Engaging with Actor-Network Theory as a Methodology in Medical Education Research


Book Description

This book outlines a methodology based on actor-network theory (ANT) and praxiography and applies this to the field of medical education. Drawn from a detailed account of practice in a medical setting, this book shows how researchers in education and medical education can learn to work with ANT approaches and attune to different insights in practice. The book gives a detailed account of what actor-network theory can bring to research, through the investigation of social and material networks. The philosophical underpinnings of actor-network theory are presented as the basis of this emerging methodology, through an exploration of learning as disruption, practice as human and material assemblages, and power as regulated difference in worlds of practice. This is a qualitative approach for exploring complexity that does not attempt to represent or reduce but allows for unique insights into practice that might otherwise be overlooked. With a robust grounding in practice and professional learning and actor-network theory, this book will be of great interest for academics, scholars, and postgraduate students in the field of research methods and medical education.




Engaging with Actor-Network Theory As a Methodology in Medical Education Research Engaging with Actor-network Theory As a Methodology in Medical Education Research


Book Description

This book outlines a methodology based on actor-network theory (ANT) and praxiography and applies this to the field of medical education. Drawn from a detailed account of practice in a medical setting, this book shows how researchers in education and medical education can learn to work with ANT approaches and attune to different insights in practice. The book gives a detailed account of what actor-network theory can bring to research, through the investigation of social and material networks. The philosophical underpinnings of actor-network theory are presented as the basis of this emerging methodology, through an exploration of learning as disruption, practice as human and material assemblages, and power as regulated difference in worlds of practice. This is a qualitative approach for exploring complexity that does not attempt to represent or reduce but allows for unique insights into practice that might otherwise be overlooked. With a robust grounding in practice and professional learning and actor-network theory, this book will be of great interest for academics, scholars, and postgraduate students in the field of research methods and medical education.




Working with Uncertainty for Educational Change


Book Description

Working with Uncertainty for Educational Change explores the liberating possibilities for those who seek to embrace existing research into uncertainty and complexity at diverse levels in the world of education. The lives of education professionals are built upon a multitude of decision-making events that frame each working day. With a range of expert contributors, this insightful book brings together varied perspectives on the nature of complexity within educational contexts, focusing particularly on the emotional work involved in change. Organised into two major parts, its first part focuses on the intellectual challenge of thinking about uncertainty by exploring the dominant discourses of certainty in the field of education. The second part, on the other hand, considers how we can embrace uncertainty within practice by exploring conditions that support reflection, agency and acceptance of ambiguity. Presenting themes on a wide range of educational issues including curriculum, pedagogy, equity, leadership and professional learning, this book will appeal to teachers, educational leaders, practitioners and researchers as well as students on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes with an education focus.




Handbook of Research on Social and Organizational Dynamics in the Digital Era


Book Description

Technology in the world today impacts every aspect of society and has infiltrated every industry, affecting communication, management, security, etc. With the emergence of such technologies as IoT, big data, cloud computing, AI, and virtual reality, organizations have had to adjust the way they conduct business to account for changing consumer behaviors and increasing data protection awareness. The Handbook of Research on Social and Organizational Dynamics in the Digital Era provides relevant theoretical frameworks and the latest empirical research findings on all aspects of social issues impacted by information technology in organizations and inter-organizational structures and presents the conceptualization of specific social issues and their associated constructs. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as business management, knowledge management, and consumer behavior, this publication seeks to advance the practice and understanding of technology and the impacts of technology on social behaviors and norms in the workplace and society. It is intended for business professionals, executives, IT practitioners, policymakers, students, and researchers.




Actor-Network Theory in Education


Book Description

Actor-Network Theory (ANT) has enjoyed wide uptake in the social sciences in the past three decades, particularly in science and technology studies, and is increasingly attracting the attention of educational researchers. ANT studies bring to the fore the material – objects of all kinds – and de-centre the human and the social in educational issues. ANT sensibilities are interested in the ways human and non-human elements become interwoven. Since its first introduction, actor-network theory has undergone significant shifts and evolutions and as a result, it is not considered to be a single or coherent theoretical domain, but as developing diversely in response to various challenges. This book offers an introduction to Actor-Network Theory for educators to consider in three ways. One mode is the introduction of concepts, approaches and debates around Actor-Network Theory as a research approach in education. A second mode showcases educational studies that have employed ANT approaches in classrooms, workplaces and community settings, drawn from the UK, USA, Canada, Europe and Australia. These demonstrate how ANT can operate in highly diverse ways whether it focuses on policy critique, curriculum inquiry, engagements with digital media, change and innovation, issues of accountability, or exploring how knowledge unfolds and becomes materialized in various settings. A third mode looks at recent 'after-ANT' inquiries which open an array of important new approaches. Across these diverse environments and uptakes, the authors trace how learning and practice emerge, show what scales are at play, and demonstrate what this means for educational possibilities.




