Reflexive Knowledge Research Articles

Between (Conceptual) Crisis and Critique: Reclaiming the Critical Epistemic Value of Publicness

Different understandings of what it means to be critical in the social sciences, especially in terms of the distinction between instrumental and reflexive knowledge, can be illustrated by the ongoing conceptual disputes about the critical epistemic value of public opinion and the public sphere as the main instantiations of publicness. The concept of the public sphere has gained prominence in media and communication theory, filling a void created by the decline of critical public opinion discourse, which was overshadowed by promotional publicity and opinion polls. Initially rooted in the German concept of Öffentlichkeit, this idea was revived in the English term ‘public sphere’. Its adoption transcended disciplinary boundaries, sparking fresh critical perspectives in the study of publicness. Yet, this widespread adoption also brought about a certain dilution of the concept’s epistemic depth. The digital age, characterized by the ascendancy of the Internet and the blurring of public–private boundaries, has greatly reshaped our comprehension of the public sphere, and expanded the scope of the concept. Today, however, the public sphere concept faces a fate reminiscent of administrative public opinion discourse following the proliferation of opinion polls. At a time when society is faced with issues related to the control of digital platforms by oligarchs, reevaluation and revitalization of the concepts of the public sphere and publicness become essential for comprehending the dynamics of modern communication.

Metapolitics as Programmatic Storytelling

New Right metapolitics is a challenge for discourse research as its proponents possess reflexive knowledge of the discursive arenas in which they engage. To critically analyse these discursive practices requires conceptual approaches that differ from the emic concepts of the New Right. So far, there are scant methodological reflections on the peculiarity of metapolitics. This paper offers an analytical framework to tackle these shortcomings. I argue to distinguish between narrations and narratives, and to conceptualise the New Right as a narrative community. Furthermore, I propose several analytical categories to be implemented in a sociology of knowledge approach to discourse.

Collaborative practice research in a community-based home visiting program

ABSTRACT Through collaborative practice research with the goal of identifying alternative discourses that can challenge expert-led knowledge in parent education, this study examined a community-based home visiting programme conducted by a social work practitioner serving disadvantaged migrant families in Shenzhen. To obtain diverse information, data was collected by three major methods, including in-depth interviews, participant observations and document reviews. Findings of this study shed lights on the social work research-practice partnership through a reflexive knowledge co-construction approach which helped to produce alternative discourses that considered parents’ experiential knowledge and emphasised a system-oriented perspective. By embracing the alternative subjectivities constituted by alternative discourses as collaborators and co-learners, the practitioner and researcher also demonstrated abilities to think about new possibilities for parent education practice and research. Implications for future empowerment-oriented social work practice and research in family and parent education fields were also discussed.

Συνɛίδησις in Paul's Texts and Stoic Self-Perception

AbstractΣυνɛίδησις is a relatively rare word, but a favourite for Paul, whose undisputed texts contain nearly half of its New Testament occurrences. In the 19th and 20th centuries, scholars debated the origin of the substantive and the possibility of Stoic influence, which led to a consensus that the term was not a technical philosophical one and Paul's use was not affected by Stoic thought. There is evidence, though, that the presence of συνɛίδησις in a few Stoic texts is due to its semantic relationship in Stoic discourse with συναίσθησις, the Stoic term for self-perception, which was a key component in their epistemological and ethical theory. This article argues that a reading of Paul's use of συνɛίδησις as Stoic self-perception explains the distinctive features of his use to which scholars have recently drawn attention, namely, the permanent and continuous operation of the συνɛίδησις, its ability to be passively impacted by the actions of others and the neutral or positive content of its reflexive knowledge. After a review of recent scholarship, I discuss the role of συναίσθησις in Stoic theory and the evidence for its semantic relationship to συνɛίδησις, then offer a reading of 1 Cor 8–10 demonstrating Paul's use of συνɛίδησις as self-perception.

