Multi-paradigmatic Transformative Research as/for Teacher Education: An Integral Perspective

Abstract

How can science education research constitute an empowering form of professional development that generates essential higher-order skills for personally tackling the global eco-cultural crises of the twenty-first century? In this chapter, we argue that graduate research schools need to provide a range of epistemologies for novice researchers to engage in transformative learning about their own professional practices. Epistemological pluralism involves multiple research paradigms – interpretivism, criticalism, postmodernism. We outline the characteristics of these relatively new paradigms, consider how their methods can be combined, and illustrate how one such hybrid research method – critical auto|ethnography – has been employed by transformative culture studies researchers. We conclude by proposing an integral perspective which is inclusive of all research paradigms.