From listproc@pulsar.acast.nova.edu Mon Oct 13 17:35:31 1997 Date: Wed, 16 Jul 1997 08:13:08 -0400 From: listproc@pulsar.acast.nova.edu To: aedmod@fcae.acast.nova.edu Subject: GET HORIZONS VOL2N1 (1/1) Archive HORIZONS, file vol2n1. Part 1/1, total size 88047 bytes: ------------------------------ Cut here ------------------------------ *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** **************************** **************************** ********************* ********************* *************** *************** ************ *********** ******** ******** ****** ****** **** NEW HORIZONS IN ADULT EDUCATION **** *** *** ** ** *************************************************************************** Volume 2 Number 1 Spring 1988 *************************************************************************** EDITORS Michael Ehringhaus. . . . . . . . Syracuse University Bird Stasz. . . . . . . . . . . . Syracuse University EDITORIAL BOARD Judith Adrian . . . . . . . . . . University of Wisconsin Joyce Stalker Costin. . . . . . . University of British Columbia Rodney Fulton . . . . . . . . . . Montana State University Hank Healey . . . . . . . . . . . Cornell University Jane Hugo . . . . . . . . . . . . Syracuse University Michael Law . . . . . . . . . . . University of British Columbia Rich Novak. . . . . . . . . . . . Rutgers University Priscilla Spencer . . . . . . . . Columbia University Tom Sudduth . . . . . . . . . . . University of Wyoming ___________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS Volume 2, Number 5/13/88, Spring, 1988 Articles Propaganda and Adult Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Richard J. Novak The Informing of Adult Education by Adult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Development Nancy E. Hagan Procedures for Writers in the Field of Adult. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Education: How to Make Your Writings More Consistently Accessible within Computerized Information Databases Judith Gwinn Adrian Forum Feminist Methodology: A New Way of Knowing? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Carolyn Chase ___________________________________________________________________________ NEW HORIZONS IN ADULT EDUCATION Volume 2, Number 5/13/88, 1 - 7 ******* RICHARD J. NOVAK is a doctoral student and teaching ******* ******* assistant in the Department of Educational Theory, ******* ******* Policy and Administration at Rutgers University. ******* *************** ********* PROPAGANDA AND ADULT EDUCATION by Richard J. Novak Abstract: The issue of whether or not adult educators should condone so called propagandistic materials, as were used in the literacy campaigns of Nicaragua, is a complex one. The issue is part of a larger one: the interfacing of propaganda, politics, and education. There are many aspects to this interfacing which confront the adult educator. The following article begins with an explication of propaganda, highlighting related issues which confront the adult educator. From there, the article looks at the specific example of Nicaragua and at literacy education in general. This is followed by some suggestions for practice. Propaganda Through Human History "Persuasion is a fundamental form of social coercion. It dates back probably to the earliest social groupings of man" (Biddle, 1932, p. 20). Indeed, Lasswell, Lerner, and Speier (1980) have traced propaganda and communication in world history in three lengthy volumes covering the period from early humanity in Mesopotamia to the present day. Propaganda is all about us, and we are, I believe, all caught up in it, whether we term it propaganda, persuasive discourse, advertising, or subliminal seduction. It can be very subtle and seductive, or it can be overt, out and out manipulation or coercion. - 1 - page 2 / NOVAK Although the term, propaganda, has been around for a long while, the emphasis has changed. The root of propaganda is propagate, meaning to root or set down. In fact, as Biddle (1932) notes, "the word propaganda was first used to describe the mission work of the Catholic Church" (p. 20). It is only recently that the negative or derogatory connotations of the word are being stressed. Doob (1966) notes that "propaganda can be called the attempt to affect the personalities and to control the behavior of individuals toward ends considered unscientific or of doubtful value in a society at a particular time" (p. 240). Propaganda, Politics, and Education Propaganda is intimately linked with education, especially literacy education. Biddle (1932) explains that along with the increase in literacy in the major nations of western civilization came the development of means of rapid and wholesale communication. He indicts this development in western civilization, however, saying, "Universal literacy and wholesale communication, both essential for large-scale democracy, have so far resulted in gullibility rather than in intelligence on the part of the masses" (p.2). Thus, propaganda is a pervasive reality--not limited to Nicaragua--which confronts the adult educator. Furthermore, propaganda has the potential to thwart adult educators' attempts to develop the human being to the fullest potential. Another reality confronting the adult educator is the political nature of education. Freire (1973) made this clear through his reflection on praxis. "The fact that education is political is now becoming obvious to more and more students, teachers and parents" (Walker in Mackie, 1981, p.121). Samuel Simpson (1987), Managua Regional Director of Adult Education in Nicaragua, stated during his recent visit to the United States, "We couldn't separate politics and education because they are vitally linked in the reality, in the daily lives of the learners" (p. 5). It is not always easy to tell the difference between propaganda and education. In fact, "education has often been the handmaiden of propaganda" (Biddle, 1932, p. 10). In trying to distinguish or discriminate between the two, Doob (1966) suggests that the "individual attempting to discriminate must be aware of the state of scientific knowledge on a subject and must be aware of the value judgments he is employing in his own thinking" (p. 241). Propaganda and Literacy Education If we were to look at the example of the literacy campaign in Nicaragua, we must consider our own value judgments, what was accomplished, and the perspectives of the indigenous educators. Simpson (1987) explains that "The illiteracy rate dropped from over 50 percent to just under 13 percent in five short months, an astounding accomplishment which was officially recognized by the United Nations" (p. 6). From a pragmatic point of view, the adult educator cannot simply condemn and dismiss the so- called "propagandistic" literacy campaigns in Nicaragua. The fact is that the program worked in dramatically reducing the illiteracy rate. However, that a great deal of the instructional materials used were clearly page 3 / NOVAK propagandistic offends many adult educators in the United States. And yet Simpson contends that the grass roots participation, albeit propagandized, "will assure democracy and with it the development of our country's resources" (p. 5). Consider, for a moment, the literacy campaign in the United States. Much hype and hoopla, especially electronically mediated, has failed to enlist broad participation of illiterate adults. The public campaign for literacy education often uses visual images which show the personal embarrassment of the illiterate adult for his or her inability to read. Or, advertisements seductively imply that literacy will bring better employment, greater wealth, and access to the "American dream" or the "good life." For examples, one need only view the television advertisements for the national PLUS campaign. Here, adult educators are confronted with another value judgment. Is this U.S. propaganda--of either embarrassment or promise of a better life--any less propagandistic than the Nicaraguan appeal for solidarity with the new democratic social order? Cultural Sensitivity Literacy is much more than symbol manipulation. It is a lifetime process which, as Mackie (1981) notes, "is not acquired neutrally, but in specific historical, social and cultural contexts. . . . It is the means by which we comprehend, unravel and transform the reality in which we find ourselves" (p. 1-2). Freire promoted genuine literacy rather than functional literacy. As Bee points out (in Mackie, 1981), "If a person is to become genuinely literate, as opposed to functionally literate, a quality of critical reflection must be engendered in the pedagogical methods" (p. 50). Not only must critical reflection be engendered, but cultural bias must be taken into account, as noted above. Aveni (1986) cautions, "If we desire to understand the meaning of literacy in the context of other cultures, we must be careful not to confuse our tools and methods, our aims and goals, our world or cosmic view, with those of the people we study" (p. 253). And what of the literacy campaign in Nicaragua? Simpson (1987) describes a country that has been experiencing "a state of war for many years . . . underdevelopment and economic dependency inherited from the period of the dictatorship, as well as a massive foreign debt . . . making it . . . impossible to carry out even the most basic tasks required to implement an adult education program" (p. 2). Faced with the reality of this situation, Nicaragua sought the active participation of the people through a national literacy crusade that was, as Simpson (1987) describes, "primarily a political project which had pedagogical implications" (p. 3). Simpson explained the process which saw 80 people test the materials and methods as pilot projects. Then "the original 80 participants led workshops where they trained 600 volunteers. Through a process of multiplication, these 600 went on to train 12,000 and so on until eventually 100,000 brigadistas were ready to be sent out to all areas of the country" (p. 4). Simpson (1987) goes on to explain how the literacy campaign was based on the experience and reality of the learner and how the Nicaraguan literacy process of work-study-work or practice-theory-practice is page 4 / NOVAK participatory, collective, and democratic. Simpson promotes education as a responsibility of all citizens, noting, "This is specified in our constitution" (p. 6). Furthermore, "The development of these skills and the political