Topic: Assumptions in Research

10-second review: Methods don’t come first in research. Examining assumptions does.

Title: “Examining Our Assumptions: A Transactional View of Literacy and Learning.” JC Harste, et al. Research in the Teaching of English (February 1984), 84-108.

Quote: “We went into our program of research assuming the young child had much to teach us about written language and the written language learning process. By reflecting our beliefs through the prism of the children we studied, we came to identify some of our assumptions and to challenge our existing dogma. We learned that methodology does not stand outside of theory, and that the assumptions we make limit what can be learned. Alter those assumptions and the potential for learning expands.”

Comment: I think this finding in a research study raises the question about assumptions in our teaching. What do we assume? About the nature of our students? About their backgrounds? About their knowledge? About the nature of our subject? What do we accept as dogma in our teaching? I think that, like these researchers, “the assumptions we make limit what can be learned. Alter those assumptions and the potential for learning expands.” RayS.