Insights into pedagogical co-creation : an inquiry with post philosophies, secondary school teachers, and the reader

Abstract

The concept of ‘co-creation’ has been foregrounded by educational research and seems to be gaining momentum for policy-making. Scholars especially promote a whole-school approach that involves students in the co-creation of learning. When fostering processes of co-creation in schools, however, it is vital to enable teachers and the whole school to co-inquire into the significance of co-creating. To address this necessity, this thesis explores processes of pedagogical co-creation within the context of secondary schools.

The inquiry delves into the insights of educational theory that is based on post philosophies. This way, pedagogy, caring, and co-creating are conceptualised through an inquiry that questions traditional humanist assumptions and proposes a posthuman, non-individualistic, ethico-onto-epistemological approach. Specific research encounters and events involve six co-inquiring teachers, who articulate their understanding and experiences of co-creating within their own secondary school environment. The insights of theorists are then put into conversation with the insights of the co-inquiring teachers through an analytic practice that generates new and creative insights into pedagogical co-creation. Consistency with postqualitative approaches to research is pursued. The inquiry unfolds as an open-ended process of becoming with each other that brings more than human entanglements to light. The researcher’s learning process in engaging with postqualitative inquiry is shared and detailed, and the reader is offered relational possibilities of co-inquiring with this thesis.

Teaching, learning, caring, and co-creating thereby emerge as deeply intra-connected phenomena. The significance of inclusive, caring, and response-able educational spaces is foregrounded, along with learning approaches that are transdisciplinary, based on cooperation, open to relationalities with the world and to engaging with differences. Furthermore, this thesis carries an invitation to assess the possibilities of pedagogical co-creation that are imbued in every moment of relationality within an educational community.