John Schostak
I'm an emeritus professor of education at the faculty of Education at MMU.
For me, education is a process of challenging the 'schoolings' and 'public pedgogies' that impose values, identities and behaviours upon people in order to meet the demands of the elites, whether these elites are in business, government or 'welfare'.
Perhaps one of my key concerns is what seems to me to be a central global issue: the debasement of democratic discourses in all spheres of social, political, community and working lives. How do we as researchers, educators, professionals and in our ordinary lives increase the reality of democratic practice in all the organisations in which we participate?
I have been talking with the Co-operative College about potentials for educational and community change (http://www.co-op.ac.uk/). Co-operative forms of organisation and practice could make a real difference. I shall be talking about this at a key note symposium at the conference of the British Education Research Association in 2016 - come and join us! See: https://www.bera.ac.uk/beraconference-2016
More generally, I am continually engaged in research and publishing with the hope of contributing to the development of radical research methodologies that increase the chances of social justice and what Laclau, Mouffe and others refer to as radical democracy. I have over the years been involved in around 70 funded projects in areas as diverse as schooling, health, policing, health promotion, information technology, communities and business. The projects have included ethnnographies, case studies,multi-site case studies, evaluations and action research. They have ranged from small scale to national and international in scope. I am always on the lookout for new partnerships and opportunities to engage in research and publication.
Funders have included: Economic and Social Research Council; European Union; English National Board for Nursing and Midwifery and Health Visiting; AERC. For more detailed information see my cv.
For me, education is a process of challenging the 'schoolings' and 'public pedgogies' that impose values, identities and behaviours upon people in order to meet the demands of the elites, whether these elites are in business, government or 'welfare'.
Perhaps one of my key concerns is what seems to me to be a central global issue: the debasement of democratic discourses in all spheres of social, political, community and working lives. How do we as researchers, educators, professionals and in our ordinary lives increase the reality of democratic practice in all the organisations in which we participate?
I have been talking with the Co-operative College about potentials for educational and community change (http://www.co-op.ac.uk/). Co-operative forms of organisation and practice could make a real difference. I shall be talking about this at a key note symposium at the conference of the British Education Research Association in 2016 - come and join us! See: https://www.bera.ac.uk/beraconference-2016
More generally, I am continually engaged in research and publishing with the hope of contributing to the development of radical research methodologies that increase the chances of social justice and what Laclau, Mouffe and others refer to as radical democracy. I have over the years been involved in around 70 funded projects in areas as diverse as schooling, health, policing, health promotion, information technology, communities and business. The projects have included ethnnographies, case studies,multi-site case studies, evaluations and action research. They have ranged from small scale to national and international in scope. I am always on the lookout for new partnerships and opportunities to engage in research and publication.
Funders have included: Economic and Social Research Council; European Union; English National Board for Nursing and Midwifery and Health Visiting; AERC. For more detailed information see my cv.
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Books by John Schostak
Schostak, J. F. (1983) 'Making and Breaking Lies in a Pastoral Care Context' Research in Education, No. 30. 71-93.
The article was written following my experiences of having undertaken ethnographic research in a large comprehensive school.
It seemed to me that the issue of ‘lying’, what counts as ‘lies, the social functions and personal impacts was a much under researched issue in education at the time. For many years it remained one of the few papers on the subject.
Some of these themes were again taken up in my book of the time:
Schostak, J. F. (1983) Maladjusted Schooling: Deviance, Social Control and Individuality in Secondary Schooling, London, Philadelphia. Falmer. (reprinted 2012, 2014 Routledge Library Editions and 2014)
It seems to me that the broad theme of lies, truth and knowledge is one that needs to be revisited within the context of contemporary discourses of ‘post truth’, ‘false/fake news’ and indifference to the ‘truth’, knowledge and expertise. If education means anything at all, it should at least have something to say here.
Divided into two parts, the first part explores theoretical frameworks and concepts, presenting theory and raising issues and questions, while the second shares diverse examples of practice, renewing and reanimating the links between education, leadership and democracy, and providing models of alternatives. Studying a number of global developments that can be seen as potentially threatening, such as a growing inequality in wealth and income and the declining participation and trust in democratic processes, this text is at the forefront of international innovations in educational theory and philosophy.
