‘Undergoing' as posthuman literacy research in an in/formal settlement primary school in South Africa
| dc.contributor.advisor | Murris, Karin | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Bozalek, Vivienne | |
| dc.contributor.author | Crowther, Judith Lynne | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2022-01-18T09:34:04Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2022-01-18T09:34:04Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2021 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2022-01-13T08:36:10Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | My research began with a critical incident of my teaching performance being monitored in a British primary school classroom. A dis/continuous re-turning to the incident catalyses analysis of concepts in education and the educator's role in teaching literacy. Analysis is predominantly enabled through the critical theories and philosophies of Tim Ingold, Rosi Braidotti and Karen Barad. Eight years later, having moved back to South Africa, my research continued in an in/formal settlement government school where I was employed as a literacy support teacher. Inspired by Murris and Haynes' Philosophy with Picturebooks approach, I conducted philosophical enquiries with small groups of primary school children (aged 9-12) as a way of doing literacy support. The children were diagnosed by the school as having barriers to learning and were research participants for a period of six months. Created data includes critical incidents, fieldnotes, children's workbooks, photographs and vignettes of small group enquiries. Central in my research is the notion of subjectivity in an educational community. The formation of subjectivity in community aligns with Ingold's notion of ‘undergoing' which is a guiding concept throughout. I put forward the thesis that ‘undergoing' offers an important alternative to dominant views of education. ‘Undergoing' refers to what we (on a planetary scale) are becoming, that continuously (re)shapes and (re)orients pre-arranged educational ‘doings'. Research as ‘undergoing' is not about producing knowledge to fill in gaps on a given (transcendently known) plane. ‘Undergoing' troubles such humanist literacy support approaches that focus only on language and are guided by notions such as ‘back to basics' or ‘simple to complex'. The concept of ‘undergoing' works to show how literacy education involves processes of subjectification where relational entanglements precede entities formed. In the thesis I argue how critical posthumanism and, in particular, the concept ‘undergoing' enables affirmative posthuman literacy research and pedagogy. ‘Undergoing' matters ethically and politically, because it renders capable so-called ‘failing' children in literacy pursuits, in a context of poverty. It also renders capable so-called ‘failing' teachers in their pedagogical endeavours. | |
| dc.identifier.apacitation | Crowther, J. L. (2021). <i>‘Undergoing' as posthuman literacy research in an in/formal settlement primary school in South Africa</i>. (). ,Faculty of Humanities ,School of Education. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35512 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.chicagocitation | Crowther, Judith Lynne. <i>"‘Undergoing' as posthuman literacy research in an in/formal settlement primary school in South Africa."</i> ., ,Faculty of Humanities ,School of Education, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35512 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.citation | Crowther, J.L. 2021. ‘Undergoing' as posthuman literacy research in an in/formal settlement primary school in South Africa. . ,Faculty of Humanities ,School of Education. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35512 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.ris | TY - Doctoral Thesis AU - Crowther, Judith Lynne AB - My research began with a critical incident of my teaching performance being monitored in a British primary school classroom. A dis/continuous re-turning to the incident catalyses analysis of concepts in education and the educator's role in teaching literacy. Analysis is predominantly enabled through the critical theories and philosophies of Tim Ingold, Rosi Braidotti and Karen Barad. Eight years later, having moved back to South Africa, my research continued in an in/formal settlement government school where I was employed as a literacy support teacher. Inspired by Murris and Haynes' Philosophy with Picturebooks approach, I conducted philosophical enquiries with small groups of primary school children (aged 9-12) as a way of doing literacy support. The children were diagnosed by the school as having barriers to learning and were research participants for a period of six months. Created data includes critical incidents, fieldnotes, children's workbooks, photographs and vignettes of small group enquiries. Central in my research is the notion of subjectivity in an educational community. The formation of subjectivity in community aligns with Ingold's notion of ‘undergoing' which is a guiding concept throughout. I put forward the thesis that ‘undergoing' offers an important alternative to dominant views of education. ‘Undergoing' refers to what we (on a planetary scale) are becoming, that continuously (re)shapes and (re)orients pre-arranged educational ‘doings'. Research as ‘undergoing' is not about producing knowledge to fill in gaps on a given (transcendently known) plane. ‘Undergoing' troubles such humanist literacy support approaches that focus only on language and are guided by notions such as ‘back to basics' or ‘simple to complex'. The concept of ‘undergoing' works to show how literacy education involves processes of subjectification where relational entanglements precede entities formed. In the thesis I argue how critical posthumanism and, in particular, the concept ‘undergoing' enables affirmative posthuman literacy research and pedagogy. ‘Undergoing' matters ethically and politically, because it renders capable so-called ‘failing' children in literacy pursuits, in a context of poverty. It also renders capable so-called ‘failing' teachers in their pedagogical endeavours. DA - 2021_ DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - Education LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PY - 2021 T1 - ‘Undergoing' as posthuman literacy research in an in/formal settlement primary school in South Africa TI - ‘Undergoing' as posthuman literacy research in an in/formal settlement primary school in South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35512 ER - | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35512 | |
| dc.identifier.vancouvercitation | Crowther JL. ‘Undergoing' as posthuman literacy research in an in/formal settlement primary school in South Africa. []. ,Faculty of Humanities ,School of Education, 2021 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35512 | en_ZA |
| dc.language.rfc3066 | eng | |
| dc.publisher.department | School of Education | |
| dc.publisher.faculty | Faculty of Humanities | |
| dc.subject | Education | |
| dc.title | ‘Undergoing' as posthuman literacy research in an in/formal settlement primary school in South Africa | |
| dc.type | Doctoral Thesis | |
| dc.type.qualificationlevel | Doctoral | |
| dc.type.qualificationlevel | PhD |