Revisiting VET research paradigms: Critical perspectives from the South
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Date
2023-11-16
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Vocational Education & Training
Abstract
This paper reflects on a large multisite funded VET research
project conducted by a large and diverse research team.
Reflecting on two of our case studies, from Uganda and South
Africa, we consider both the need for broadening the VET
research agenda to incorporate more research on non-formal
sites of vocational learning and work, and the imperative of
continued critical reflection on modalities of researching the
formal sphere. What we offer is a very fallible attempt to open
up the debate about the future of VET research further through,
we believe, a critical reading of some of our failures as well as
successes in trying to ground our research ethically, ontologically and axiologically and not just methodologically. We advocate, where possible, a radical embeddedness of VET research in
communities, whilst acknowledging that this is applicable only
to some parts of a comprehensive VET research agenda. We also
acknowledge that employers and the state are also legitimate
stakeholders who should be part of research but point to the
need for a more critical reflection into the patterns of power
implicit in researching with/on these constituencies. We believe
that our reflection on our successes and failures in these two
cases and the project as a whole offers useful provocations
regarding ways of making VET research more reflective of
diverse settings, less extractive from those being researched
and more equal in the participation of members of the research
team from the South
Description
Monk_VET_research_paradigms_2023
Keywords
Participatory research, VET research methods, VET Africa 4.0
Citation
: David Monk, Palesa Molebatsi, Simon McGrath, Luke Metelerkamp, Scovia Adrupio, George Openjuru, Glen Robbins & Themba Tshabalala (16 Nov 2023): Revisiting VET research paradigms: Critical perspectives from the South, Journal of Vocational Education & Training, DOI: 10.1080/13636820.2023.2280972