Messing up research: A dialogical account of gender, reflexivity, and governance in auto‐ethnography

AbstractThis paper aims to contribute to a growing critical and reflexive awareness of the implications of gendered assumptions about ontology, epistemology, and ethics in academic research governance and practice. It provides a retrospective account of the authors' shared experiences of an autoethnographic study of lap dancing clubs, focusing on critical or “sticky moments” encountered, and considering the implications of these for research more widely. It does so by highlighting the gendered power relations shaping academic research, showing how Judith Butler's critique of the heterosexual matrix can be applied to a critical, reflexive understanding of the impact of binary, hierarchical gender power relations. The analysis provides insight into some of the ways in which autoethnographic research on sexualized work may become messy, dirty, and sticky in ways that accentuate power inequalities but also open up moments of opportunity for gender binaries and hierarchies to be revealed, challenged, and resisted. Using a Butlerian lens to reflect on our experiences, we contribute to understanding how heteronormative assumptions shape perceptions of what makes “good,” “clean,” and ethically (formally) approved research that conforms to the governmental norms of the heterosexual matrix and, by implication, those contaminating forms of research that disrupt or resist its disciplinary effects. As ethnographic research is often messy by its very nature, and particularly so when situated within sex/sexualized work, we aim to show how gendered assumptions can inhibit reflexivity in academic knowledge production, resulting in research processes that are (paradoxically) unethical. In response, we suggest three ways in which gender reflexive research might be pursued, by: (i) identifying gendered assumptions reflexively and dialogically, (ii) adopting an anti‐essentialist approach that foregrounds experiential, embodied knowledge, and (iii) developing an anti‐hierarchical methodology. We do so in the hope of opening up ways that might enable others to avoid heteronormative assumptions having potentially detrimental consequences for their research and to offer a starting point for developing gender reflexive knowledge production in the future.

Arriving in the body – students’ experiences of yoga based practices (YBP) in physical education teacher education (PETE)

ABSTRACT The interest in yoga, mindfulness or similar yoga-based practices (YBP) has grown exponentially in the western world, also within education, including physical education (PE). Although some studies have been conducted on YBP in PE, yoga has not yet been researched in the framework of physical education teacher education (PETE). Using a regional lifeworld approach, the purpose of this article is to investigate how PETE students experience their participation in a YBP didactics unit when it was included in the PETE programme. What thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations were evoked in the students as they explored YBP and their prospects for teaching it themselves? The project involved 13 students during their fifth year in one of Sweden’s PETE programmes. Questionnaires and diaries were used as information sources. Ten of the 13 students were also interviewed. In the phenomenological analysis, the phenomenon of friction ‘showed itself’ to be an essential part of the perceived experiences. Friction was characterised by a tension between an absence of friction, which describes experiences of participating in YBP smoothly, and the presence of friction, which included experiences of resistance. The students also oscillated between experiences of I-here and now, and Me-my future teaching profession. At least to some extent, the YBP that was practised during the course changed the students’ views of what education in ‘human in motion’ can be by discovering and breaking their habitual attitudes towards PE. Rather than being discussed in terms of ‘benefits’, the YBP practice charged the body, the room and the group with a heightened awareness of the present moment that could also be expressed verbally. It is anticipated that this kind of reflexive knowledge will help the student to make careful didactical considerations in their future teaching practices.

INTEGRATIVE MODEL OF HOLISTIC KNOWLEDGE OF SCHOOLCHILD’s INDIVIDUALITY BY TEACHER. MESSAGE 1. THEORETICAL SUBSTANTIATION AND OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH

From the standpoint of a systematic approach, the process of teacher’s cognition of the integral individuality of a student is considered. The purpose of the study: through the integration of various theories and approaches, to substantiate a new system-integrative approach to pedagogical cognition of the integral individuality of students by a teacher. Research objective: to show that the systems "subject", "integral individuality", "cognition" form a trinity that ensures the functioning of the resulting polysystems: "integral individuality - cognition - object", "integral individuality - cognition - subject", "integral individuality - cognition - integral individuality". Thus, the most complete knowledge of student’s integral individuality by a teacher is ensured. Pedagogical knowledge is defined as a multi-level process of studying the student's individuality as an object and as a subject of cognition, based on scientific and theoretical knowledge of the properties of the student's integral individuality in dialectical unity with practical knowledge about the student and the teacher's reflexive knowledge about himself, formed in the process of interpersonal interaction in the dyad "teacher - student". The resultative and procedural directions of the study of teacher’s cognition of the student are singled out, namely: the study of the relationship between the properties of the integral individuality of the student and their “life manifestations” observed by the teacher, the role of reflexivity and objective factors of pedagogical activity in the process of cognition. The novelty and theoretical significance of the work is determined by the fact that it fits into the current direction of psychological research - the development of psychodiagnostic tools for systemic psychological research that is in demand in pedagogical and social practice. The practical result of the study is the creation of a model of holistic cognition of the integral individuality of a student by a teacher, including the development of a program for scientific and practical observation of a teacher over the "life manifestations" of the properties of the integral individuality, as well as a questionnaire for the integral individuality of schoolchildren of different ages.