structures which permit an active participation, as well as erecting the interest and motivation to participate, are central to our ideas about education" (p.3). Clearly, from the perspective of this Nicaraguan adult educator, they have done nothing wrong in terms of the campaign. Could it be that our own perception is colored by our western, capitalistic perspective, so much so that we are unable to break out of it? As Mezirow (1978) notes, we are caught in our own history and reliving it. Thus far, we have stated that propaganda is all around us. It is intimately connected with education, and both are intertwined with politics. In terms of judging the use of propagandistic approaches in adult education, especially considering the cases of the literacy campaign of Nicaragua, we must have a cultural sensitivity. In addition, we must be aware of ourselves, our values, dispositions, motives, and goals. Contextual Analysis Another important point for the adult educator to factor into this mix is the fact which Rank (1974) points out: "Language manipulation is a neutral, natural human activity and . . . any 'goodness' or 'badness' depends on the context of the whole situation. . . . There is no neutral transfer of information; all communication involves a basic selection/omission process by which we intensify or downplay" (p. 216). We select or omit information and emphases based on personal and corporate values. Contextual analysis is a key element in forming a judgment about propaganda. This analysis, while critical, is difficult. Rank (1974) explains that "because such judgments are demanding, complex and often tentative, they are much less emotionally satisfying than the 'certitude' afforded by relying upon an a priori judgment that language manipulation is bad in and of itself" (p. 219). Critical thinking--about ourselves, our world, and what is going on around us--seems to be part of the answer to interpreting the use of propaganda in adult education. As Biddle (1932) notes, "to make people more critical and discriminative in their thinking is an educational task . . . . The achievement of intelligent, discriminative thinking has been historically one of the most important aims of education" (p. 8). Part of the development of critical, discriminative, thinking is providing contact with a variety of points of view. This is all the more difficult given that propaganda mitigates against critical thinking. And, as mentioned earlier, propaganda is all around us, across contexts and across cultures. Yet, "if democracy is to improve and become more practical, it must be increasingly based upon critical, intelligent thinking on the part of the masses" (Biddle, 1932, p. 6). page 5 / NOVAK Task of the Adult Educator With these explanations as background, I believe that there are several tasks facing the adult educator with respect to propaganda. The first task of the adult educator, it seems to me, is that of becoming critically aware. This awareness begins with the realization that education is political and that education, politics, and propaganda are intertwined. Adult educators must be aware of who they are and how they are shaped by their own history and cultural assumptions (Mezirow, 1978). Awareness, or reflection, is only the first step. The next step, as Freire (1973) outlines, is praxis. What do you do with what you know? "Teachers should not act as the press agents or the public relations staff of any administration, any government, any corporation" (Rank, 1974, p. 232). This is a tough judgment which is not just for someone "out there" in some communist country somewhere. For as Rank observes, "In a capitalist economy, corporations have a vested interest in promoting trust and confidence as great virtues" (p. 232). This promotion can be very seductive and is usually fueled by megabucks. Moreover, over 50 years ago, Biddle (1932) warned that "There is keen competition between propagandas, as in the sale of toilet articles or cigarettes" (p. 2). Second, adult educators need a clear sense of the purpose and goals for the educational activity in which they are engaged. While the diversity of the field of adult education has been affirmed by many, there is growing consensus on some of the goals of adult education. The promotion of equality, human dignity, and worth . . . the act of helping adults live more successfully and the facilitation of discriminating and critical thinking have been claimed as goals and purposes for adult education by many educators across various contexts (Darkenwald & Merriam, 1982). Adult educators must be aware of corporate goals as well as personal motives. Third, adult educators have a responsibility to work towards humanization (Freire, 1973). Part of this "humanizing" process includes fostering openness to different worldviews. McKenzie (1987) suggests that the development of this openness is sorely lacking in adult education. Worldview, he says, "means contemplation of the world or a view of life . . . . The positions we take on ultimate and penultimate meaning-issues, together with what we know, constitute the substance of our worldview" (p. 231). To be human is to deal with questions of ultimate meaning (McKenzie, 1987). "Worldview construction can be supported directly and explicitly by education activities. Exposure to different worldviews through the discussion of themes selected by the learners can stimulate and re-orient the thinking of learners" (p. 235). This is one counter that adult educators can offer to the numbing, uncritical gullibility that all propaganda imposes. Whether it be the advertisement of a product or service with implicit promises or the out and out dogmatic declarations of a revolutionary government, each wears down the audience and engenders gullibility. Fourth, adult educators must be aware of the propaganda within the field. For example, Gilligan's (1982) challenge to the wholesale acceptance by educators of the human development theories of Kohlberg and Erikson has been a shock to some, a scandal to others, and a ray of hope for many. Propaganda is also promulgated through the promotion of biased research, research in which there is a "deliberate effort to influence outcomes of controversy in favor of a preference" (Lasswell et. al., 1980, p. 5). page 6 / NOVAK The key to the resolution of this issue seems to be threefold. First, adult educators must have an understanding of the world of propaganda in all its pervasiveness, all its overt and covert seductive power, and all its aims. Secondly, adult educators must have a keen critical self- awareness and an openness to other worldviews. The American approach is not the only or always the best in every situation. While we herald democracy, Simpson (1987) also notes that the Nicaraguan approach to participation "will assure democracy and with it, development of our country's resources" (p. 5). Thirdly, and perhaps most important, the entire issue of propaganda must be seen within the parameters of contextual analysis, realizing that "Value judgments concerning the ethical or moral aspects of language manipulation have to be made in context with the whole situation" (Rank, 1974, p. 219). page 7 / NOVAK REFERENCES Aveni, A. F. (1986). Non-Western notational frameworks and the role of anthropology in our understandings of literacy. In M. E. Wrolstad & D.F. Fisher (Eds.), Toward a new understanding of literacy (pp. 252- 280). New York: Praeger. Biddle, W. W. (1932). Propaganda and education. (Doctoral dissertation, Teachers College, Columbia University). Darkenwald, G. & Merriam, S. (1982). Adult education: Foundations of practice. New York: Harper & Row. Doob, L. W. (1966). Public opinion and propaganda (2nd ed.). Hamden, CT: Archon Books. Freire, P. (1973). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Seabury. Gilligan, C. (1982). In a different voice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Lasswell, H. D., Lerner, D., & Speier, H. (Eds.). (1980). Propaganda and communication in world history (Vols. 1-3). Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii. Mackie, R. (Ed.). (1981). Literacy and revolution: The pedagogy of Paulo Freire. New York: Continuum. McKenzie, L. (1987). Worldview construction and adult education. Adult Education Quarterly, 37, 230-236. Mezirow, J. (1978). Perspective transformation. Adult Education, 28, 100- 110. Rank, H. (Ed.). (1974). Language and public policy. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. Simpson, S. (1987). Adult education in Nicaragua: Adapting and growing in a changing reality. New Horizons In Adult Education [Electronic journal], 1, (1), 1-15. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University. ___________________________________________________________________________ NEW HORIZONS IN ADULT EDUCATION Volume 2, Number 5/13/88, 8 - 15 ******* NANCY E. HAGAN is a doctoral student and research ******* ******* assistant in the Department of Adult, Continuing, ******* ******* and Extension Education at Cornell University. ******* *************** ********* THE INFORMING OF ADULT EDUCATION BY ADULT DEVELOPMENT by Nancy E. Hagan Abstract: Theory-building and research conducted in the field of human development can inform the process of adult education. Three broad perspectives of human develop- ment--stage theory, phasic approaches, and the combina- tion of the two--are discussed in terms of the insight they can bring to the field of adult education. Works of major theorists in both fields are considered in order to highlight the discussion. Contrasts are drawn between the development and education of adolescents and of adults. General recommendations for adult education are made, and a call is issued for further strengthening the ties between the fields of human development and adult education. Throughout life, human beings change and grow in the context of the external environment, social influence, increasing physical maturity, and the uniqueness of the self. When change is enduring over time--resulting not only in new patterns of behavior but also in novel ways of making sense of and relating to the world--it can be called development (Conger, 1977; Havighurst, 1948). Development is ongoing throughout childhood and - 8 - page 9 / HAGAN adolescence and, depending on one's theoretical perspective, continual throughout adulthood. The composition of development varies throughout life, with developmental needs, capabilities, considerations, and