Across cultures, the phoenix symbolizes renewal, resilience, and transformation. In Living Educational Theory Research, practitioners embody this spirit as they continual engage in iterative cycles of researching into their practice to generate valid accounts of their living-educational-theories. As they do so they: renew their professional lives; enhance their educational influence in the their own professional development and learning and that of others and the learning of the social formations which form the context of their practice to realise its raisons detre with values of human flourishing; and contribute to the global evolution of knowledge for humanity flourishing as a benign presence in the world.
Publishing an account of your Living Educational Theory Research is not an endpoint but a point of renewal; the start of a new cycle of dialogue, critique, and growth. Each shared valid account strengthens the collective knowledge base of practitioners learning to live their values more fully and to contribute to a more humane, safe world where Humanity flourishes as a benign presence.
The Socratic Questions Project invites practitioners to explore and extend their knowledge, understanding, and practice of Living Educational Theory Research (LETR) through:
Enquiry: By asking deep, values-led questions about their work, practitioners clarify what gives their practice meaning and purpose, and how they can live their values of human flourishing more fully in their practice and help others do so too.
Inquiry: By systematically seeking to address and solve specific issues arising fromtheir enquiries the practitioner begins to move from speculation to productive action.
Research: By going further to research what emerges from their inquiries into improving their practice, the professional practitioner generates and tests the validity of their living-educational-theory and their account of its creation, and realises their responsibility to contribute to the growth of global knowledge.
Like the phoenix, each practitioner rises renewed through cycles of knowledge creation, testing and communicating to a wide audience. As they do so they enrich their own learning with values of human flourishing, the learning of others, and that of the social formations in which they work.
This section of the Evolving Treasure Chest of Living Educational Theory Research (LETR) resources invites you to engage in a phoenix-like process of continual professional renewal.
The Socratic questions are intended to help you deepen your knowledge, understanding, and practice of Living Educational Theory Research, generate your own living-educational-theory and create an academic and scholarly account suitable for publication in a journal such as EJOLTs (Educational Journal of Living Theories).
The questions that follow are organised by the sections of a research paper to help you move through an iterative process from early reflection to a coherent, evidence-based, values-led publishable account of your research.
Socratic Process
Contact Sam Kahts-Kramer for details of this project
Living Educational Theory (LETR) is an iterative process and as it is research, it is publication-oriented. It is a form of professional development and learning that is values-focussed. As you continually engage in LETR you will enhance your professionalism. By making accounts of the knowledge you generate in the process public you will contribute to the growth of a global movement of values-focussed practice.
The purpose of the Socratic question process is to help you develop your knowledge, understanding, and practice of Living Educational Theory Research (LETR) as continual professional development to improve your professional practice as you create a publishable paper.
Here are some tips to keep in mind as you move through this process:
- Draft quickly. Provide short answers, no editing or checking, just write what comes to mind.
- Periodically step back, reread, and refine, test claims with data, revisit and extend your critical creative engagement with literature, revise again.
- Notice change. Track how your values, practice, research and and living-educational-theory evolve.
- As you revisit sections aim to be increasingly concise. This will both help you to uncover the core and begin the process of meeting the maximum word count requirement of a journal. For example, for the Educational Journal of Living Theories the whole paper must not be longer than 12000 words, including references, appendices, etc. Refer advice to authors on https://ejolts.net/
Introduction section of your Living Education Theory Research paper
This section clarifies the context, purpose, and the emerging value that motivates your practice as a professional practitioner. To get underway try some of the following tips:
- Draft fast and messy! This is Anne Lamott’s first-draft rule. Capture the phoenix spark and polish later.
- Timebox 10 to 15 minutes per question (See Natalie Goldberg/Peter Elbow for inspiration).
- Focus on momentum over perfection.
- Gather data and write about where you experience or see:
- Yourself as a living contradiction and/or
- Your values contradicted by others and/or
- A tension in realising your values in the social formation that is the context of your practice;
- Meet with critical friends in short cycles. Share drafts, get challenged and supported, revise, and repeat. Keep in mind that Living Educational Theory Research an interactive process of dialogue and learning.
Research question/s the paper addresses
The following questions are intended to guide you in identifying the question your research offers an answer to. Whilst drafting your research question based on Living Educational Theory Research, consider:
- Starting with one clear value (for example, transformative participation).
- State one or two specific changes you will test in your practice.
- Ground it in your real context and name the key contradiction/s you experience/see.
- Say what evidence will show improvement (for example, more voices in decision-making, better learning, etc.).
Methodology and methods section
These questions are designed to help you clarify and communicate your living-educational-theory research methodology, along with the iterative, values-led, reflective, and relational process through which your research, practice, and values have evolved.
In this section you:
- Use multimedia narratives as necessary to communicate what you did, how you did it (the methods you employed), and why.
- Discuss how your value (as it developed through clarification and critical appraisal from critical friends) guided your choices, actions, and emerging understandings.
- Ensure that the quantitative and/or qualitative data provided follow the same validity and reliability criteria required for an evidence-based article write-up.
Results/findings section
From Pathway to Evidence (Results). Present neutral, auditable findings that trace how contradictions became change, grounded in trustworthy data and reviewed with critical friends. The questions in this section are intended to help you clarify what the consequences of answering your research question through the use of valid and reliable methods with critical friends. You can:
- Use multimedia narratives as necessary to communicate your findings, and include clear descriptions of observable actions, reported responses, documented changes, emerging themes and other relevant material.
Present data as clearly and neutrally as possible, saving interpretation and implications for the Discussion section.
Discussion section
From Evidence to Understanding (Discussion). In this section you interpret results through your values and the literature, showing how working with contradictions refines your claims and situates them in practice and theory. The questions in this section are intended to help you critically reflect on the previous sections and engage critically and creatively with relevant literature to explicate your living-educational-theory. Here you interpret your findings in the light of the values that have emerged though your research as giving your practice meaning and purpose, your research questions, and the literature to:
- Show how you addressed your research question(s).
- Explored and learnt from working with contradictions, tensions, and new insights as they developed.
- Situate your knowledge claims in wider theoretical and practical contexts.
Concluding section
From Understanding to Next Flight (Conclusion). Here you distil your core learning and contribution, name who learned what and why it matters, address ethics, and set clear next questions and actions. The questions are intended to focus you on the key points of your learning, the contribution your research makes to the development of educational, values-led knowledge and practice, and the implications.
Abstract
From Spark to Summary (Abstract). In up to 230 words, give the context and trigger, the value that emerged, the guiding question, methods and validity checks, ethical stance, and the changes your work produced – enough to make readers want the full paper. The abstract should summarise key points of the paper and should lead the reader to want to read the full paper. The abstract is refined as you progress and checked at the end of your value-based learning journey that it communicates the essence of your paper.
Title
Rise to Relevance (Title). In 10–15 words, name value, context, and change with strong keywords that entice others to read and learn from your journey.
Suggested maximum number of words 10-15 or 31-40 characters. The title is often the first opportunity a reader has to learn about your research. Include keywords to make it easier for a search to find it. It is best to create the title right at the end of your journey as you can capture the essence of how your value transformed you and your practice within your community setting.