The Role of Reflective Practitioner Heuristic Inquiry in Institutional learning and Research

Abstract

In this paper, the author reports on a critical and reflective practitioner heuristic inquiry that investigates a case study concern a post-modern approach in enhancing institutional teaching and research involving adult learning.  In addition, the author investigates the research process itself and his own professional academic practices.  Of particular interest is that this paper offers practitioners and teachers a new way of thinking about and pursuing concerns about a foray into many different disciplines, among these are sociology, education, business, strategic decision making, knowledge management, organisational theory, and current critical schools of thought, such as the work of Michel Foucault.

The paper aims to bring out inner dialogues and open discourse responses in one-on-one interviews within a phenomenological, reflective practitioner methodology.  The author seeks to explain why these roles are experiencing increased interest in the nature of critical institutional research. This approach assumes that any learning situation has the potential to yield new ideas for enhancing the researcher’s learning, provided we do the kinds of thinking that opens up new possibilities.  That is, the researcher offers an account of this innovative thinking, suggesting a framework of questions, which practitioners can use, and then drawing upon their existing knowledge in order to generate new insights and possibilities for practice. 

One area of controversy between critical institutional research and the traditional research is the role of “reflective practice," which remains under-developed.  In this paper is explored the importance of reflective practice employing the term "living thesis paradigm" as a means of developing expert research methods.