tasks differing from one point to another. Subsequently, the dynamic relationship between human development and education varies from one developmental period to the next. Nevertheless, human development and education can continually inform each other through the insights and impacts they have on the individual. A given period of life can be described, in part, by the characteristic issues of central importance to individuals during that particular period. These issues are developmental to the degree that their consideration and resolution prompt lasting change. Moreover, developmental issues can be viewed from either a phasic or a stage perspective. The phasic approach understands development as "a response to age-related changes in the conditions of adult life . . . adult development is concerned with the making of creative, transformative responses to age- related changing conditions of adulthood" (Lasker and Moore, 1979, p. 24). (Although much phase theory deals with adulthood, as in Levinson's 1978 work, "human" could substitute in the above definition for "adult.") Central concerns or developmental issues are seen as fairly consistent across an age group, since they are directly age-related. Phase issues revolve around the conditions of a period of life. Examples are the development of commitment to career and mate in early adulthood and the coming to terms with retirement in later adulthood. The phasic approach focuses on the issues that arise directly from the interplay of age-related change in the conditions of an individual's life. Phasic approaches to development are still relatively uncommon, Levinson's being the predominant example. As his work was done with only a small group of adult men, there remains considerable room in the field for others who wish to investigate this perspective. This approach has not been taken with adolescents, although Lasker and Moore (1979) argue that Erikson's theory of psychosocial development and its focus on the formation of identity during adolescence is as much phasic- as it is stage-oriented. Stage approaches offer the most widely held alternative to the phasic explanation of development across the life span. Stage theories "involve the identification of levels of maturity that are relatively independent of the changing conditions of . . . life. The stage approach emphasizes that . . . the changing conditions are experienced and responded to differently depending upon the psychological development of the individual involved (Lasker and Moore, 1979, p. 24)." In contrast to the phase approach, changing life conditions provide part of the content of development; they are not its central theme or impetus. Stage theories build on a concept of epigenesis, or the sequential, hierarchical, integrated, and increasingly complex nature of an organism's development (Erikson, 1968). Development is viewed as discrete and distinguishable from stage to stage, as well as directed toward increased complexity and flexibility. At each new stage of development, the individual displays characteristic patterns or capabilities of which s/he would have previously been incapable (Lasker and Moore, 1979). Process and function are thus enhanced with each transition to a new stage of development. Numerous scholars have formulated stage theories of development. Among the best known are Freud's theory of psychosexual development, Piaget's theory of cognitive development (1967), Kohlberg's (1972) and Gilligan's (1980) work on moral development, and Loevinger's work concerning the development of the ego. page 10 / HAGAN Empirical research has been conducted to test these theories, with Piaget, Kohlberg, and Gilligan doing the most in this regard. Moreover, Piaget and Kohlberg, as well as some of their followers, have attempted to make direct links between their beliefs and educational practice. Piaget's work, for example, has had considerable influence on the education of young children and youth, and Kohlberg (1972) made a direct and concerted effort to connect the aims of development and education. Nevertheless, there remains ample room for speculation and research in this area. A third theory-guided perspective on life span development appears to almost bridge the stage and phase approaches. Havighurst's concept of the "developmental task" (1948; 1953) relates, like aspects of both stage and phase theory, to the intersection of physical growth, environment (what Havighurst refers to as "the cultural pressure of society", 1948, p. 7), and the individual or self (p. 8). The concept of the developmental task is central to Havighurst's theory, and he defines it as "midway between an individual need and a societal demand. It partakes of the nature of both" (1948, p. 4). Here, he seems to mediate between the "changing conditions," noted by the phase theorists, and the "intrinsic organization" attended to in the stage approaches. Havighurst resembles the phase theorists in his focus on the skills and roles to be learned as part of an age-related developmental task. He pays much less attention to the underlying process of task resolution than would a stage theorist. His focus, like that of the phase theorists, centers more often on the content and essence of the task at hand rather than on the changing nature of the individual's capabilities or psychological structures. His interest appears to lie on the content side of the content-process tension inherent to development issues. Furthermore, Havighurst is unable to transcend his own class and cultural perceptions as he attempts to delineate the "biological, psychological, and cultural" bases of each task, as well as the task's "educational implications" (1948, p. 6). Yet, the limitations of his perspective and his language should not detract from his central message that the lifelong development of human beings can be considered in a manner that would facilitate the process of education. Havighurst presents the idea of the "teachable moment," that point when "the body is ripe, and society requires, and the self is ready to achieve a certain task" (1948, p. 8). It is here that the individual is most likely to learn a given task. In essence, Havighurst is promoting the idea of the critical period during which the learning of a developmentally appropriate task is most sensible and likely. Havighurst believes that, through the study of human development, educators can foster the coinciding of developmental tasks with educational tasks, thus promoting the acquisition of both and making education more relevant for students. Havighurst implies that there is an optimal time to teach and to learn a certain task and that one of the roles of education is to discover this optimal period and develop curricula and activities accordingly. This is another way of stating that one of the foci of education is learner relevance; educators have a mandate to begin with the learner where he or she is. Education serves the dual purposes of meeting current developmental needs and supporting new growth. In addition, Havighurst believes that education can be "conceived as the effort of society, through the school, to help the individual achieve certain of his developmental tasks" (1948. p. 8). Education has a larger role to play than simply the development of the individual; it is also the representative and conveyer of the larger social will. Education is seen as both an impetus and a response to development. Although Havighurst confines his view of education to that of formal schooling, education could be seen to have the same roles, even when it is more broadly defined. page 11 / HAGAN In a direct attempt to link perspectives, Lasker and Moore (1979) describe the relationship of education to human development in terms of the two approaches: phasic and stage. The authors claim that looking through a phase theory lens provides one means of determining the impact of an educational program on adults (and presumably on adolescents). "We in the education profession tend sometimes to assume that all educational intervention contributes positively to adult lives. This may be true, but it is an assumption that is not well tested" (p. 18-19). Educational efforts can be viewed in the context of their ability to help the individual address the changing conditions of life. Education should contribute to the individual's capacity to deal with age-related changes in the life situation. For instance, courses and workshops can be offered to young people who are in the process of making career choices, to first-time parents learning how to interact and care for an infant, and to retired people eager to learn leisure time activities. Educational opportunities should meet the individual's current or imminent developmental needs. In essence, education that is guided by phase theory is a learner-centered, needs-based approach. Lasker and Moore (1979) describe two distinctive ways in which stage theory can be used to inform educational programs. These they call the "matching" and "pushing" roles of education. The first involves "matching instruction to the learner's stage" and presenting material "in a form that is most consistent with the student's system of thinking--and thus easier to incorporate" (Lasker and Moore, 1979, p. 54). A corollary of this view is that any problem, confusion, or disinterest on the part of the learner probably arises from a mismatch of educational message and the learner's mode of encoding meaning. When a learner's "stage" is met by educational message, learning is facilitated. With adults, "the matching approach is predicated in part on the observation that there is no guarantee of periodic stage change in adulthood" (Lasker and Moore, 1979, p. 54). Once the stage level of the adult is 'discovered' by the educator, that level can be used as the grounding point for all educational experience. This process resembles the phase-guided approach in that it is learner-based. Here, however, the basic starting point is process-oriented, while with the phase approach it is content-directed. Moreover, this perspective is often used to guide educational programs and curricula for children; although, when used with children, the approach is not predicated on the assumption that learner needs will remain static in any fundamental way. A second approach discussed by Lasker and Moore (1979) presupposes change and growth, even in adults. The "pushing" perspective holds that a primary purpose