| dc.description.abstract | The thesis is about an action research project which had an emancipatory educational intent. The social situation in which this research took place involved people in a specific workplace. Because education is historically constructed, the process of education in the research was considered in relation to the historical background and prevailing socio-political, educational and business situation. The research efforts in this context were directed towards seeking "truth; not as an absolute category, but as a structural and relational one" (Giroux, 1988b:xx). Ostensibly this research was about my own practice. On the one hand, I wanted to examine traditional views of workplace operation in an educational context, and on the other hand, reveal new possibilities which would change my practice and the traditional approach to education that I was part of. In the process a practical learning experience for employers and employees, in a particular workplace, was set in motion. The need for this learning experience was identified by the people in the specific workplace and the attempts at change-action were developed based on the democratic values of equality; justice; empowerment; participation; responsibility and accountability. The primary focus of the employers (and hopefully the employees) in the workplace, was to produce profitable productive work, but one cannot work in a social and political vacuum. Ignoring the reality that a workplace was an area of accommodation and contestation among differentially empowered people was problematic. Issues such as culture, race, gender, economic access and educational opportunity were (are) highlighted in the South African situation and needed to be confronted Workplaces retreat into discourses of management and administration with a focus on issues of efficiency, control and results. It is a myth to believe a workplace can do without these. However, through this research I intended to alert people in workplaces that they need to develop a discourse which reveals the understanding of experiences by questioning, inquiring and reflecting on these experiences. As experiences become meaningful, alternatives and
possibilities for change, could emerge. It was essential that the existing discourse was approached critically, analyzed and negotiated in a process of learning that formed an integral part of all aspects of the company culture. All employers and employees would have the
opportunity to make learning meaningful to them and in the process understand the purpose of training and development within a structured education programme. The people involved would have the opportunity to experience and to understand where they are, where they were and where they are going to. Workplaces are not neutral sites and education and politics cannot be separated. The political nature of this process, however, was to be essentially democratic. This led to the challenging of power relations (between managemennt workers and management/unions) and an attempt to re-distribute power. A situation developed whereby barriers to taking the authority to be
responsible had to be removed if the disempowered hoped to experience a self empowering process. Conclusions that I arrived at in the process of this research informed me (and others) that empowerment did not provide an easy option in which managers would lose control. Empowerment increased the responsibility of managers and workers alike to act responsibly and be accountable. Empowerment increased
the responsibility of managers to be inclusive, participatory and to lead change action by challenging the situation on an ongoing basis. There needed to be agreed expectations and understanding between employers and employees. Both employers and employees were learners in
the situation as was the facilitator-educator acting as a change-agent. The change agent kept the process in motion by posing critical questions and encouraging reflection to enable the development of alternative possibilities and the development of a philosophical framework. All people in the workplace need to interact in order to unveil challenges and understand the realities of the situation they are in. In this way a relationship between theory and practice can be developed, with its origin in the experience of practice. Theory emerged within this experience and interventions were introduced on this basis of informed praxis. The differences, ambiguities and contradictions that were revealed in this research provided the basis of critique and enriched the learning process in this thesis. As an education process was developed in the research project the workplace was problematized and alternatives that emerged were seen as fundamental to the dynamics of change. | en_US |
