Mattersburger Kreis für Entwicklungspolitik
an den österreichischen Universitäten
Sensengasse 3
1090 Wien, Österreich
T +43 1 317 40 17
E office@mattersburgerkreis.at
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Introduction
As collaborative and boundary-crossing forms of research, inter- and transdisciplinarity hold great potential to reframe and rename phenomena or problems that cannot be fully understood within individual perspectives. Nevertheless, a common problem within heterogeneous teams is creating mutual understanding of different concepts, perspectives and bodies of knowledge. Tis is particularly the case when tackling highly normative subjects, as is the case within sustainability sciences. In this contribution, we analyse the principles and practices behind Paulo Freire’s approach to literacy and explore their potential to develop integrative methods for conceptual work in inter- and transdisciplinary research. We identify three principles in his epistemology (words as generative, knowledge as dialogue and naming as political) and discuss how they address not just technical, but relational and political dimensions of conceptual work. We use the example of creating a joint glossary to illustrate how the principles can be operationalised.
Knowledge integration, mutual understanding, dialogue, sustainability, normativity
Thee article presents Generative Picturing as a methodological framework for transformative research. Generative Picturing integrates different elements of qualitative methodology with the visual medium of photography in a recursive and participatory process. Exemplifying the application of Generative Picturing in the context of the author’s research with a class of fourth grade lower secondary school students in Vienna, the article offers a practical frame and identifies lessons to be learned.
Generative Picturing, methodological framework, transformative research, participatory research with children/young people, lessons learned