A fascinating and vital read for all researchers and students, Paradoxes of Democracy, Leadership and Education considers the opportunities and challenges that are confronting and threatening education in the modern world.
I want to start with a couple of naive questions.
To what extent is leadership needed for a democratic life? Or to put it another way, what form of democratic organisation, if any, is compatible with leadership?
Then I want to end with a final couple: is democracy undermined by leadership? If it is, what can be done about it?
It provides an insight into undertaking qualitative research in workplace settings. Th substantive focus is on the experiences of practitioners reflecting upon issues of learning, competence and professional practice in a complex environment.
Radical Research introduces and draws upon leading contemporary debates and data gathered from a diversity of funded projects in; health, education, police training, youth and community, schools, business, and the use of information technology.
This book presents a radical view of research in a way that enables both beginner and the experienced professional researcher to explore its approaches in the formation of their own views and practices. It progressively leads the reader from discussions of case studies to critical explorations of the philosophical and methodological concepts, theories and arguments that are central to contemporary debates. In essence, this book shows how to design, develop and write radical research under conditions where ‘normal’ research rules apply and it offers a ground-breaking and proven alternative to traditional research techniques."
What makes the book distinctive is its focus on interviewing not just as a tool to be used within other frameworks such as case study, action research, evaluation and surveys, but as an approach to organise a project as a whole, to provide frameworks for organising perspectives on the multiple `worlds' of everyday life. It is argued that every project, every methodology, every theoretical perspective has its own rhetorical framework that interacts with the `world' as subject of study or focus for intervention. The interview, as defined in this book, is both the process of constituting and de-constructing world views ' it is the inter-view, the place between worlds. Without the `inter-view' no dialogue and no alternatives as a basis for difference, change, and development would be possible. The inter-view as conceived in the book is fundamental to qualitative research as an emancipatory project.
Research practice is thus placed in the context of philosophical, theoretical and methodological debates, taking the reader beyond many introductory texts, making it suitable for all students and researchers who wish to advance the frontiers of their research and engage with contemporary social and political realities."
I wrote the book in anger. I still feel that anger when I re-read it and compare with what is still happening today. What kind of methodology is required to make real changes? In the book, I try to answer this."
Research is fundamentally entwined with the political, the ethical and the legal. When it presumes the neutrality of method and ignores its radical roots of inquiry, it is in danger of being politically co-opted and ethically naïve. Research that reveals what is at stake politically, ethically and legally is typically open to accusations of being partisan and therefore political. It cannot avoid being political in the broadest sense of the word, and consequently the researcher cannot escape – through some mystical notion of being ‘objective’ – the political, ethical and legal consequences of undertaking research.
Research is vital to the construction of public spaces for debate, decision making and action. Hence, there is a close relationship between methodological practices, research design and the conditions under which violence, democracy and rights can be addressed.
Researching Violence, Democracy and the Rights of People explores what is at stake methodologically (both theoretically and practically) for researchers seeking to expand opportunities for people to become visible upon the public stages of debate, decision making and action, and thus make audible their experiences of wrongs and injustices, express their rights, and engage democratically in processes of change.
Drawing on international contributions and contexts, this book introduces readers to the complex realities of real research and the substantive issues that their methodological approaches strive to deal with. It will benefit undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as post-doctoral and experienced researchers across a range of cultural and social science disciplines, as well as educational and sociological researchers. Its aim is to explore and contribute to the development of innovatory approaches to engaging in research that make a difference in the lives of people.
"
Papers by John Schostak
Rich elites have been stealing democracy ever since the revolutions - America, France, Haïti - created the conditions for a rule of sorts by the people for the people. The contemporary billionaires have the joint power under Trump 2.0 to totally wreck and replace it. Is there still the will to save and develop a democracy open to all? What would it take? This pre-publication chapter contributes some ideas that are picked up and developed in later chapters of the book.
Schostak, J. F. (1983) 'Making and Breaking Lies in a Pastoral Care Context' Research in Education, No. 30. 71-93.
The article was written following my experiences of having undertaken ethnographic research in a large comprehensive school.
