Deborah Seltzer-Kelly

A Methodological Self-Study of Quantitizing Negotiating Meaning and Revealing Multiplicity

This inquiry developed during the process of “quantitizing” qualitative data the authors had gathered for a mixed methods curriculum efficacy study. Rather than providing the intended rigor to their data coding process, their use of an intercoder reliability metric prompted their investigation of the multiplicity and messiness that, as they suggest here, are inherent to work that crosses the epistemological boundaries of academic fields and research paradigms. Even as the authors developed a deeper understanding of—and appreciation for—the nature of quantitative rigor, they moved toward a more deeply constructivist view of the research process itself. Ultimately, the authors abandoned the neat study of intercoder reliability that they had envisioned and moved toward the present dialogic report to reveal and examine their process.

Decolonizing Vocational Education in Togo: Postcolonial, Deweyan, and Feminist Considerations

The Republic of Togo, like many African former colonies, has struggled to create a system of vocational education that will aid its efforts to move beyond the status of a satellite to Western economies. We incorporate postcolonial, Deweyan and feminist perspectives to understand how lingering colonialism and neo-colonial forces have hampered reform efforts in one postsecondary vocational program, and have posed a special challenge to the women who comprise the majority of its students. We argue that deeper attention to Deweyan principles for critical thought, in conjunction with consideration for local settings, is vital to meaningful and democratizing reform.