Module 2 - Traditional and Alternative Paradigms

Question 1

What is positivism?

Answer 1

the belief that knowledge is gained through objective observations of the world around us; similar to empiricism (positivism = scientific method, empiricism = broader; applied to ways of knowing other than the scientific method such as qualitative approaches)

Question 2

What are the steps of the scientific method?

Answer 2

1. Choosing research topics
2. Constructing hypotheses
3. Selecting methods
4. Collecting data
5. Analyzing data
6. Interpreting findings and drawing conclusions

Question 3

What is the norm of rightness?

Answer 3

a defined norm, a standard of rightness and often righteousness that is used to judge all other persons and is backed by institutional and economic power/violence; the established norm does not necessarily represent a majority of the population, but those who have the ability to exert power and control over others

Question 4

What is hermeneutics?

Answer 4

the science of interpretation; the discipline concerned with the investigation and interpretation of human behaviour, speech, institutions, etc. As essentially intentional; Similar to what social workers mean when they talk about empathy and “beginning where the client is”; attempt to understand the meaning of human experiences

Question 5

What is the difference between interpretive and intuitive knowledge?

Answer 5

Interpretive Knowledge: many people question how scientific the social sciences can and should be and some social scientists are shifting to methods more often used in the humanities (the branches of learning having primarily a cultural character)’’

Intuitive Knowledge: based on a direct, nonintellectual experience of reality arising in an expanded state of awareness; tends to be synthesizing, holistic, and nonlinear; the gestalt, the whole/”big picture”, hypothetical possibilities

Question 6

When was the first wave of feminism, and what was its focus?

Answer 6

focused Primarily on attaining basic rights for women (ex. Suffrage); the 1848 National Women’s Rights Convention in New York was considered by many to mark the beginning of the movement; it was not until 1920 that women won the right to vote

Question 7

When was the second wave of feminism, and what was its focus?

Answer 7

the “Women’s Liberation Movement” of the 1970s; heavy focus on activism to enact laws against sexual discrimination, for abortion rights, and the unsuccessful attempt to rectify the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution

Question 8

When was the third wave of feminism, and what was its focus?

Answer 8

considered by many to be the current wave, more focused on personal fulfillment than on social change like earlier waves; celebrates women’s multiple identities in the world today;; many third wave feminists are young, born between 1976 and 1997

Question 9

What are the 4 major areas of attention for the Global Feminist agenda?

Answer 9

1. Economic status of women: global poverty reflected in the areas of educational opportunities, industrial development, environmental racism, employment policies, prostitution, and inheritance laws concerning property
2. Political rights for women: gaining the vote, rights of assembly, traveling in public, officeholding, the rights of political prisoners, basic human rights violations against women such as rape and torture
3. Marital and family issues: marriage and divorce laws, child custody policies, domestic labour
4. Women’s health and survival issues: reproductive rights, pregnancy, sexuality, and AIDS

Question 10

How does oppression impact both the oppressed and the oppressor?

Answer 10

once a situation of oppression has been established, it creates an entire way of life for those involved in it that is dehumanizing to all (the oppressed experience internalized oppression, or not having the ability to see the system as oppressive, and the oppressors dehumanize and violate the rights of others which in turn dehumanizes them)

Question 11

What does “interlocking systems of oppression” mean?

Answer 11

oppression in any institution directed toward any individual or group is connected with and results in oppression in other institutions and other many other individuals and groups; this is what makes oppression systemic in nature

Question 12

What is a dimension, in relation to paradigms?

Answer 12

How a paradigm is created; ways of knowing and validating knowledge, attributes, and ways of relating

Question 13

In academia, oppression doesn’t just mean “bad stuff”. What does it mean specifically?

Answer 13

The idea that there are differences in power held by different groups of people; applies specifically to groups of people who have had less or more power becuase of their identity in a historical and systemic sense

Question 14

What are the 4 main values/focuses of the traditional paradigm?

Answer 14

Positivism, masulinity & whiteness, competition (binaries and hierarchies), and privilege

Question 15

What are the 5 values/focuses of alternative paradigms we focused on?

Answer 15

1. Subjectivity, intuitiveness
2. intersectional feminism and anti-racism
3. valuing human differece
4. interrelatedness, interdependence, and mutual learning
5. understanding structural oppression and interssectionality

Question 16

What is universal design for learning?

Answer 16

A theory/framework that seeks to meet the needs of all learners, instead of the “average” learner (by targeting the needs of learners who are not usually included, everyone’s needs end up being met); guides the design of learning goals, materials, methods, assessments, and policies/curricula; developed by US organization CAST

Question 17

What are the 3 core principles of Universal Design for Learning?

Answer 17

1. Engagement
2. Representation
3. Action/expression