It seemed to me that the issue of ‘lying’, what counts as ‘lies, the social functions and personal impacts was a much under researched issue in education at the time. For many years it remained one of the few papers on the subject.
Some of these themes were again taken up in my book of the time:
Schostak, J. F. (1983) Maladjusted Schooling: Deviance, Social Control and Individuality in Secondary Schooling, London, Philadelphia. Falmer. (reprinted 2012, 2014 Routledge Library Editions and 2014)
It seems to me that the broad theme of lies, truth and knowledge is one that needs to be revisited within the context of contemporary discourses of ‘post truth’, ‘false/fake news’ and indifference to the ‘truth’, knowledge and expertise. If education means anything at all, it should at least have something to say here.
Divided into two parts, the first part explores theoretical frameworks and concepts, presenting theory and raising issues and questions, while the second shares diverse examples of practice, renewing and reanimating the links between education, leadership and democracy, and providing models of alternatives. Studying a number of global developments that can be seen as potentially threatening, such as a growing inequality in wealth and income and the declining participation and trust in democratic processes, this text is at the forefront of international innovations in educational theory and philosophy.
A fascinating and vital read for all researchers and students, Paradoxes of Democracy, Leadership and Education considers the opportunities and challenges that are confronting and threatening education in the modern world.
I want to start with a couple of naive questions.
To what extent is leadership needed for a democratic life? Or to put it another way, what form of democratic organisation, if any, is compatible with leadership?
Then I want to end with a final couple: is democracy undermined by leadership? If it is, what can be done about it?
It provides an insight into undertaking qualitative research in workplace settings. Th substantive focus is on the experiences of practitioners reflecting upon issues of learning, competence and professional practice in a complex environment.
Radical Research introduces and draws upon leading contemporary debates and data gathered from a diversity of funded projects in; health, education, police training, youth and community, schools, business, and the use of information technology.
This book presents a radical view of research in a way that enables both beginner and the experienced professional researcher to explore its approaches in the formation of their own views and practices. It progressively leads the reader from discussions of case studies to critical explorations of the philosophical and methodological concepts, theories and arguments that are central to contemporary debates. In essence, this book shows how to design, develop and write radical research under conditions where ‘normal’ research rules apply and it offers a ground-breaking and proven alternative to traditional research techniques."
What makes the book distinctive is its focus on interviewing not just as a tool to be used within other frameworks such as case study, action research, evaluation and surveys, but as an approach to organise a project as a whole, to provide frameworks for organising perspectives on the multiple `worlds' of everyday life. It is argued that every project, every methodology, every theoretical perspective has its own rhetorical framework that interacts with the `world' as subject of study or focus for intervention. The interview, as defined in this book, is both the process of constituting and de-constructing world views ' it is the inter-view, the place between worlds. Without the `inter-view' no dialogue and no alternatives as a basis for difference, change, and development would be possible. The inter-view as conceived in the book is fundamental to qualitative research as an emancipatory project.
Research practice is thus placed in the context of philosophical, theoretical and methodological debates, taking the reader beyond many introductory texts, making it suitable for all students and researchers who wish to advance the frontiers of their research and engage with contemporary social and political realities."
I wrote the book in anger. I still feel that anger when I re-read it and compare with what is still happening today. What kind of methodology is required to make real changes? In the book, I try to answer this."
Research is fundamentally entwined with the political, the ethical and the legal. When it presumes the neutrality of method and ignores its radical roots of inquiry, it is in danger of being politically co-opted and ethically naïve. Research that reveals what is at stake politically, ethically and legally is typically open to accusations of being partisan and therefore political. It cannot avoid being political in the broadest sense of the word, and consequently the researcher cannot escape – through some mystical notion of being ‘objective’ – the political, ethical and legal consequences of undertaking research.
Research is vital to the construction of public spaces for debate, decision making and action. Hence, there is a close relationship between methodological practices, research design and the conditions under which violence, democracy and rights can be addressed.
Researching Violence, Democracy and the Rights of People explores what is at stake methodologically (both theoretically and practically) for researchers seeking to expand opportunities for people to become visible upon the public stages of debate, decision making and action, and thus make audible their experiences of wrongs and injustices, express their rights, and engage democratically in processes of change.