of education is development or movement from one stage of meaning-making to another. Education is used as the impetus to change "the way in which all previous knowledge is actively engaged and brought to bear in the construction of meaning" (Lasker and Moore, 1979, p. 54). Kohlberg is a spokesman for this type of educational purpose, and he and his colleagues have attempted to design secondary school curricula and activities in such a way as to promote stage change in the moral development of adolescents (Kohlberg and Mayer, 1972). Perry (1981) has a similar intent with his scheme of intellectual growth and stage change at the college level. Kegan (1982) advocates both the matching and the pushing agendas. The single most important contribution developmental theory makes to schooling is its exposure of the child's natural curriculum,' an active process of meaning-making which page 12 / HAGAN informs and constrains the child's purposes. Rather than seeing the child as a passive receptacle to whom appealing curricula must be brought in order to initiate the learning experience, the developmentalist urges curriculum designers and teachers first to recognize the agenda upon which the child is already embarked and which the teacher can only facilitate or thwart, but not himself invent (p. 255). Kegan's focus on the child could readily be expanded to include the adolescent and the adult, for the process as he describes it is life long. Clearly, the nature of an educational program must be linked, at least in part, to the developmental needs of the learners. This link may be on the content level, as Havighurst and Levinson suggest, at the process level, as Kohlberg and Perry would have it, or in some combination of both, as Kegan advocates. A number of adult educators, most notably Kidd (1973) and Knowles (1973; 1984), echo the developmentalists in their views that the educational experience should be distinctive between learners at different periods of life. Indeed, although debate continues as to educational purposes and methods, empirical work is sorely needed to test the theories described above. Most theoreticians, researchers, and educators, however, now agree that distinctions in developmental status dictate distinctions in educational experience. The differences between adolescents and adults serve as markers to different educational procedures and intents. Adolescence, particularly as it exists in Western, industrialized countries, is marked by the search for identity, a sense of the self that is defining and distinctive (Erikson, 1968). Part of the process of identity formation involves trying out a variety of roles, commitments, and relationships. The period is marked by experimentation and questioning (Havighurst, 1948; Erikson, 1968; Conger, 1977; Hopkins, 1983). The adolescent moves from a childhood dependency on parents and other adult authorities toward a concomitant self-reliance and group affiliation. A major issue to be addressed by the adolescent is where s/he stands as unique in the world. The task is one of identification and integration of the various parts of the self. Changes in physical and intellectual capacities underlie this period of questioning and self-awareness. With the onset of puberty, the adolescent is forced to begin to consider his or her place in the adult world. With this realization of new potential comes the need for clarification of that potential. Furthermore, increased ability to take the perspective of another, to hypothesize and to analyze with or without the development of full formal operations (Piaget, 1967), enables the adolescent to move from concrete experience toward the realm of the possible. This is manifest largely in the adolescent's growth away from adult-established arenas of thought and action into avenues largely of his or her own construction and determination. The newness and gradual nature of the development of intellectual, social, experiential, and personal capabilities present changing needs throughout adolescence. Boys and girls are likely to be variously oriented to issues of identity, autonomy, and role choice, largely in terms of their distinctive rates of physical development and their culture's overarching definitions of gender-appropriate roles and behaviors. However, in both sexes, the ability to intellectually hold all possible alternatives at a given time forms the "complement to the need of the young person to develop a sense of identity, for from among all possible and imaginable relations, he must make sense of ever-narrowing selections of personal, occupational, sexual and ideological commitments" (Erikson, 1968, p.245). Therefore, page 13 / HAGAN changes and growth in various arenas within the individual are both mutually supportive and challenging. This process of search and selection forms the context for the educational experiences of adolescents. Yet, the formal school systems of Western states pay various degrees of heed to this adolescent agenda. Most educational systems in Europe and North America force the adolescent to choose a curriculum and a course of study that will have long-term implications. For many, this type of decision must be made before they are ready, with the result that he or she may shut off exploration and foreclose on one aspect of identity formation (Erikson, 1968). Similarly, those who drop out of school and begin work at an early age may leave the formal educational system without having had any support from it in their testing of occupational options and searching for identity. The Western formal school system can best serve adolescents by providing them the same kind of environment they seek and construct on their own. That is, the school should foster a range of academic and social opportunities. Adolescents should be afforded the chance to explore changing interests, goals, and tentative commitments in academic, vocational, social, and personal aspects of the developing self. Moreover, they should be supported by the school in their attempts to integrate these components of the growing identity. This educational agenda is both content- and process-oriented; it is responsive to adolescent issues and needs and provides an impetus and context for further growth. The school is unique in its capacity to do this for the adolescent, for part of its nature is to provide a familiar context while, at the same time, to demand change. Inherent to the process of education is the tension of growth and constancy, authority and individuality, structure and freedom. The parallel tensions within the developing adolescent can be played out within this larger contextual flux. An authoritative or democratic system of schooling, in contrast to the currently predominant authoritarian mode, would foster this type of educational process. Within such an ideal system, the adolescent would be increasingly able and encouraged to set "his own goals and choose his own methods to reach them," and in so doing, develop "independence and responsibility" (Muus, 1962, p. 102). This type of system would essentially represent the type of environment that the adolescent seeks and creates on his or her own when afforded the opportunity. Ideally, the formal school system should do the same. This educational process of affirmation and stimulus is essentially the same for adults, although its form is distinctive in light of the separate developmental needs of adults and adolescents. Adults primarily differ from adolescents in that they have made commitments to an identity and to a variety of social roles and obligations. Most adults are in the process of fulfilling rather than forming an identity, ideology, or set of roles. Nonetheless, "commitment" and "affirmation of identity . . . becomes a life long process, rather than an unchanging status" (Hopkins, 1983, p. 428). The adult is not a flat, static personality, forever bound to the self developed during adolescence; the adult continually reassesses and may change his or her interests, vocation, social, and personal roles, relationships, and commitments. Change may occur at the stage level or within a given stage. Even most stage theorists would not hold that constancy of stage means absence of growth. Nonetheless, since any change in adults is predicated on the earlier completion of identity formation, a sense of self and self-knowledge guides the adult learner in a way that it does not the adolescent. page 14 / HAGAN Many adults enter the learning situation with a self-assurance and self-directedness unknown to younger age groups. This sense of self along with the adult's repertoire of life experiences should provide the starting point for adult education. In light of this sense of identity, the adult is likely to be goal oriented and to have a defined purpose to his or her educational endeavors. This stands in contrast to the adolescent, who is more apt to see education as a socially prescribed means of putting in time prior to doing what he or she really wants. The adult learner is usually a voluntary participant in a nonformal or informal educational system, while the adolescent is often a conscript in the formal educational system. All of these factors, developmental and situational, combine to create distinctive processes of adult and adolescent education. As Knowles (1970) and Kidd (1973) stress, the adult learner must be met on his or her own terms, for indeed, s/he brings terms--guided by autonomy and identity--to the educational setting. If the educational curriculum, process, or agenda is imposed on the adult to the neglect of these terms, the education is likely to be of little value. Again, what is implied is an educational process that begins with the developmental needs and structures of the learner. With adults, this implies consideration for the experience, self-direction, and goal-orientation that the learner brings to the learning situation. In essence, this is no different from the respect for the adolescent or child learner that was called for previously in this paper. The distinctions between andragogy and pedagogy lie not in the nature of the attention given to the learner and his or her needs, but in its direction, focus, and form. Attention to the adolescent is paid at the level of the developing self; for the adult, attention should be paid to the developed self. Educational process is subsequently influenced and directed by these perspectives which are distinctive in content but not