Uncomfortable Knowledge: Toward a Pedagogy of Reflexivity

Reflexivity is a hallmark of good ethnography and many consider it a defining characteristic of anthropology. It is thus surprising that anthropologists have not paid more attention to how we teach students to be reflexive. Many of us learn reflexivity by making mistakes in the field, yet discussions of anthropological faux pas and their potential contributions to reflexive learning are typically limited to informal settings and occluded or heavily curated within our research outputs. In this article we employ analytic tools from the theory of sociocultural viability, in particular the notions of clumsiness, elegance, and uncomfortable knowledge, to contribute to developing a more explicit pedagogy of reflexivity. Since reading ethnographies plays a major role in how we teach anthropology, we argue that anthropologists should do more in their publications to highlight how awkward moments can deepen reflexivity. To advance this agenda, we provide cases of uncomfortable knowledge drawn from our own field experiences, highlighting how the social, emotional and embodied awkwardness of each situation contributed to acquiring reflexive insights. This article is thus a call to initiate prospective researchers earlier into the messy backstage of anthropological research, including by clarifying how the embodied and affective aspects of our interactions offer potential for deepening reflexive knowledge. In the hopes of facilitating the development of our pedagogies of reflexivity, we conclude the text with four recommendations that we feel will encourage reflexive learning from awkward fieldwork encounters.

Deconstructing knowledge and reconstructing understanding: Designing a knowledge architecture for transdisciplinary co‐creation of energy futures

AbstractTransdisciplinary approaches for planning and managing sustainability transitions present an opportunity for embedding knowledge making as an integral design element. Collaboratively formulated energy transitions as one such transdisciplinary undertaking, can benefit from the plural integration of knowledge forms to maximize uptake and diffusion of material outcomes, and the principles and values underlying collaborative action. Moreover, reflexive knowledge practices can identify safeguards that prevent disproportionate distribution of benefits, consequences, and lower participation barriers for diverse stakeholders. This article presents a knowledge making research agenda for co‐creation of sustainable energy transitions and proposes the deconstruction‐reconstruction knowledge making framework to enable systemic social learning among stakeholders. The theoretical framework is operationalized through a knowledge architecture, designed to facilitate a multi‐stakeholder sustainable energy transition project in Sierra Leone. Findings indicate that an embedded knowledge architecture can lower epistemological and methodological barriers to co‐creation, while enhancing the ability to adaptively manage emergent information and conflicts.

Обоснование свидетельского знания в религиозной эпистемологии: подход Дж. Греко

Currently, the study of religious knowledge is carried out mainly within the framework of religious epistemology, which does not exclude its consideration from the standpoint of a non-cognitive approach, for example, fideism. However, the greatest interest is in cognitivism, whose proponents explore the problems of religious knowledge using a number of standards of classical epistemology, yet at the same time modify them, creating standards of religious epistemology proper. One of the authors who develop this direction is J. Greco, who continues the tradition of studying evidence ("testimonial evidence") and its role in the formation and functioning of religious consciousness. In an effort to organize witness knowledge, he tries to typologize it, distinguishing, on the one hand, knowledge presented as a set of witness data, and, on the other hand, as knowledge transmitted and assimilated in the processes of communication that take place, for example, within a religious community. J. Greco criticizes the arguments of skeptics who claim that it is impossible that the evidence can serve as a sufficient basis for religious belief. The article emphasizes the simplicity of such an approach, since J. Greco does not distinguish the types of knowledge that are formed as a result of evidence (in particular, reflexive and value-based knowledge, which are formed and assimilated in different ways), which are different in their epistemological characteristics. At the same time, he focuses on a problem that is significant not only for religious, but also for classical epistemology, namely, the influence of the moral authority of a particular form of comprehension of being (science, religion, etc.) and its specific representatives who develop the relevant knowledge on the assimilation of certain epistemic truths by both specialized communities (for example, the scientific community) and society as a whole. The philosophical arguments of J. Greco shows that the theme of religious evidence within the framework of classical epistemology is not reduced to banal statements that they do not meet the criteria generated by scientific knowledge. These reflections touch upon a number of topics relevant to this epistemology. At the same time, these arguments point to the need to develop a religious epistemology based on the specifics of religious knowledge with its own verification criteria and methodology for obtaining it.

