Ollman’s Dialectical Method in a Critical-Pedagogy Study Elizabeth Visedo, Ph.D. Independent Scholar ICQI 2015 – Sat078

Bertell Ollman Professor of Politics at New York University Teaches dialectical methodology and socialist theory. Expert in Marxism. University of Wisconsin BA in Political Science (1956) MA in Political Science (1957) Oxford University BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (1959) MA in Political Theory (1963) PhD in Political Theory (1967) Authored Dance of the Dialectic: Steps in Marx's Method Dialectical Investigations Alienation: Marx's Concept of Man in Capitalist Society Social and Sexual Revolution: Essays on Marx and Reich and other books. Ollman, B. (2008). Why dialectics? Why now? In B. Ollman & T. Smith (Eds.), Dialectics for the new century (pp. 8-25). Basingstoke, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. Retrieved from http://www.palgraveconnect.com.ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/pc/ doifinder/10.1057/ 9780230583818

The Study Theoretical Framework: Critical Pedagogy Design: Multicase study Three cases Snowball selection Spanish-English bilinguals Classified Limited English Proficient high achievers: GPA > 3.01 Data sources (all online) Blogs Interviews Artifacts Purpose describe and explain the participants’ perspectives on their biliteracy journeys to become educators in the US Questions What elements constitute their perceptions Key factors Relevance of their experience to become educators Impact of technologies, if any

Ollman’s (2008) Dialectical Method Ontological Moment to perceive reality, “an infinite number of mutually dependent processes that coalesce to form a structured whole or totality,” (p.10) Epistemological Moment to organize thinking for understanding, “opting for a philosophy of internal relations and abstracting out the main patterns in which change and interaction occur” (p. 10) Moment of Inquiry to find the relations among parts, “where, based on an assumption of internal relations among all parts, one uses the categories that convey these patterns as aids to investigation” (p. 10) Intellectual Reconstruction to bring those parts back into a whole, “where one puts together the results of such research for oneself” (pp. 10-11) Exposition to explain the facts taking into account how others think and what they know and “one tries to explain this dialectical grasp of the ‘facts’ to a particular audience” (p.11) Praxis “based on whatever clarification has been reached, one consciously acts in the world, changing it and testing it and deepening one’s understanding of it all at the same time” (p. 11)

Application of Ollman’s (2008) Dialectical Method Ontological Moment Epistemological Moment Moment of Inquiry Intellectual Reconstruction Exposition Praxis Total immersion in the data Organization of the data Categorization of the patterns as representations Synthesis according to interpretation Member check and negative case analysis New data collection

Ontological Moment = Total Immersion in the Data Meticulous reading of blogs and interview transcriptions, and consideration of artifacts doing the transcriptions Familiarity with what was said, when, and how Attention to paralinguistic features back to the audio while reading the transcriptions paying attention to: Language choice Word choice artifacts Context and background Choice among others

Epistemological Moment = Organization of the Data Identification of emerging patterns Data coding Highlighting Color coding Comments Data-coding trustworthiness Triangulation of investigators Critical friends Auditors

Moment of Inquiry = Categorization of Patterns Emerging patterns categorized as representations of the participants’ perspectives Meaningful  expressive & potent Relevant  appropriate & applicable Useful  convenient & practical Triangulation of data, through Time Space Participants

Intellectual Reconstruction = Synthesis Researcher’s interpretation based on Triangulation of methods Multiple methods of data collection

Exposition = Member Check & Negative Case Analysis Interview transcripts and audio On-going interpretations Case drafts Negative case analysis Triangulation of theories Final exposition phase after saturation Exposition = Discussion

Praxis in the Study Methods Additional data from member checks Contradictions Ambiguities found in negative case analysis Exceptions Implications for future research and educational practice Praxis in Educational Practice and Research