intent. The process of adult education must be one of greater collaboration and mutuality than that of adolescent education, due primarily to the nature of the adult learner as described above. However, this, too, is a difference in degree and not essence, for all educational experiences should be grounded in mutuality and exchange. Adult education is less a transmittal of knowledge (Knowles, 1970) and more a pattern of discovery and reciprocity than is the education of adolescents. This process of discovery may be either self-enhancing or self-transforming; it may involve either change or development. Ideally, adult education is democratic, experientially based, oriented toward the continuity of growth, and reliant upon an interaction between the internal and the external (Dewey, in Knowles, 1973, pp. 79-82). Ultimately, and as Dewey intended, all education, including that of children and adolescents, should be the above. At the most basic level, the education of children and adults are but different aspects of the same process. Each aspect, however, is marked by different procedures, goals, intents, and practices. Basically, phase and stage theories, as well as meldings of the two, are useful to adult educators in the degree to which they assist them in their efforts to offer learner-centered education. Research and theory emerging from the three different perspectives on human development can continue to be used to inform and strengthen the educational process along all points of the continuum and throughout the life span. page 15 / HAGAN REFERENCES Conger, John, J. (1977). Adolescence and youth. (2nd. ed.) New York: Harper and Row. Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York: W.W. Norton. Gilligan, C. (1982). In a different voice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Havighurst, R. (1948). Developmental tasks and education. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (1953). Human development and education. Essex, England: Longmans, Green and Co. Hopkins, J. Roy. (1983). Adolescence. New York: Academic Press. Kegan, R. (1982). The evolving self. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Kidd, J. R. (1973). How adults learn. New York: Association Press. Knowles, M. (1970). The modern practice of adult education: Andragogy versus pedagogy. New York: Association Press. (1973). The adult learner: A neglected species. (2nd ed). Houston: Gulf Pub. Co. Knowles, J. et al. (1984). Andragogy in action. New York: Jossey-Bass. Kohlberg, L., & Mayer, R. (1972). Development as the aim of education. Harvard Education Review, 42, 426-434. Lasker, H. and Moore, J.F. (1979). Current studies of adult education: Implications for education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Levinson, D. et al. (1978). The seasons of a man's life. New York: Knopf. Loevinger, Jane. (1980). Ego development. San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass. Martin, E. C. (1972). Reflections on the early adolescent in school. In J. Kagan and R. Coles, (Eds.), 12 to 16: Early Adolescence (pp. 180-197). New York: W.W. Norton and Co. Muus, R.E. (1962). Theories of adolescence. New York: Random House. Perry, W. (1981). Notes from lecture, Harvard University. Piaget, J. (1967). Six psychological studies. In D. Elkind (Ed.), Six Psychological Studies. New York: Random House. ___________________________________________________________________________ NEW HORIZONS IN ADULT EDUCATION Volume 2, Number 5/13/88, 16 - 22 ******* JUDITH GWINN ADRIAN is a doctoral student in the ******* ******* Department of Continuing and Vocational Education at ******* ******* the University of Wisconsin--Madison and Project ******* ******* Assistant with the Kellogg Faculty Seminar on Future ******* ******* Directions for Continuing Education. ******* *************** ********* PROCEDURES FOR WRITERS IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION: HOW TO MAKE YOUR PUBLICATIONS MORE CONSISTENTLY ACCESSIBLE WITHIN COMPUTERIZED INFORMATION DATABASES by Judith Gwinn Adrian Abstract: Educators writing documents or articles for publication in professional and scholarly journals desire to have their writing read and cited. Today, as a part of achieving this end, publications need to be easily accessible through computerized searching (online and CD-ROM) in databases such as ERIC. There are specific techniques for achieving this. The trend toward end-users doing their own computerized information retrieval and the implications this has for educational writers are discussed, and five hints are given for writers in the field of education: 1) having a clear and unambiguous title, 2) providing a narrative abstract or annotation, 3) citing authors' names in a consistent format, 4) selecting appropriate words for the title and abstract, and 5) furnishing an informative document title page. Introduction In adult education, as in other fields, we are feeling the effects of what John Naisbitt defined as the Information Society (Naisbitt, 1982). As increasing amounts of information are available to educators, the problem becomes one of access to appropriate information; for the writer, the question becomes, "How can I make the document or journal article or dissertation I am writing most easily accessible to all who will use it in their practice, their research, their teaching?" - 16 - page 17 / ADRIAN The Increasing Number of End-users Computer-assisted bibliographic searching is becoming a matter of fact for educators. Progressively, more practitioners and researchers are using existing database systems to gain access to information. The database producers call these people "end-users" as opposed to "intermediaries" such as information specialists and reference librarians. Dialog, the largest of the database vendors, surveyed their customers in 1986 and found that, of the 75,000 users, 85% were intermediaries. There were, however, 18,000 new sign-ups during the year, and 80% of that group were end-users--people doing their own searching (Summit, 1987). There are a variety of reasons for this expansion in the number of end-users. The availability of microcomputers and modems is a major one. Low cost, or even free access to databases such as ERIC on CD-ROM, is another (the entire collection of ERIC, updated quarterly, is available on compact disks through some university libraries at little or no direct cost). Further reasons for expansion in the number of end-users are the increasing variety and specialization of databases and the greater number of full-text articles available online. Full-text databases are more able to provide some of the answers an end-user is seeking rather than just the sources or citations that may lead to these answers. Ironically, it requires a greater understanding of the concepts of computerized searching to locate information in full-text databases than it does to search the bibliographic databases like ERIC which, for example, do not give users access to the complete text of articles or documents. Frustrations End-users May Encounter End-users are often unfamiliar with the use of controlled vocabulary and the concepts of Boolean logic used by professionals to search for information on computer-accessed databases. They may be frustrated as the number and variety of databases increases. Determining which databases are most appropriate takes time. In the field of adult education, documents and articles from education, psychology, sociology, business, medicine--to name a few--are pertinent. And, once the most appropriate databases for a given topic are located, a well designed search strategy in one database is generally not transferable to another. While some databases, like ERIC, use controlled vocabulary to index their articles, others rely on subject categories or other codes to index the writings. It is possible to search free-text in databases, asking the computer to search for specified words or numbers appearing anyplace in the article record (e.g., the title, the descriptors, the abstract). The results of such a search, however, are likely to be less comprehensive than the findings of a well organized search using the specific tools developed for each of the databases. Also, beginning searchers may not realize that many databases include few books or copyrighted materials in their collections. ERIC, for example, does not include commercial, hard-bound books. Additionally, copyright restrictions on some materials prohibit reproduction of the writings. Within the ERIC collection, l l/2% of their approximately 600,000 documents and articles falls into the category of copyright restricted materials. Such writings are selected for inclusion, however, when it is determined that they make a major contribution to the field of education. Reproductions of these writings, however, are unavailable through the ERIC system (telephone interview with Ted Brandhorst, ERIC). page 18 / ADRIAN Database Vendors are Working to Ease End-user Frustrations Database vendors are making changes that will assist end-users in searching. To encourage practice of search techniques, the BRS Colleague system, for example, now provides a reduced-cost, practice service on subsets of four databases in the medical and business fields. Online help is also available with this system as are the new feature of automatic searching for plurals so that, when the end-user enters the word child, chile and children are both automatically entered. A further example within the BRS system is the database, TERM, which lists "controlled vocabulary, synonyms for concepts in the social and behavioral sciences" (BRS, 1988). These sorts of responses to end-user frustrations will, I think, increase the general use of the online systems, thus allowing greater access to specific educational documents and articles. Providing Broad Access to Publications What components of the writing process can the writer control in order to meet the goal of being more easily located via computerized biblio- graphic or full-text database searching by end-users and intermediaries? CREATING A CLEAR AND UNAMBIGUOUS TITLE: Titles serve as the primary retrieval system for selection of relevant citations. An intermediary will locate articles or documents on a given subject and freely give the researcher a listing of titles. In most cases, a list of titles can be printed at a lower cost than a list of complete document/article citations and abstracts or annotations. A novice