Goodbye Expert-Based Policy Advice? Challenges in Advising Governmental Institutions in Times of Transformation

The global transformation towards sustainability has not only increased the demand for anticipatory and reflexive knowledge to support decision making, but also raises three challenges common to all forms of scientific policy advice: to appropriately consider societal norms and values (challenge of normativity), to integrate different forms of knowledge (challenge of integration) and to organize the participation of stakeholders (challenge of participation). While new forms of scientific policy advice in the field of sustainability research (SR) have emerged in response, the role of established actors such as the Office of Technology Assessment at the German Bundestag (TAB) is increasingly scrutinized. One of the fundamental characteristics of TAB’s model of scientific policy advice is a rigid boundary arrangement between politics and science that places a high value on the objectivity and authority of scientific knowledge. Based on a content analysis of digitalization-related TAB reports spanning three decades, we describe how a rather technocratic institution such as TAB has dealt with the challenges of normativity, integration, and participation, and we compare its approach with that of SR institutions. TAB has partly adapted its working mode to the new challenges, e.g., by trying out new methods to foster a stronger dialogue with stakeholders. However, TAB’s response to the challenges distinctly differs from the forms of transformative research conducted in the SR community. We argue that this is not only a necessary precondition to maintain its reputation as a trustworthy actor towards the Parliament but gives TAB and similar expert-based institutions a special role in the governance of societal transformation.

“Wake up for education”: colonialism, social transformation, and the beginnings of the anti-caste movement in India

ABSTRACT Looking at the early educational activities of the anti-caste movement in the Western Indian Bombay Presidency (1848–1882), the article sheds light on the diverse, and sometimes contradictory social effects of the colonial encounter. The military defeat of the Maratha Empire, the setting up of colonial educational governance, and the emergence of missionary education had disrupted social and religious certainties. In this moment of crisis, reformers turned to education to intervene in the ongoing social transformation processes. From the perspective of the shudra-atishudra – the serving, labouring, and untouchable castes, who formed the lowest stratum of Western Indian society – the new political situation provided a space to challenge the established structures of caste and gender domination. The article starts with a discussion of colonial-governmental and missionary educational interventions, and proceeds to analyse anti-caste radicals’ educational activities against this background. Schools, popular literature, and public performance aimed to create a reflexive knowledge among the shudra-atishudra about their own position in society, and the ways to change it. Finally, the article explores the anti-caste movement’s varying interpretations of the changes in education and society. While anti-caste writers of the 1850s welcomed the new educational opportunities, their voices were highly critical of colonial education policy in the 1880s. In the nineteenth century’s struggles over caste, gender, and education, privileges and exclusions had been reworked in a colonial-modern framework. Still, important steps had been taken towards democratising and universalising Indian education.

Empirical analysis of the development of sanogen thinking in student's on the basis of a reflective approach

The article disclosed the problem of sanogen thinking, its relevance, the study of domestic and foreign scientists, the content of the development of sanogen thinking on the basis of a reflexive approach. There is also an analysis of the results of the first stage of experimental work carried out in the field of development of sanogenic thinking in students. The healthy and harmonious development of the young generation, which will ensure its future, plays a crucial role in the development of any society. Theoretical and practical study of the research problem it was noted that reflexive knowledge and skills are among the leading factors in the development of sanogen (healthy) thinking of students of higher education institutions. This, first of all, requires its in-depth scientific study and analysis.

