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Philosophizing About Teacher Dissatisfaction: A Multidisciplinary Hermeneutic Approach

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Abstract

In this methodological reflection, I describe the multidisciplinary hermeneutic process of philosophizing about teacher dissatisfaction. I discuss how philosophy serves as a starting point for interpretive work based on interviews with former teachers and readings of qualitative and quantitative research on teacher attrition and dissatisfaction. The result has been a project that enabled me to offer new descriptions of phenomena and to develop concepts that can be used to interpret the moral dimensions of teacher dissatisfaction. The fact that I return to language and concepts as my research outcomes is why, despite my multidisciplinary approach, I continue to describe my work as philosophical. I suggest that philosophical enquiry pursued through empirical research has the potential to inform larger empirical studies, serve as a “sensitizing instrument” for empirical analysis, and to open discursive spaces where common understandings limit interpretive possibilities.

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Notes

  1. Lisa Morehouse shared responsibility for conducting the interviews. We conducted the interviews separately. I am solely responsible for the interpretation of data.

  2. Rosetta Marantz Cohen, a philosopher of education who conducts empirical research, pointed me in the direction of portraiture as I struggled to make sense of my methodology.

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Acknowledgments

Lisa Morehouse’s friendship and integrity served as inspiration for this project. I am grateful to the following colleagues who provided feedback on drafts of this manuscript: Alice Pitt, Jeffrey Pocock, Matthew Sanger, Amy Shuffelton and Terri Wilson.

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  1. Bowdoin College, 7400 College Station, Brunswick, ME, 04011, USA

    Doris A. Santoro

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  1. Doris A. Santoro
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Correspondence to Doris A. Santoro.

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Santoro, D.A. Philosophizing About Teacher Dissatisfaction: A Multidisciplinary Hermeneutic Approach. Stud Philos Educ 34, 171–180 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-014-9409-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-014-9409-4

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