What is "THE Truth? part 2

This semester, I once again realized the difficulty of integrating my Christian perspective and secular worldview. Especially shocking was that there were various perspectives on and interpretations of “truth.” Different “truth” translates into different foundation and starting point. There was stark contrast in foundation and essence between Christian perspective, which states that truth must be affirmed and discovered, and secular worldview, which states that truth cannot be affirmed therefore created. Of course, mathematic formulas and scientific theories may be able to create “truth” and prove its validity. Such truth, however, ultimately fails to appeal to all people and is subject to change. For this reason, I cannot call this “truth” a “truth” but an “agreement.” My idea of truth is immutable, the absolute standard of all things, and preexisting. It is “the truth.”

In conclusion, the integration of Christian perspective and secular worldview is impossible without inserting “faith” (acceptance against uncertainty) into it because Christianity and the secular world have entirely different perspective in essence and starting points. My concern with regards to this aspect is whether to use qualitative methodology exclusively to integrate Christian perspective and a secular worldview. The premises of qualitative methodology, which affirm mutability and relativity of truth, will beg more questions and eventually come to the conclusion that truth is in the “making.” Perhaps my goal as a doctoral student is to delve into this matter further and devise appropriate research.

What is "THE" Truth?

July 11, 09

Faith reflection:

Q1: How can Christian educators teach from the biblical perspective?

Q2: How can they differentiate educational truths from secular truths and teach them accordingly from the biblical perspective?

A few weeks ago, I had a chance to read Parker Palmer’s book (1998), The courage to reach: Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s life. In the light of my Christian educator background I accept most of what Palmer lays out in his book. However, his definition of truth is quite questionable. Palmer (1998) maintains that “…The less we talk about truth, the more likely that our knowing, teaching, and learning will be dominated by a traditional- and mythical-model of truth, the objectivist model so deeply embedded in our collective unconscious that to ignore it is to give it power” (p. 102). From the Christian perspective, what Palmer describes as truth by the special religious groups is mythical objectivism. He argues that such views act as a hindrance to embracing diversity, ambiguity, creativity, conflicts, honesty, and humility (pp. 97-111). In that light, Palmer believed that a subject in education has the potential to carry the truth (pp. 105-107). From the postmodernist perspective, what Palmer suggests and emphasizes in regards to the definition of truth can be understood by many educators and be applicable in their teaching and education related endeavors. Yet from a different light what Palmer suggested could be different from what the Christian view implies. Thus, my primary research interest lies in taking the views of many educators such as Palmer on educational truths and looking at them from the Christian perspective. How can what they claim to be true be made applicable to what Christian educators try to do in faith-based education? For me, the biggest challenge lies there.

 

Golden-Biddle and Locke (2007)- Ch. 1

Golden-Biddle and Locke (2007) discussed in this book research composition worthy of publication. The authors in chapter 1 mentioned “the style and practice of our academic writing.” Emphasizing the role of researchers as “writers, ” the authors pointed out the significance of reflecting upon the following questions “what do we write?” “For whom do we write?” “Under what terms will our writing be granted a disciplinary audience?” in academic writings.

Also, the authors emphasize that our research articles provide coherent stories that point to particular theoretical contribution. The knowledge in the article should be seen as true and significant by small and big groups of reviewers representing communities. And the authors finally maintain that the writing task involves four components: 1. Acidulating theoretically relevant insights gained from research and study 2. Identifying and shaping a contribution site 3. Authoritatively arguing the uniqueness and value of the literature’s limitations, 4. Characterizing academic storytellers.

Cresswell Ch. 11

Creswell (2007) shows in chapter 11 the model of analysis and the application methods in qualitative research methodologies using a narrative study, a phenomenology, a grounded theory, and an ethnography from the gunman case study.

What was most fascinating about the case study was the application of “phenomenology.” The author stressed the concept of psychological phenomenology in analysis. In the study entitled “The meaning of fear for students caught in a near tragedy on campus,” Creswell provided a brilliant example of phenomenology research using the following questions: “What fear did the students experiences, and how did they experience it?” “What meanings did they ascribe to this experience?” 10 students were interviewed to obtain responses to these questions. Then the procedures of phenomenology research, based on the analysis model of Moustakas (1994), on the contents of the interviews were demonstrated

Since January of 2009, I have undertaken extensive theoretical studies and interviews on phenomenology research and their analyses for qualitative research project. Through this experience, I as a researcher learned that phenomenology research sheds light on people’s various understandings, interpretations, and experiences of a single incident. It can be said that the perspective of the individual experiencing phenomena is the key to determining his or her understanding and interpretation. For that reason, I believe psychological phenomenology is an important analysis method of phenomenology research.