Theory and Method in Higher Education Research


Book Description

This volume of Theory and Method in Higher Education Research contains analyses and discussions of, amongst others, disability frameworks, rhythms research, loose coupling, mixed methods, internet-mediated research, critical whiteness and selection bias




Doing Ethnography in Teams


Book Description

This uniquely in-depth book offers a blow-by-blow account of the sometimes problematic dynamics of conducting collaborative fieldwork in ethnography. Tracing the interplay between co-researchers at various points of contact in both professional and personal relations, the analysis draws out the asymmetries which can develop among team members nominally working towards the same ends. It details the often complex dialogues that evolve in an attempt to navigate conflicting interests, such as team members’ resistances to particular methodological ‘recipes’ or research protocols. The authors show that such debates can create an open forum to negotiate new practices. A key element of this publication is that it goes beyond an analysis of more traditional power relations in research teams comprising members at different academic pay grades. As well as drawing attention to gender-related dynamics in research collaborations, the authors use themselves as an exemplar to demonstrate how differences in age, experience, knowledge, professional skills and background can be exploited to generate positive outcomes constituting much more than the apparent sum of their parts. In doing so, the authors reveal the delightful, surprising and yet challenging aspects of research collaboration that are often absent from the qualitative literature.




Medical Humanities and Medical Education


Book Description

The field of the medical humanities is developing rapidly, however, there has also been parallel concern from sceptics that the value of medical humanities educational interventions should be open to scrutiny and evidence. Just what is the impact of medical humanities provision upon the education of medical students? In an era of limited resources, is such provision worth the investment? This innovative text addresses these pressing questions, describes the contemporary territory comprising the medical humanities in medical education, and explains how this field may be developed as a key medical education component for the future. Bleakley, a driving force of the international movement to establish the medical humanities as a core and integrated provision in the medical curriculum, proposes a model that requires collaboration between patients, artists, humanities scholars, doctors and other health professionals, in developing medical students’ sensibility (clinical acumen based on close noticing) and sensitivity (ethical, professional and humane practice). In particular, this text focuses upon how medical humanities input into the curriculum can help to shape the identities of medical students as future doctors who are humane, caring, expressive and creative – whose work will be technically sound but considerably enhanced by their abilities to communicate well with patients and colleagues, to empathise, to be adaptive and innovative, and to act as ‘medical citizens’ in shaping a future medical culture as a model democracy where social justice is a key aspect of medicine. Making sense of the new wave of medical humanities in medical education scholarship that calls for a ‘critical medical humanities’, Medical Humanities and Medical Education incorporates a range of case studies and illustrative and practical examples to aid integrating medical humanities into the medical curriculum. It will be important reading for medical educators and others working with the medical education community, and all those interested in the medical humanities.




Learning to Confront Ecological Precarity


Book Description

This volume presents innovative approaches for confronting environmental issues and socio-ecological inequality within Outdoor Environmental Education (OEE). Through experimentation with alternative pedagogical possibilities, it explores what OEE can do in response to ecological precarity. Drawing upon posthumanist theory, it focuses on the enactment of more-than-human pedagogies that foster affirmative environmental relationships while challenging problematic cultural perspectives. The 12 chapters explore various topics, including place-responsive pedagogies, environmental stories, new materialist theoretical insights and waste education practices, engaging with complex environmental issues such as species extinction and climate change in the context of OEE. This book provides practical examples and conceptual creativity to extend contemporary theoretical currents. It offers innovative pedagogical strategies and methodological insights for OEE. Researchers, students, and practitioners of OEE interested in applying posthumanist ideas to their work will find this volume most interesting.




Work-Based Learning in Clinical Settings


Book Description

The importance of learning in the workplace has long been recognised in clinical education, however the twin demands of the explosion in clinical knowledge and the changing dynamics of the clinical workplace have exposed the shortcomings of existing clinical learning practices and understandings of clinical learning in the workplace. There is a growing demand for conceptual and methodological tools that can help to develop understanding of the complex set of relationships involved in learning in professional healthcare contexts. This ground-breaking volume brings together the work of pioneering scholars of learning and is unique in providing a detailed account of socio-cultural theory in relation to clinical education. Work-based Learning in Clinical Settings clearly illustrates the potential breadth of application and the strength and diversity of research in this field. Each chapter engages with a distinct issue and follows a specific structure to present an extended case-based presentation of the research that explains the: .architecture of the concept or theory .application of the concept/theory to clinical education .methodological approaches used as well as the implications and limitations . understanding of the workplace clinical learning that emerged as a result of the research It is ideal for professionals in clinical education, healthcare policy makers and shapers, and postgraduate students who will find the thorough, innovative research enlightening.