The adult education literature offers little analysis and
understanding of the practical knowledge of the program planning
process planners hold and use. Rather, a comprehensive review of
theoretical sources revealed the widespread use of the academic
model, informed by Tyler’s rationale, which has yielded a linear
model of planning and a technical view of planners. By contrast,
the theoretical sources on practical knowledge and on curriculum
and teachers’ thinking pointed to the use of an experiential model,
informed by Schwab’s theoretical concepts, which has presented
planning as deliberative, and planners as creators and possessors
of knowledge.
The purposes of the study were to: gain an understanding of
the kinds of practical knowledge planners in a university
continuing education unit find useful and relevant to their
decision making in program planning; acquire a greater
understanding of the planning process from their perspective; and
develop categories for interpreting these understandings. The
research was guided by an interpretive perspective and qualitative
methods.
The study was conducted in two phases. A pilot and a follow
up study. In total, a purposive sample of six planners, two males
and four females, none of whom had pursued graduate study in adult
education, working in the same institution, were interviewed.
It was concluded that practical knowledge, which informs
planning practice, consists of three kinds of knowledge:
declarative, procedural, and conditional which stand in dialectical
relationship to one another; and that planning practice requires
that planners have and use all three kinds of knowledge. Further,
planning is indeterminate and contingent on the context and
planners’ knowledge. These planners’ practical knowledge
incorporates a framework of concepts, rules and routines or
strategies, beliefs, values, principles, and metaphors of practice.
This framework has implications for planners’ criteria of valid and
reliable knowledge, informal and formal planning strategies, the
ideological character of knowledge, and ethics of practice. As
well, these planners use a combination of planning approaches which
are directly related to the nature of the planning context and
their own capabilities. The contextual and problematic nature of
planning is made explicit. The study challenges the prevailing
assumptions associated with a traditional view of planning.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/7035 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Sloane-Seale, Atlanta |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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