the following sub-questions will be explored: RQ1: What do Foundation year teachers understand by the term ‘pedagogical love’? RQ2: What practices do Foundation year teachers identify as demonstrating ‘pedagogical love’? RQ3: What deliberate and incidental practices are enacted by Foundation year teachers to demonstrate ‘pedagogical love’?
C. Methodology: This investigation into nine teachers’ perspectives of pedagogical love in Foundation year settings from across the spectrum of higher to lower socio-economic schools, is framed within a constructivist epistemology and follows a qualitative approach. The study adopts an interpretive phenomenological perspective and a small case study sample is used as is appropriate for phenomenological investigations. Two classroom observations per teacher will be taken using an observation protocol which reflects current literature on pedagogical love and which will precede semi-structured interviews with each teacher. Data will be analysed using interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA).. A justification for the chosen research design follows.
Theoretical Framework Epistemological Stance - Constructivism: This research is aiming to discover teachers’ perspectives of pedagogical love in light of their lived experiences. Within this investigation, adopting a constructivist epistemology enables this in-depth study of teachers’ daily experiences of pedagogical love (Morris, 2015). In addition, adopting a constructivist perspective allows the researcher to determine insights into the participants’ constructed understandings of pedagogical love (Cresswell,2014).
Theoretical Perspective – Interpretivism; Phenomenology This study is listening for participants’ voices and is looking for patterns, therefore, an interpretivist paradigm with a phenomenological perspective is adopted. The researcher is aiming to explore the participants’ view of their world in the classroom and the social reality which they have created in this context, as it relates to pedagogical love (Gibbons & Sanderson, 2002). The researcher is aiming to identify the “essence of human experiences about a phenomenon” (Creswell, 2014, p. 13) as lived, experienced and defined by participants in this small sample case study; in this instance, the phenomenon of pedagogical love. A phenomenological perspective was chosen because this study seeks to explore the experiences, ideas and feelings of the participants (Kervin, Vialle, Herrington & Okely, 2006) by studying them case by case.
Methodology: Collective case study In the proposed study, a collective case study is the most appropriate methodology to discover Foundation year teachers’ perspectives of, and practices in, pedagogical love. The intention of a collective case study is to explore and describe a phenomenon, rather than assess it (Arghode, Wang & Lathan, 2017). The in-depth nature of this case studies will deliver descriptive insights into the phenomenon of pedagogical love regardless of how small the sample (Babbie, 2011). A collective case design provides the researcher with multiple comparative perspectives, thus expanding the study and providing clarity to the phenomenon being investigated (Yin, 2009). Collective case study is an appropriate design for this study as the intention is to gain a deep understanding of Foundation year teachers’ perspectives and practices of pedagogical love, thus fitting with phenomenological and interpretive frames (Arghode, Wang & Lathan, 2017).
Data Collection Methods To ensure a rich, detailed, first person account (Smith, Flowers & Larkin, 2009) of teachers’ perspectives of pedagogical love, two data collection methods will be employed within the proposed study: observations of teacher practice and a semi-structured interview with each teacher. The researcher will conduct two separate observations followed by a semi-structured interview to allow for the researcher to qualify practices seen during the observations to gain a deeper understanding of the participants’ experience. The study’s theoretical stance is that of interpretivist phenomenology. The methodology being adopted is a collective case study and therefore, it is appropriate that the methods of observation and semi-structured interviews are employed.
D. Preliminary Findings: Not applicable at this stage.
E. Signs of Grace: There are many signs of Grace within this project however, the very topic of ‘love’ is Jesus Christ’s eternal teaching. Teachers love and are loved; however, in schools, the term ‘love’ occupies a conflicted space. It is natural that teachers will show and be shown love – especially in the early years’ contexts such as this study is exploring. Within Catholic contexts, the teachings of the New Testament essentially revolve around the topic and understanding of the Grace of God’s love – the unfathomable unconditional love which He has for us. To be a Catholic teacher, articulating Jesus’ exhortation to “love one another”, is emulating this unconditional love in a small way. Underpinning the Catholic ethos is this notion of unconditional selfless love and teachers within Catholic settings are able to demonstrate daily the Grace of God’s love through establishing and maintaining positive loving relationships based on the teaching of the Scriptures.
An exploration into teachers’ perspectives of pedagogical love within the context of the first year of primary school in Victoria.
A. Motivations and Influences: The proposed investigation into teachers’ perspectives of pedagogical love – i.e. how they understand and demonstrate unconditional compassionate agape-style love to their students – was motivated by conversations with pre-service teachers regarding attachment and neurological development of young children and by current discourse around professional love, care and boundaries.