end-user is likely to search free-text, essentially requesting that the computer look for the designated words (whether these are descriptors or jargon or plain language) in all relevant fields: the title field, the descriptor field, and the abstract/annotation field. Again, it is likely that the first method used for selecting relevant articles or documents will be the review of the existing titles. A useful title is one that is descriptive and gives concise information on the article, often with further explanation or detail of the main idea in a subtitle. (Isn't it written some place that titles in education MUST include a colon?) Depending on the nature of the article (research, editorial, etc.), the questions of what, how, who, where, and when are often asked in the searching process. Those that are pertinent should be answerable from the title. A title which gives insufficient information or one which is overly innovative will not provide the necessary content clues and may, in fact, be ignored by the intermediary or end-user. John Dobson researched the problems of searching in the ERIC database for relevant professional journal articles on evaluation in adult education. He found that most titles could answer the questions, "What kind of evaluation took place, and how was the research conducted?" The answers to "who" and "where" appeared less often; "why" and "when" questions, on the other hand, were seldom answerable from the title (Dobson, 1983). page 19 / ADRIAN PROVIDING A NARRATIVE ABSTRACT OR ANNOTATION: The abstract or annotation is another crucial factor in the selection of a document or journal article. On most computer-accessed databases, these synopses expand--well beyond what can be obtained through reading the title and the descriptors--the information the searcher or the end-user has about the article . (Not all databases abstract or annotate their documents or journal articles, however.) The abstract/annotation should include a statement of the problem, procedures used, findings, and conclusions (as applicable to the subject of the article). Additional information, beyond that in the title, on what, how, who, where, and when would increase the chances of relevant articles being located by researchers using computerized, database-oriented techniques. Also, if there is an extensive reference section in the article or document, the abstract should mentioned it. ERIC writes 200-word abstracts for documents and 50-word annotations for journal articles and encourages authors to write their own abstracts which ERIC may then use, modify, or ignore (if the abstracts are judged inadequate). The chances are that any such author contributions will be used in one way or another (telephone interview with Ted Brandhorst, ERIC). The abstract for this document, for example, could be rewritten as a 50- word annotation in the following way: End-users often access educational reports, articles for professional/scholarly journals, and dissertations through computerized inquiry (online/CD-ROM). This article gives five suggestions on writing procedures that allow more consistent information retrieval: (a) clear, unambiguous title; (b) nar- rative abstract/annotation; (c) consistent format for names; (d) word selection; and (e) informative title page. CITING AUTHORS' NAMES IN A CONSISTENT FORMAT: This will alleviate the problem of missing some articles by one author because of variations in the use of a name. A search for writings by Cyril Houle, for example, will not necessarily turn up articles written by Cy Houle unless the searcher knows how to truncate the author's name (ask for various possible alternative spellings). Use of authors' names during computer searches is also an area in which the researcher does not have full control; the available databases vary in their criteria for use of authors' names, and some will even rewrite a name to meet the internal requirements of that particular database. (ERIC, for example, records personal names exactly as written on the document or article.) If you have a relatively common first and last name, you may want to use your middle name, even a pen name, to make your name more unusual. SELECTING APPROPRIATE WORDS FOR TITLE AND ABSTRACT: A professional searcher will use both descriptors and ordinary language to locate an article. A beginning end-user is more likely to ignore the descriptors and use the common, and possibly the faddish, language within his or her field. In the annotation example given under #2 above, the words or phrases, "online," "CD-ROM," "end-users," and "information retrieval," were specifically chosen for inclusion because they are currently used and, therefore, could increase the chances of this writing being located by someone engaged in free-text searching. page 20 / ADRIAN By using a limited number of "buzz words" and common terms in the abstract or annotation, an author acknowledges the dynamic development of language taking place in the field and provides one additional pathway for searchers to locate her or his writings. Those same words, however, will gradually become obsolete and ineffective as a method of retrieval in future years. Authors, accordingly, need to find a balance in the use of field-specific language to aid both current and future researchers. Language in adult education, and in the social sciences in general, is a problem for researchers who use computer-mediated databases. A search for training in terminal care, for example, will produce very different results in an educational database on computers than it will in a medical database. Or the word, system (meaning a plan or scheme in both education and medicine), has an additional physiological meaning in medicine related to body systems such as the circulatory system. When writing the title and abstract of an article or document, it is important to consider the various meanings of words within other disciplines in which your article may have relevance. Moreover, a significant number of writings appear in more than one database. ERIC encourages authors to submit suggestions for descriptors of their writings, even if the words are not currently used in the ERIC Thesaurus (telephone interview with Ted Brandhorst, ERIC). FURNISHING AN INFORMATIVE DOCUMENT TITLE PAGE: The producers of the ERIC database have specific information they hope to see on a document title page. The availability of this information to their abstractors allows the document to be more completely indexed, again increasing the likelihood of the publication being located in a computerized search. The specific information they request, when applicable, includes the following: a) Title/subtitle b) Author(s) c) Preparing institution d) Sponsoring agency e) Publication date (This is different from the quarterly, interim, or final report dates that would be included for a research report. If the document is a report on a contract, it should specify the inclusive dates covered by the report.) f) Report number g) Contract number h) Series information. Conclusion Adult educators need to be aware of the dramatic changes taking place in the field of information technology and of the ways in which we can use this technology to access a very wide range of publications for our planning, our classrooms, and our evaluations. Adult educators, even more than other professionals, must, I believe, be technologically proactive. We need to be involved in new technologies, thinking of how they can be innovatively used in educational situations and then acting on these normative ideas. page 21 / ADRIAN By consciously using the procedures for writers mentioned above, we, as writers in adult education, can increase our chances of being effectively located within computerized databases and thereby expand the audience for--and potentially the use of--our information, knowledge, and ideas. page 22 / ADRIAN REFERENCES Apps, Jerold (1982). Improving your Writing Skills: A Learning Plan for Adults. Chicago: Follette Publishing Company. Brandhorst, Ted (telephone interview). Director, ERIC Processing and Reference Facility, ERIC, 4350 East-West Highway, Suite 1100, Bethesda, MD 20804-4475. BRS Colleague Reference Manual (January, 1988). BRS, 1200 Route #7, Latham, New York, 12110. Dobson, John (1983). The problem of journal searching: The case of retrieving adult education evaluation articles. ERIC Document ED246- 176. Friend, Linda (1986). Identifying and informing potential end-users: Online information seminars. Online, Vol. 10, No. 1, January, pp. 47-55. Gaul, Kathleen (1986). Learning to search: How people become database searchers. Online Review, Vol. 10, No. 6, pp. 355-357. Goldman, Nahum (1985). Online research and retrieval with microcomputers. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: TAB Professional and Reference Books. Jezierski, Kathleen (1978). Writer's guide to publication development. How to get your publication into an information retrieval system. ERIC Document ED164-799. Bureau of Occupational and Adult Education, Ohio State University. Columbus. pp. 1-26. Kupferberg, Natalie (1986). End users: How are they doing? A librarian interviews six `do-it-yourself' searchers. Online, Vol 10, No 2, March, pp. 24-28. Naisbitt, John (1982). Megatrends: Ten new directions transforming our lives. New York: Warner Books. Summit, Roger (1987). Online information: A ten-year perspective and outlook. Online, Vol 11, No 1, January, pp. 61-64. Tenopir, Carol (1987). Online education: Planning for the future. Online, Vol 11, No 1, January, pp. 65-66. Tenopir, Carol (1984). To err is human: Seven common searching mistakes. Library Journal, Vol 109, No 6, April, pp. 635-6. ___________________________________________________________________________ NEW HORIZONS IN ADULT EDUCATION Volume 2, Number 5/13/88, 23 - 30 F O R U M ******* CAROLYN CHASE is a doctoral student in the Area of ******* ******* Adult and Administrative Studies at Syracuse ******* ******* University. ******* *************** ********* Note: The following is an exploratory paper written for a doctoral seminar concerning research and the nature of inquiry; it is not meant to represent an exhaustive literature review. Jerome Bruner's text, 'In Search of Mind,' was used as the initial focus for group discussion. FEMINIST METHODOLOGY:A NEW WAY OF KNOWING? Introduction In recent months, I have been trying to understand what characterizes feminist methodology, whether it can be distinguished