SELF-MANAGED LEARNING IN OUT-OF-SCHOOL CONTEXTS

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Data Sample 6 - Interview: Preliminary analysis grounded in the data  

See 1.2 Specify Focus of Attention for detail of interview

This data sample was interesting not only from the point of view of identifying the Focus of Attention but also from the perspective of researcher-participant relations and the participatory design process. In this data sample, there are three participants: (R) Researcher, (I) Learning Mentor and (T) Learner. Analysis of the content of their conversation reveals the kind of roles adopted by each of these participants in the research process. The following concept map reveals the relationships in the process of identifying the Focus of Attention. The starting point is the Learning Mentor, who identifies a potential gap in the learner's learning context.

The conceptual mapping of the interview discussion illustrates the iterative, participatory nature of the design process well. The elements contributing to the emergent Focus of Attention are shown here in pink. As can be seen via the relational mapping, the gap is identified by the Learning mentor, picked up on by the researcher and responded to by the learner. The Researcher asks the Learning Mentor about existing practices around planning and then seeks permission to be involved. The Learning Mentor at this point invokes the learner who, in the self-managed learning setting, is the key decision-maker. In this way, both participants and research co-evolve the proposed Design Activity and Focus of Attention: a trip to the London Planetarium in relation to which the potential of digital technologies to support learner's learning will be examined. If we tabulate the findings from the interview extract, we can see these more clearly framed by the EoR Design Framework and Model.

In terms of the participatory design process (PDP) as we move through the interview extract, the negotiated dialogue between participants is evidence of the participatory nature of the design activity. The researcher, through her interactions with the Learning Mentor and the Learner develops further her contextual awareness of the research setting, its population, their practices and their needs. At the same time, she is a co-participant in the design process - facilitating their awareness of potential areas where the learner's learning might be supported and by what means. By integrating herself into the existing practices (community meeting as a site of planning activity activated by the learner) she reaffirms the value of participant input and role in the design process.

This data sample leads us directly to the next step in the Brainstorming stage: 1.2 Specifying a Focus of Attention