Drawing on international contributions and contexts, this book introduces readers to the complex realities of real research and the substantive issues that their methodological approaches strive to deal with. It will benefit undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as post-doctoral and experienced researchers across a range of cultural and social science disciplines, as well as educational and sociological researchers. Its aim is to explore and contribute to the development of innovatory approaches to engaging in research that make a difference in the lives of people.
"
Rich elites have been stealing democracy ever since the revolutions - America, France, Haïti - created the conditions for a rule of sorts by the people for the people. The contemporary billionaires have the joint power under Trump 2.0 to totally wreck and replace it. Is there still the will to save and develop a democracy open to all? What would it take? This pre-publication chapter contributes some ideas that are picked up and developed in later chapters of the book.
It was first developed for a masters degree course and is presented here, substantially extended, as a way of thinking through some issues that assignment, masters, doctoral students often face when preparing to write up their research. They should be read in conjunction with other books and guides on research and in discussion with friends, colleagues and supervisors. It is to be stressed again, the checklist in no way represents a recipe for doing or writing up research, nor does it provide a model to be slavishly followed. The quality of the research and how it is written up is down to the work, the creativity, imagination and careful reasoning of the thesis/dissertation writer. I hope the following helps the process.
Schostak, J. F. (1986) Schooling the Violent Imagination, London, New York. Routledge and Kegan Paul. Republished 2021. https://www.routledge.com/Schooling-the-Violent-Imagination/Schostak/p/book/9780367441494
This earlier paper contains extended versions of the data and details of methods.
Is it possible, methodologically, to liberate care from patriarchal gender positions? If so, what would an educational ethnography look like that could do this?
The paper will draw upon work in a range of projects in nursing, midwifery, schooling and other ‘caring’ agencies.
Divided into two parts, the first part explores theoretical frameworks and concepts, presenting theory and raising issues and questions, while the second shares diverse examples of practice, renewing and reanimating the links between education, leadership and democracy, and providing models of alternatives. Studying a number of global developments that can be seen as potentially threatening, such as a growing inequality in wealth and income and the declining participation and trust in democratic processes, this text is at the forefront of international innovations in educational theory and philosophy.
A fascinating and vital read for all researchers and students, Paradoxes of Democracy, Leadership and Education considers the opportunities and challenges that are confronting and threatening education in the modern world.
Should educationists in the 1990s just retire gracefully and gratefully from the scene to write their biographies and autobiographies? I ask this, only in part whimsically, because the real curricula in this age of mass information have been taken out of the hands of educationists by the great global systems of information processing, image making and attitude forming. The most powerful narratives in circulation that frame experience, provide grist for mass reflection, judgement, appreciation and reasons for action are part of a global industry, generated for reasons of profit, power and control not education. That reforms in education are made by politicians in the name of preparing for the life created by the economic challenges of the new world order at least points which of the two - education or political economy - is really the motivation behind the school curriculum. But this is old news.
So what's changed? Where are the openings, margins, gaps in the old structures that provide the possibility for alternatives? It is claimed that some changes, or at least some sort of a sense of the end of an age has occurred since the 1960s - or is it that a certain group of post-war 'baby-boomers' has reached the age of nostalgia and self-importance? This change, it is claimed is the sense of an ending for Modernism and the period we are in is to be characterised as Post-Modernist. The debate, if nothing else, provides some useful distinctions and issues for reflection.
Should educationists in the 1990s just retire gracefully and gratefully from the scene to write their biographies and autobiographies? I ask this, only in part whimsically, because the real curricula in this age of mass information have been taken out of the hands of educationists by the great global systems of information processing, image making and attitude forming. The most powerful narratives in circulation that frame experience, provide grist for mass reflection, judgement, appreciation and reasons for action are part of a global industry, generated for reasons of profit, power and control not education. That reforms in education are made by politicians in the name of preparing for the life created by the economic challenges of the new world order at least points which of the two - education or political economy - is really the motivation behind the school curriculum. But this is old news.
So what's changed? Where are the openings, margins, gaps in the old structures that provide the possibility for alternatives?