from existing research methodologies, what feminist methodology offers to current conceptualizations of research, and how adoption of a feminist point-of-view might affect practice. This inquiry resulted from exposure: an audited gender course, a number of informal gender/sexism-related discussions, a brown bag feminist methodology presentation, a feminist scholarship colloquium. Although I had read feminist literature, I was previously unaware of the existence of a distinct "feminist methodology." I assumed that becoming familiar with the literature and participating in formal courses and informal discussions would provide answers towards (a) defining exactly what it is and (b) deciding whether or not it could, would, or should inform my future activities as a doctoral student or a practitioner. My questions have not found easy answers. . . . Do women have "different ways of knowing" and speak "in a different voice"? Do women students have different pedagogical requirements? Do (feminist) women scholars offer more appropriate research models? Are men excluded from feminist proposals for educational reform? I decided to - 23 - page 24 / CHASE use this paper as a means of exploring my own ambivalent thoughts concerning the impact of feminist scholarship upon research methodology. I have attempted to interpret feminist literature by a version of "inter-texting" and have used some of Jerome Bruner's recent thinking from Actual Minds, Possible Worlds (1986) to respond to feminist ideas concerning research paradigms and the nature of knowledge. From this perspective, I will examine several themes: knowledge creation and acquisition, qualitative and quantitative research paradigms, and problem-solving and problem-generation. Have Feminist Scholars Defined a New Research Paradigm? (Or Are We Replaying the Qualitative vs. Quantitative Debate?) Feminist scholarship examines aspects of women's lives which have not previously been brought to public consciousness. For example, historical revisionists attempt to account for the role of women by recreating accounts of our past, and equal rights advocates study the factors which prevent women--in spite of legal "equal opportunity" mandates--from achieving societal access on par with men. Women's domestic responsibilities, our access to skill-training and development, and certain gender-specific variables related to self- concept all contribute to an absence of "equality of circumstance" (Du Bois et al., 1985). Although a number of feminist writers use the terms, "feminist methodology," I believe they risk diluting very real concerns towards discriminatory social practices by reducing existing methodological feuds to gender issues. Reinharz (1983) suggests that currently accepted social knowledge stems from a male-dominated social universe, and because no theoretical scheme suitable for thinking about female experience exists, a "new baby," or a new methodology, needs to be born. She believes that the scientific method is not a logic but is, instead, a morality; new methods, therefore, become equated with immorality. Reinharz presents an "alternative or feminist" model which she compares to the "conventional or patriarchal" model. I am unable to see, however, a new, distinct feminist perspective; instead, a stereotypical view of quantitative, positivistic methodology is paired against a qualitative paradigm (for example, feminist research objectives are equated with development of understanding through grounded concepts and descriptions while patriarchal research objectives are equated with hypothesis testing). The contrasts are well-worn and lack any sort of uniqueness. Quantitative research seems to be presented as implicitly and a priori anti-feminist. For example, Mies (1983) asserts the political aims of the women's movement contradict social science's theories and methodologies and that if we use these old methodologies, "they will again be turned into an instrument of repression" (p.120). (I am again discomforted by the crude portrayal of women as passive victims, and I also wonder what this anger towards positivistic methodologies implies towards our trust in our own abilities to perceive and actively participate in the world.) Rather than discarding one mode of thought, Bruner believes (a) cognition should not be contrasted with perception, emotion, and all nonlogical and nonlinguistic faculties; (b) we should view mind as an instrument for producing worlds; and (c) these worlds are themselves stipulations couched in symbol systems. page 25 / CHASE Bruner says this view of the world transforms research, for we would no longer attempt to find an "immutable" world but would instead be capable of exploring the "myriad of realities" created by both narrative and by science. He does not cast his analysis in terms of qualitative versus quantitative research or positivism versus feminism, but his ideas help to disarm the overly simplistic dichotomy we have developed to distinguish paradigms, create "camps," or establish professional reputations. Why Are Some Feminists Anti-Theoretical? Cocks (1983) suggests that the most radical feminist students are against theory because of (a) the immediacy and practical urgency of women's needs and (b) the equating of reason with authoritarianism and impersonality. She says feminist hostility toward theory rests on a presumption that theory itself is problematical in a feminist context due to its assumed association with manipulation, intimidation, domination, and the evasion of feeling. Feminists disdain theorists' detached, abstract, analytical mode of thought in favor of a "preoccupation with immediate experiences" and a "predeliction for personal solutions" (p.178). Cocks, like Bruner, believes that reason and emotion are--and have always been--internally related. Why would women, while reacting against partriarchy, accept one of its most discriminatory cultural premises: Reason is in men's domain and emotion in women's? Bruner (1986) says it is "perilous" to look at intellectual growth only in terms of increasing abstraction, for the language of education cannot be an "uncontaminated" language of fact and "objectivity" (p. 129). Intellectual growth involves both reflection and "taking a stance," in Bruner's view. Feminists who promulgate immediate experience and feeling while rejecting analytical thought have accepted a false dichotomy. Furthermore, although the dichotomy between reason and emotion has been played out in our society's gender-arena, its genesis transcends gender relations. Kellar (1985) similarly criticizes the solution of radical feminists who reject science altogether due to its deep-rooted androcentrism: "By rejecting objectivity as a masculine ideal, it simultaneously lends its voice to an enemy chorus and dooms women to residing outside of the realpolitik modern culture; it exacerbates the very problem it wishes to solve" (cited in Kellar, 1985, p. 178). Kellar's proposed alternative includes the reclamation of science as a "human instead of a masculine project" and the "renunciation of the division of emotional and intellectual labor that maintains science as a male preserve" (p. 178). Paradigmatic and Narrative Modes of Thought Bruner contrasts two modes of thought. The paradigmatic is a top-down, theory-driven approach to reality which seeks an understanding of general causes and is regulated by a language of consistency and noncontradiction. This mode, which typifies scientific thought, is regulated not by empirical data but by a set of page 26 / CHASE principled hypotheses which Bruner describes as "a set of possible worlds that can be logically generated and tested against observables" (p.13). The narrative, bottom-up approach, begins from the particular and deals with intention, actions, and consequences. It seeks to apply "timeless miracles" to particular incidents, to "locate experience in time and place" (p.13). Narrative imagination leads to gripping stories and believable accounts; paradigmatic imagination, in contrast, is the ability to "see possible formal connections before one is able to prove them in any formal way" (p.13). Bruner cites Ricoeur as arguing that the narrative stems from a concern for the human condition and adds the observation that narratives must build both action--with agents, intentions, and goals-- and consciousness (characters know, think, and feel). Bruner further asserts that these two modes do not intersect. The narrative mode cannot "falsify" the paradigmatic, and the paradigmatic cannot invalidate the narrative (a similar analysis is offered by Jean- Francois Lyotard in The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowing).1 I wondered, while reading these descriptions of thought, if some feminist methodologists might futilely be attempting to falsify the paradigmatic mode via a more narrative-type mode of thought. I disagree that anything smacking of patriarchy or "male" modes of behavior and thought must be challenged and changed; I cannot so neatly separate and label the male versus the female. Reactionary stances become emotion-driven, as Cocks suggests, causing women to claim, as an attribute, the very limitations of thought ascribed by sexist thinking. Rejection of analytical thought weakens our ability to describe and explain discriminatory practices and to differentiate the good from the bad, the innocuous from the harmful. I would prefer to adopt Bruner's suggestion: Rather than asking "is it true," we should adopt a more powerful logic which asks "in what kind of possible world would it be true?" In other words, we do not need to prove or disprove one reality, one truth (especially by pitting emotion against reason, intuition against empirical proof, narrative against paradigmatic thought). Using reason guided by our value stances, we can employ qualitative and quantitative research methodologies in order to examine the nature of our existing worlds. We can be analytical without rejecting emotion, and we can be emotional without rejecting analysis and abstraction. Scientific Paradigms: No Longer a Simple Dichotomy Are feminists reacting against an already dated scientific paradigm? Du Bois (1983) tells us feminists do not separate the knower from the known, yet (male) philosophers and physicists have previously avowed this message. According to Bruner, in the mid-70s researchers began moving away from positivism towards a focus on interpretation and meaning. Much