B. Research Questions: The overarching question guiding this investigation is: What are teachers’ perspectives of pedagogical love within the context of the first year of primary school in Victoria? In addressing the overarching question, the following sub-questions will be explored: RQ1: What do Foundation year teachers understand by the term ‘pedagogical love’? RQ2: What practices do Foundation year teachers identify as demonstrating ‘pedagogical love’? RQ3: What deliberate and incidental practices are enacted by Foundation year teachers to demonstrate ‘pedagogical love’?
C. Methodology: This investigation into nine teachers’ perspectives of pedagogical love in Foundation year settings from across the spectrum of higher to lower socio-economic schools, is framed within a constructivist epistemology and follows a qualitative approach. The study adopts an interpretive phenomenological perspective and a small case study sample is used as is appropriate for phenomenological investigations. Two classroom observations per teacher will be taken using an observation protocol which reflects current literature on pedagogical love and which will precede semi-structured interviews with each teacher. Data will be analysed using interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA).. A justification for the chosen research design follows.
Theoretical Framework Epistemological Stance - Constructivism: This research is aiming to discover teachers’ perspectives of pedagogical love in light of their lived experiences. Within this investigation, adopting a constructivist epistemology enables this in-depth study of teachers’ daily experiences of pedagogical love (Morris, 2015). In addition, adopting a constructivist perspective allows the researcher to determine insights into the participants’ constructed understandings of pedagogical love (Cresswell,2014).
Theoretical Perspective – Interpretivism; Phenomenology This study is listening for participants’ voices and is looking for patterns, therefore, an interpretivist paradigm with a phenomenological perspective is adopted. The researcher is aiming to explore the participants’ view of their world in the classroom and the social reality which they have created in this context, as it relates to pedagogical love (Gibbons & Sanderson, 2002). The researcher is aiming to identify the “essence of human experiences about a phenomenon” (Creswell, 2014, p. 13) as lived, experienced and defined by participants in this small sample case study; in this instance, the phenomenon of pedagogical love. A phenomenological perspective was chosen because this study seeks to explore the experiences, ideas and feelings of the participants (Kervin, Vialle, Herrington & Okely, 2006) by studying them case by case.
Methodology: Collective case study In the proposed study, a collective case study is the most appropriate methodology to discover Foundation year teachers’ perspectives of, and practices in, pedagogical love. The intention of a collective case study is to explore and describe a phenomenon, rather than assess it (Arghode, Wang & Lathan, 2017). The in-depth nature of this case studies will deliver descriptive insights into the phenomenon of pedagogical love regardless of how small the sample (Babbie, 2011). A collective case design provides the researcher with multiple comparative perspectives, thus expanding the study and providing clarity to the phenomenon being investigated (Yin, 2009). Collective case study is an appropriate design for this study as the intention is to gain a deep understanding of Foundation year teachers’ perspectives and practices of pedagogical love, thus fitting with phenomenological and interpretive frames (Arghode, Wang & Lathan, 2017).
Data Collection Methods To ensure a rich, detailed, first person account (Smith, Flowers & Larkin, 2009) of teachers’ perspectives of pedagogical love, two data collection methods will be employed within the proposed study: observations of teacher practice and a semi-structured interview with each teacher. The researcher will conduct two separate observations followed by a semi-structured interview to allow for the researcher to qualify practices seen during the observations to gain a deeper understanding of the participants’ experience. The study’s theoretical stance is that of interpretivist phenomenology. The methodology being adopted is a collective case study and therefore, it is appropriate that the methods of observation and semi-structured interviews are employed.
D. Preliminary Findings: Not applicable at this stage.
E. Signs of Grace: There are many signs of Grace within this project however, the very topic of ‘love’ is Jesus Christ’s eternal teaching. Teachers love and are loved; however, in schools, the term ‘love’ occupies a conflicted space. It is natural that teachers will show and be shown love – especially in the early years’ contexts such as this study is exploring. Within Catholic contexts, the teachings of the New Testament essentially revolve around the topic and understanding of the Grace of God’s love – the unfathomable unconditional love which He has for us. To be a Catholic teacher, articulating Jesus’ exhortation to “love one another”, is emulating this unconditional love in a small way. Underpinning the Catholic ethos is this notion of unconditional selfless love and teachers within Catholic settings are able to demonstrate daily the Grace of God’s love through establishing and maintaining positive loving relationships based on the teaching of the Scriptures.