Genre Instruction and Critical Literacy in Teacher Education: Features of a Critical Foreign Language Pedagogy in a University Curriculum

Author(s): Mitsikopoulou, Bessie | Abstract: This paper focuses on critical pedagogy and EFL teacher education and it argues that it would be unrealistic to expect students who have been educated through traditional university curricula (aiming to deliver content through a ‘banking model’) to become critical foreign language teachers and educators. The education of future teachers requires new university curricula which view literacy as a critical social practice and prepare them through transformative pedagogies, encouraging them to examine critically their values and beliefs by developing a reflexive knowledge base, an appreciation for multiple perspectives and a sense of critical consciousness and agency.Based on this premise, the article presents the case of Genres in English, an undergraduate language course at the Department of English Language and Literature of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, aiming to raise students’ critical literacy. Using the tools of Systemic Functional Grammar and drawing on a genre-based approach to writing development, the course initially invites students to take up the role of critical text analysts deconstructing academic and media texts and at a later stage to engage in a popularization of science writing task mediating information from an academic to a media text. Through language tasks which approach genres as historical constructs, students are introduced to the ideological nature of discourses and genres and they explore the conditions of production, distribution and consumption of texts. To evaluate the effectiveness of this approach, the paper presents the findings from a small-scale research conducted with students who have attended the course.

Kritische bestuurskunde

Over the past four decades of its existence, Dutch public administration has developed into a science which mainly produces knowledge that either caters to a very specific scientific niche or aims to optimize policy processes in an instrumental fashion. This type of knowledge is not well equipped to provide answers or improve understanding of the challenges of our time. We argue that public administration needs to shift its focus more towards producing reflexive knowledge in the form of what we would call critical public administration. Based on the contributions in this special issue, this article outlines what the contribution of such a critical public administration could be. The article shows that, even though it is theory driven, critical public administration is close to policy practice and can fuel a productive public debate by imagining alternative futures.

Leadership learning, power and practice in Laos: A leadership-as-practice perspective

This article contributes to the growing body of literature developed within the leadership-as-practice perspective, focusing on issues of learning and power. It draws on a co-constructed (auto)ethnographic account of an individual’s longitudinal experience of leadership in the context of an international development project in Laos. This person’s circumstances as a non-Lao-speaking foreigner provided him with a unique opportunity to learn about and participate in the embodied, sociomaterial unfolding of leadership practice in an unfamiliar setting. The analysis examines (1) what ‘leadership learning’ involves when viewed through an ‘entative soft’ leadership-as-practice lens and (2) how individual attempts at exercising power and influence can be understood and represented in leadership-as-practice terms. The study highlights that participants are not given equal scope to exercise power within the emerging, hybrid agency orienting the flow of leadership, and that one task of leadership learning at an individual level is to develop reflexive knowledge about one’s own and others’ contribution to the unfolding of leadership process. Such knowledge draws increased attention to the responsibilities commensurate with attempts to exercise influence within leadership practice.

Scientific Evidence about the Assistance Provided to the Newborn with Meconium Elimination: Integrative Literature Review

The Meconial Aspiration Syndrome (MAS) is a complication caused by the presence of meconium amniotic fluid with consequent aspiration, being responsible for important rates of perinatal morbidity and mortality. This study aims to analyze the bibliographical production on newborn care with meconium elimination in the delivery room. It was a literature integrative review electronically based. Most of the studies referred to tracheal intubation and exogenous surfactant ministration as main care methods. The Meconium Aspiration Syndrome is presented as main theme. It is understood that health care professionals must develop knowledge, skills and actions, showing conduct based on scientific, critical and reflexive knowledge with purposeful interventions directed to the patient’s needs.

