Dépouillement du document :
Abstract ii
Preface iv
Dedication v
Acknowledgement vi
List of Tables xi
List of Figures xii

1. Introduction and Research Situatedness 1
1.1. Context Overview 1
1.2. Research Overview 7
1.3. Paradigmatic Orientation 9
1.4. The Geometry of Listening Differently to Difference(s) 11

2. How Did I Get Here? An Autobiographical Connection to the Art of
Listening 15
2.1. Don’t Be Such a Clown! 15
2.2. A Door to the Indigenous World 20
2.3. Have You Ever Noticed the Many Faces of Mathematics? 22

3. Setting the Stage: What Have People Been Studying and Saying About It? 24
3.1. Research and Literature on Listening 25
3.2. What Limits and What Supports Listening Approaches in Education
According to a Review in the Literature 34

4. Round-Table Conversations: Theorizing the Practice of Listening 43
4.1. Theoretical Framework 43

4.2. Educating the Heart, Mind, Body, and Spirit 44
4.3. Educating Through Relationality, Vulnerability, and Cooperation 50
4.4. Educating for Other Possible Worlds 60
4.5. The Role of Silence in Listening 68
4.6. Story time: What Have I Un/learned, then? 74

5. Methodology and Axiology: a Framework for Beyond Common Sense
Listening 76
5.1. Quick Recap: Theoretical Attunements in a short breath 76
5.1.1. To my Knowledge, What Represents a Critical Lens in this
Research? 76
5.1.2. To my Knowledge, What Represents a Traditional Indigenous
Lens in this Research? 77
5.1.3. To my Knowledge, What Represents a Clown Lens in this
Research? 77
5.2. Theory-Informed Listening Encounters: a Methodological Overview 78
5.3. Recruitment of Participants 82
5.4. Ethics and Other Axiological Orientations 84
5.4.1. Naming Participants: an Ethical Consideration 85
5.5. Methods for Assembling, Gathering, Generating, Feeling, and
Wondering (with and about) Data 86
5.6. The Data Analysis Rollercoaster 91
5.7. Story time: What Have I Un/learned, then? 97

6. Analyzing Data Through Wondering: a Journey Undergirded by Listening 99
6.1. Listening for the Plot(s) 100
6.2. I-Stories 108
6.3. Listening for Critical Voices 112
6.4. Story time: What Have I Un/learned, then? 120

7. Listening-Based Pedagogies: What is Still Emerging 125
7.1. Further Explorations on Listening 128
7.2. Listening-Based Pedagogies: Is There a Link Between Beyond CommonSense Listening and Fruitful Relationships in Educational Contexts? 132
7.3. Story-Listening as a Way of Researching, Teaching and Learning 135
7.4. Possibilities Not-Yet-Explored 143
7.5. Story time: What Have I Un/learned, then? 147

References 150
Appendices 165
Appendix A - Individual conversation inspiring prompts 165
Appendix B - Playful encounters insights 166
Appendix C - Focus group dialogical topics 170
Appendix D - Expectations and Reciprocity to School Districts 171
Appendix E - Slides Used to Clarify Some of this Study’s Main Ideas
(During Master Thesis’ defense) 173

Résumé :
This transparadigmatic study is driven by the guiding curiosity what could a listening based pedagogy entail? in addition to other research questions derived from it. The universe in which this project lives proposes a recognition of more-than-human voices and agency, wondering with(in) phenomena from which data may emerge and glow, and where epistemology emerges concurrently with ontology (knowing, doing, and being are inseparable).

The listening approaches selected for this research attend to relationality, silence, holism, culturally responsive practices, critical consciousness, future-oriented perspectives, vulnerability, collaboration, and playfulness. That way, listening becomes crucial in teaching and researching practices that work against single stories and other consequences of Western-oriented education. Also, how we listen to and engage with stories in educational environments are also dependent on power dynamics (and related to our endeavor to recognize these unbalanced structures and connections). Thus, this study advocates for the fluidity of knowledge as well as for the impact that varied forms of listening might have on accountable, reciprocal, and equitable relationships, which can support schools to become places where not only space but also power is shared.

The Critical + Indigenous + Clown (CIC) theoretical framework of this study comprises three main listening approaches: Dunker and Thebas’ (2019) active + playful listening—which encourages cooperation over competition; Davis’ (1996) hermeneutic listening—which is fractal-shaped and attempts to defy the taken–for-granted future; and Tupi’s seven types of listening (Werá, 2016)—which resonates with Archibald’s (2008) holistic education.

I designed the methodology of this research supported by the CIC theories. My goals were to create a respectful gathering for welcoming more-than-human affordances, to co-construct relational and reciprocal knowledge, and to promote self- and other-awareness through vulnerabilities and openness. The uniqueness of this research is this: if the content might not be unprecedented, the approach stands out as completely different from all of the previous ones. By braiding Critical, Indigenous, and Clown perspectives, I created guidelines, protocols, witnessing opportunities, as well as data analysis approaches that might support a new understanding of listening in academia and schools.

Regarding methods of assembling data, I designed three theory-informed listening encounters to listen to five secondary school teachers from Edmonton, AB. These conversations, alongside a constant ethical and reciprocal engagement, helped me create space for (self- and other-) contemplation and respectful dialogues about beliefs, hurdles, and previous experiences in relation to an education for reconciliation and for a culturally responsive future.

As a final discussion, I argue that due to its fluidity and adaptability, listening approaches both shape and are shaped by relationships and context. As such, they cannot be inadvertently relocated or replicated. It is not a practice to be scaled-up (scaling-across would be more relatable). Listening-based educational practices are certainly something to be shared and learned from one another, but they remain open to be molded to/by each group, context, audience, relationship and purpose.

In conclusion, I believe that listening-based pedagogies can promote a nurturing learning environment, where teachers can create opportunities for students’ voices to be heard and respected, where everyone has the sense of community, and where students’ culture is welcomed and valued as a key part of their learning. Furthermore, this study contributes to the assemblage of a story-listening way of researching, teaching, and learning.

Collection : Bibliothèque de l'École nationale de cirque

Localisation : Bibliothèque