Critiquing ‘Teachers in film’
April 17, 2020
The critical/transformative approach to research is the third major categorical type of research that we have reviewed as part of the current course in Research Methods and Designs. In contrast to quantitative (scientific realism) and qualitative (subjective/interpretism) approaches, critical/transformative research readily acknowledges that knowledge and research are not politically neutral (Cohen et al., 2002). Indeed, a primary focus of the critical/transformative approach is to investigate and expose the workings of power, with a goal of empowering and emancipating marginalized individuals. In this research approach, the investigator works collaboratively with research participants/co-investigators, guided by their needs and hopefully contributing to develop tools for their empowerment and progress towards specific goals that they identify.
In the article “Teachers in film: Always in process”, authors Claire Ahn and Carl Leggo (2019) draw on their own experiences and examine the influence of how Hollywood films portray teachers, and how these media may be informative in teaching training. After a brief review of their study, the authors’ work will be examined using what Tite, Yeoman & Doyle (2017) describe as salient characteristics of critical research, as well as four additional descriptors: contextual, value-laden, counter-hegemonic, and…
