becoming rhizome researchers – pdf

image links to pdf download

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shared in #rhizo14 group by Simon Ensor on fb.

1) Rhizome researchers start where they are (nomadic)

The life of the nomad is the intermezzo. (Deleuze & Guattari, 1987, p. 380).

2) Rhizome researchers listen to the voices/things connected to them (assemblages)

3) Rhizome researchers embed themselves in the lives of their research/students (plane of immanence)

the plane of immanence gives research a freedom to follow lines of flight and seeks to break free from objectifying people as we consider ourselves as rhizomatically embedded to the ‘other.’ Thus, we see difference as positive and not as a lack.

not sure this will be fully seen/functional if trying to fit it in a research/student mindset. like we’ve labeled ourselves out of pure thought/living..

4) Rhizome researchers develop sensitivities to elements/people that are not part of the status quo (deterritorialization)

5) Rhizome researchers search for research aspects that are sometimes ignored (different affects)

Practically, this could mean that, when someone is writing an essay-based dissertation, the subjects chosen for research are less prescribed and outlined chronologically on a timeline from the beginning and allowed to morph from coursework, reading, collegial interactions, and classroom placements. Receiving this affect would include the intentional openness to opinions outside of one’s own scope and purview and move a researcher in rhizomic directions rather than linear fashion, finding unlikely connections. Granted, this way of working might deter efficiency and challenge standardized bureaucracies and doctoral graduation timelines, yet the allowance for creativity and openness would positively complexify research pathways that follow the more traditional and representational and can get caught in stale repetition trying to resemble that which was before rather than re-envision something new.

if we’re speaking in these terms.. yeah – we’ll get to something new.. but perhaps – nothing natural/sustainable.. we’ll keep our focus within the box.. in a sense copying/replaying the same vision of success.. of what it means to be human and alive.

6) Rhizome researchers desire a life of becoming rather than copying what is seen (haeccity and multiplicity)

using research to expand and reform pedagogical methodology opens researchers to creatively linking pedagogy with research – a rhizomatic conversation between researching and teaching colleagues that can help shape research findings into pedagogical or curriculum ideas. The fear of missing something can be replaced with an exploratory sense that each day contains new opportunities. Teachers, who may become set in particular teaching patterns and entrenched curriculum paths, might become less content with “what they have always done.” When research becomes a rhizomatic path toward breaking binaries (between researching and teaching), the conversational act of resurrecting pedagogical ideas becomes a powerful educational possibility.

Third, building from rhizomatic conversations between research and pedagogy promises to revitalize educational practice. How might educational practices, for example, reflect rhizomatic research? In a rhizomatic world, there may be little distinction between a rhizomatic researcher and a rhizomatic teacher. Each day explores opportunities to try new ideas, to work in the middle synthesizing student interests and curriculum goals. Rhizomatic teachers/researchers can take steps towards giving some control, allowing students’ and teachers’ ideas to merge in ways that incorporate core aspects of required curriculum.

hard to imagine the encountering of nomad ship.. of rhizome…ness.. of d & g ness…to have seen our need to unlearn our man made constructs… and yet – still clothing our intent in ideologies that are a major (perhaps invisible?) perpetuating factor of the (man made) construct..

ie: pedagogical, curriculum, educational practice..

it seems once you get that we pickled/stifled ourselves up into an unnatural state of being.. that you would get yourself the heck out of that stifled/assumed/ mindset..

The beauty of these tools is that they are non-manipulative and seek to enhance educational flourishing by working against systems that can resort, if allowed, to power brokerage. Ideally, lines of flight can move students towards positive new outcomes in ways that might change a stagnant classroom to a place of expectation. Pressure to be everything to everyone is released, and possibilities for wider assemblages of contributors can encourage openness to new potentials. Perhaps the joy of research can be ignited when the responsibility to make things happen is let go.

and there’s the surround..ness. using the verbiage/images/propoganda that helps people believe/imagine they are set free.. when yet they are still being controlled (even moreso because it’s masked in – we’re setting you free ness) .. ie: use lines of flight.. in a classroom.. to move toward new outcomes..

is cheating (humanity) more the function (intentional or not) when we present ideas in formal settings (as credential), masked in free sounding buzz words (as persuasive/motivational).. yet remain staged in man made constructs of dependency/control/mindlessness..

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rhizome ness