РЕФЛЕКСИВНА КОМПЕТЕНТНІСТЬ МАЙБУТНЬОГО ПЕДАГОГА:СУТНІСТЬ, СТРУКТУРА, ЛОГІКА РЕФЛЕКСІОГЕНЕЗУ

The article analyzes the reflective paradigm of education as a promising strategy for Ukrainian higher education reforming. Its mission, purpose, objectives, content, functions and criteria are disclosed. Proved the priorities of the reflexive education paradigm related to the reflexive competence formation of the personality, represented by a set of components, adequate to reflective activity. The structure of reflexive competence which contains motivational-value (motives, needs, personal interest, desire, tendency to engage in reflexive activity, approach to pedagogical reflection as a value); cognitive (system of reflexive knowledge, which is the theoretical basis of reflective competence and represent a system of concepts and ideas associated with self-knowledge, self-awareness, understanding and perception of the individual student, interaction with students); operational-activity (system of reflexive skills connected with self-knowledge and understanding of another, with self-assessment and evaluation of other people, with self-interpretation and interpretation of another, with analysis and development of pedagogical technologies) components, was grounded on the basis of structural-activity trait and types of reflection. According to the structure of reflexive competence, the criteria of its formation are defined (stimulating-axiological, cognitive, praxeological). Adjusted diagnostic toolkit containing standardized and proprietary methods. The genesis of the reflective competence of future teachers in the period of vocational training in higher education is revealed. The concept of “reflexiogenesis” as a process of gradual development of reflexive competence components in the direction of their complication and extension of the range of realization of different types of pedagogical reflection synthesized in contextual reflection is introduced into scientific circulation. Proved that the initial stage of formation of reflective competence (the first course of study at a higher education institution) associated with the formation of reflection not as a professional quality, but as a basic personal education; with in the next step (the second, the thirdcourse of study at a higher education institution), there is a formation of pedagogical reflection as a professional-personal quality of the teacher; in the process of educational and professional activity (the fourthcourse of study at a higher education institution) the formation of reflexive competence as a holistic, integrated professional-personal quality of the future teacher.

Reproducing Academic Insularity in a Time of Neo-liberal Markets: The Case of Social Science Research in Indonesian State Universities

ABSTRACT This article reflects on neo-liberal reform of Indonesia’s state universities, using Michael Burawoy’s approach to the division of sociological labour in particular and social science in general. It examines the relationship between neo-liberal market imperatives and authoritarian bureaucratic legacies that not only curtail the development of theoretically engaged and socially relevant scholarship but also shape knowledge production through the marketisation of technocratic research. This article shows how, counter-intuitively, the rise of managerial power linked with neo-liberal policies has prolonged the mechanics of bureaucratic administration that Indonesian state universities inherited from the authoritarian New Order regime. This has resulted in a condition where insular academic practices perpetuate technocratic social science research driven by market mechanisms. The article argues that acknowledging the unequal status accorded to instrumental as opposed to reflexive knowledge production is crucial to understand the failures of neo-liberal reform in post-authoritarian Indonesia state universities. It concludes that a thorough reconsideration of the institutional settings that have systematically constrained critical and professional social science in Indonesia is necessary before any attempts at structural changes that enable the sort of deep engagement with the public that Burawoy envisages for a critical social science.

Cognitive Factors for Modeling in Digital Environments Characterized by a Nonlinear Presentation of Information

Introduction. This paper focuses on the conditions for using digital resources characterized by a nonlinear presentation of information in the cognitive process with a view of modelling personal educational environments as the basis for the map of opportunities in getting specialties of the future. The authors offer tools for the use of cognitive technologies for the construction of individuals’ worldviews which should create additional factors for the development of their theoretical and creative thinking and influence their cognitive development.
 Methods. The study used the personality-oriented and the activity-based and system approaches to analyze and interpret the findings. The Rapid Foresight technique and the observation, experiment, and analysis methods were employed in the study.
 Results. The authors justify the use of new cognitive technologies that allow individuals to model the process of cognition and help them create worldviews adequate to the demands of society and the trends of specialties of the future. The example of modelling a personal trajectory of the development in digital environments characterized by a nonlinear presentation of information describes the factors of the development of thinking and information searching skills. In accordance with corresponding cognitive processes individuals construct the following three types of knowledge: (a) knowledge acquired through perceiving and processing information; (b) knowledge acquired through experiment; and (c) meta-knowledge (reflexive and orientation knowledge). This paper presents an experiment confirming the effectiveness of new cognitive technologies in modeling a non-linear trajectory of individual development and cognition.
 Discussion. On the basis of the generalization of the results of cognitive activity during modelling the process of cognition in digital environments the authors described the types of knowledge and offered the types of work considered to be the most effective in terms of intellectual development. The presented types of cognitive activity help to create additional conditions for new applications of cognitive technologies when constructing worldviews. A general algorithm of the map of opportunities implies a correlation between psychological characteristics and demands of specialties of the future.