feminist methodology literature seems to overlook two facts: (a) a qualitative research methodology, which grew from the male-dominated academe, already embodies the very characteristics claimed as feminist alternatives and (b) even traditional, empirical, deductive methodologies have drifted away from the earlier, strictly positivistic paradigm. page 27 / CHASE In essays originally written over fifty years ago, Vygotsky (1978) critiqued both behavioristic and introspective science for their reliance on a stimulus-response framework which restricted study to lower level processes. He called for a new focus on developmental processes in which scientific analysis could provide explanatory rather than only descriptive interpretations. In addition, Vygotsky contrasted phenotypic analysis (concerned only with external features) with genotypic analysis (concerned with origins rather than outer appearances) and warned us that if essence coincided with outer manifestations of form, "[e]veryday experience would fully suffice to replace scientific analysis. Everything we saw would be the subject of our scientific knowledge" (p.63). Vygotsky continues to rely on scientific analysis to ". . . lay bare internal differences hidden by external similarities. . . . In this sense, real scientific analysis differs radically from subjective, introspective analysis, which by its very nature cannot hope to go beyond pure description" (p.63). Vygotsky's ideas emerged from male-dominated psychology, yet his essays concerning research methodology offer particularly useful information to feminists who are still struggling to develop both concepts and a linguistic framework for discussing the role of gender relations in society. The Feminist Scholar: A Split Existence? Spender (1980) tells us that since men have been viewed as the norm and women as a systematically excluded aberration, we must prioritize constructing knowledge about ourselves by deconstructing our oppression. Spender is a separatist. She believes that women have a different view of the world from men and that the two perspectives can co-exist, with no normative criteria for judging either as right or wrong. In addition, Spender stresses that women need to maintain control of newly created knowledge rather than succumbing to the pressure to join mainstream, male-dominated studies in order to become legitimized. Mies (1983) suggests women scholars live schizophrenic existences since they are simultaneously victims of oppression and participants in the privileged male academe. Because of this split existence, we must suppress emotions in order to adhere to the requirements of the competitive male-dominated academic world (neutrally gathering objective data, conducting value-free research with non-reciprocal subject-object relations, etc.). Mies outlines a feminist research methodology which looks much like a Freirian "conscientization" model. Her distinctly feminist attribute stems from her assertion that women are better sensitized toward the psychological mechanisms of dominance because we share the "inner view" of the oppressed and because men lack empathy and sociological imagination. I do not know if Mies' views are representative of many feminist scholars, but I have heard similar statements in discussions frequently enough to assume that she is not alone in her thinking. I fully agree that women have been neglected and/or viewed as aberrant with traditional, male-dominated scholarship, but I am bothered by Mies' conclusions. Why repeat the mistakes of positivism by generalizing and stereotyping one-half of humanity? What makes the girls who grew up at the yacht club automatically sensitive to the lives of black ghetto youth, to the needs of illiterate and unemployed adults, or even to gender-specific issues, such as childrearing in page 28 / CHASE Third World populations? And, how do we know that those who have access to print (in most cases the privileged, educated elite) can speak for all women? Language: How Do We Analyze Oppression Via a Sexist Tool? If we assume that language itself shapes our thoughts and our investigations, how do we escape our linguistic heritage in order to explore gender relations? Calloway (1981) raises a disturbing question: How do we find--using the very language which expresses sexism--an authentic form of expression for female consciousness and experience? This question also relates to Gilligan's proposal of women's different moral voice. If we, as women, have been defined and valued by men in relation to our roles as caretakers, the reification of a morality of care only perpetuates our male-prescribed roles (McKinnon, 1987). Again, how do we jump out of our cognitive and linguistic heritage in order to address such questions? Language, according to Bruner, is our most powerful tool for organizing experience and for constituting reality. Our mind's symbolic procedures construct the world (Bruner, 1986, citing Goodman), but these procedures are based in cultural and linguistic contexts (Bruner contrasts Piaget's "naive realism, which assumes an aboriginal reality, to Geertz' "irreducibility" of meaning, in which world-making involves transformations of worlds and world versions already made). Du Bois (1983) says "the distorting perceptual and conceptual lenses of patriarchy are the lenses through which we have all been taught to look. Removing them is slow, sometimes painful, and frightening as it opens eyes to reality-without-explanation" (p.110). Du Bois believes our language is still inadequate for the task of explaining the reality of women's lives; we need to develop words and concepts to name, describe, and foster understanding. Feminist scholarship must follow Du Bois' lead in examining our linguistic heritage and its role in our world-creating. Rather than continuing the male-initiated activity of dichotomizing or rejecting research methodologies, we need to understand how our most important and powerful tool--language--is, itself, shaped by a sexist society. In addition, we must begin to draw from the best of all traditions as we search for new modes of expression and understanding. Conclusion Some final thoughts: Researchers such as Belenky et al. (1986) criticize dominant educational pedagogy with respect to women's needs as knowers. These authors propose "connected teaching" as a means towards creating an educational atmosphere in which students are not objects for receiving knowledge--as in Freire's (1970) "banking" concept --but rather actively participate in a public construction of truths. They call for a problem-posing model, stressing connection over separation, understanding and acceptance over assessment, and collaboration over debate. Bruner describes education as a culture-making process, one page 29 / CHASE in which students are the agents of knowledge as well as its recipients. Learning is a negotiated and shared communal activity. He also says we know far too little about learning from vicarious experience and from interaction. Belenky et al.'s ideas make sense to me, but I do not believe that current pedagogy is appropriate for either girls/women or boys/men. I believe feminists should critically embrace both the narrative and the paradigmatic, the qualitative and the quantitative modes of knowing. We should examine "male," "female," and "human" ways of knowing, pedagogical reforms, and modes of thought. To do otherwise only perpetuates the arbitrary splits between emotion and reason, right and left brain, public and private worlds, . . . . In conclusion, I have not found, after this brief literature search, a distinctive feminist methodology, but I agree with Du Bois that one of our major tasks concerns language and that we need to create more adequate analytic strategies in the fight against discrimination and oppression. FOOTNOTE ____________________ 1 Lyotard, in his post-structuralist critique of the scientific mode of thought, says that our current lamenting over the loss of meaning "boils down to mourning the fact that knowledge is no longer principally narrative." He suggests "operators like development" are used to derive "scientific knowledge from narrative knowledge, as if the former contained the latter in an embryonic state" (p.26-27). Narrative knowledge is tolerant of scientific knowledge, as one variation of many, but scientists classify the narrative as "belonging to a different mentality: savage, primitive, underdeveloped, backward, alienated, composed of opinions, customs, authority, prejudice, ignorance, ideology. Narratives are fables, myths, legends, fit only for women and children (p. 27). Clearly, Lyotard would be set for an argument with Bruner, who accepts both types of knowledge. page 30 / CHASE REFERENCES Belenky, M., Clinchy, B., Goldberger, N. & Tarule, J. (1986). Women's ways of knowing. New York: Basic Books. Bruner, J. (1986). Actual minds, possible worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Cocks, J. (1983). Suspicious pleasures: On teaching feminist theory. In G. Bowles & R. Klein (Eds.), Theories of women's studies (pp.171- 82). Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Du Bois, B. (1983). Passionate scholarship: Notes on values, knowing and method in feminist social science. In G. Bowles & R. Klein (Eds.), Theories of women's studies (pp.105-116). Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Du Bois, E., Kelly, G., Kennedy, E., Korsmeyer, C., & Robinson, L. (1985). Feminist scholarship: Kindling in the groves of the academe. Chicago: University of Illinois Press. Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum. Kellar, E. (1985). Reflections on gender and science. New Haven: Yale University Press. Lyotard, J-F. (1984). The postmodern condition: A report on knowledge. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. MacKinnon, C. (1987). Difference and dominance: On sex discrimination. In Feminism unmodified: Discourses on life and law (pp.32-45). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Mies, M. (1983). Towards a methodology for feminist research. In G. Bowles & R. Klein (Eds.), Theories of women's studies (pp. 117-139). Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Reinharz, S. (1983). Experiential analysis: A contribution to feminist research. In G. Bowles & R. Klein (Eds.), Theories of women's studies (pp.162-91). Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ------------------------------ Cut here ------------------------------