Today I attended a dissertation defense. Academia is a different world. They have their own set of rules and customs. I felt like a stranger in a foreign land. Yes, I'm a teacher but these were the PhD's, the administrative staff of a college...those that discuss pedagogy and Paulo Freire with ease...
I was fascinated by the entire research methodology and thought I could apply it to my own life. I began asking questions...a good first step for research, I think. Then I was flooded by questions, hundreds of self-directed queries about myself and the path I'm on...what have I done with my life, what should I have done with my life, where am I going next, when does my life really begin, who said I had to do what I've done with my life, how can I change my life, why do I feel dissatisfied with my life etc., etc., ad nauseum, it went on in my head for hours.
Following the design of a phenomenological study I found several central themes arising from the stream of questions. The themes were Who, What, Where, When, Why and How. Interestingly enough, those themes can also be my research questions. Now for collecting data and reaching a conclusion with a proposal for future research. Wow, will I then have a PhD in me?
3 comments:
"Wow, will I then have a PhD in me?"
It is just work. Hard, admirable work that submits itself to relentless criticism.
I have the relentless criticism part down...now the work!
great post...a vertiginous leap into philosophy...and then we wake to a new day and breathe.
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