College of Education doctoral and master’s students from Professor Cathryn van Kessel’s Advanced Qualitative Inquiry class will have their writing front and center in an upcoming special edition of Teaching Educational Research Methods. The issue will explore the application of various “research paradigms” to two methods of qualitative educational research: interviews and field notes.  

In addition to the nine graduate students, several TCU faculty will be featured: Gabriel Huddleston, associate dean of graduate studies, faculty affairs and strategic partnerships: Jo Beth Jimerson, William L. and Betty F. Adams Chair of Education; and Pablo Montes, assistant professor. 

What is a Research Paradigm? 

“You know, it’s hard to describe, to be honest,” van Kessel said when asked to describe a research paradigm in layman’s terms. She defines it as the combination of three assumptions of reality: 

• The epistemological element concerns how we know things. How is knowledge created? 

• The ontological aspect concerns what we can know. What is truth? Reality? 

• The axiological component comes from our sense of ethics. What are our values? Is what we’re doing ethical? How can we ensure we’re acting ethically? 

These three parts combine to make one whole: the research paradigm. It is the guiding principle scholars hold throughout their research to ensure the process aligns with their beliefs and values.  

However, this doesn’t mean that researchers always use the same paradigm every time, or that one paradigm is “correct.” According to van Kessel, the paradigm a researcher chooses to use is “based on our purposes, who we are and who our participants are.” 

Doctoral student Maria O’Conner gave an example. 

“Wisdom paradigms come from cultural traditions, like an indigenous knowledge tradition where knowledge is passed down through the community and culture. That’s where their truth and reality come from.” 

Giving Paradigms (and Students) a Voice 

Exploring and discussing research paradigms helped both van Kessel and her students look at research differently, whether it be their own or someone else’s. However, while all research is done through the lens of a paradigm, the intentional application and effects of paradigms often aren’t explicit in the research’s final product. The main reason for this, van Kessel said, is that a post-positivist paradigm has been the standard in academic research until recently.  

However, in an interdisciplinary research field, like education, a different approach may be necessary. How do you approach studying a multi-cultural population, where different cultural beliefs affect how participants view truth? Can you create generalizable truths from a small case study? Does the data come only from the words participants say, or should you take into account their expressions, pauses and other non-verbal communication? 

Despite the benefits that including research paradigms alongside data could bring to the field, it remains uncommon. To students who spent an entire semester studying these paradigms, the need for an open-source educational resource on paradigms was clear. Fortuitously, Teaching Educational Research Methods, a new academic journal from the Partnership for Open Publishing and UNC Press, was also seeking to fill this knowledge gap. 

“In the current landscape of educational research across paradigms and methodologies, there is clear and urgent need for scholarly spaces that both centers and elevates discussions on educational research teaching and pedagogy,” the editorial board of the journal recognized in the introduction to their first issue, published earlier this year. So when van Kessel contacted them about including her student’s research in a special issue, they gave an enthusiastic “yes.” 

The issue, titled “Teaching and Learning Qualitative Methods Through Educational Research Paradigms,” will allow students to add not one, but two peer-reviewed publications to their CVs: one as the solo author, and one in collaboration with the whole class.  

A Learning Experience for All 

“Thinking about paradigms has changed the way I think about my research,” said O’Connor. A very valuable perspective change as she gears up to start her dissertation. “Before, I was only thinking about the topic. Now, I’m putting more consideration into it. What paradigmatic lens am I coming from? Am I being critical about this? Am I questioning reality a little bit?” 

The students aren’t the only ones getting something valuable out of the course. van Kessel credits the collaborative, discussion-based experience with giving her more “explanatory power” when conveying complicated topics to students. Beyond that, she said, “It’s really helped me become a better mentor and better at explaining that research can look all sorts of different ways. There’s no one ‘right way’ of doing it, but we want to make sure that we’re honoring our commitments and honoring our assumptions kind of throughout our work.” 

-Melanie Stolze