Aristotle’s gnoseology and understanding ‘understanding’ in practitioner research

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article offers a conceptual and analytical framework for understanding the ‘understandings’ generated through practitioner research, and specifically exploratory practice (EP), based on Aristotle’s philosophy of knowledge. Drawing on Olav Eikeland’s interpretation of Aristotle’s philosophy of knowledge as a gnoseology, it illustrates how a gnoseology framework adapted from Eikeland’s work was used to analyse the different types of understanding generated through the processes and products of practitioner research. Specifically, it looks at the understandings developed in an English for Academic Purposes class as the learners explored their own puzzles about language learning using the principles of EP, a form of practitioner research mainly used in language teaching. Focusing on one of the learners in the class, it traces his developing gnoseology across the 10-week course by analysing the naturalistically generated classroom artefacts produced through the EP process. It then shows how the different understandings developed reflect an interrelated and relational view of knowledge and concludes by suggesting that such a gnoseology framework might provide a valuable conceptual and analytical tool for understanding the relationship between different forms and ways of knowing in practitioner research.