Personal epistemologies of higher education faculty members in soft disciplines: conceptualizations, enactments, and the educational implications

ABSTRACT

This study sought to probe into higher education faculty members' personal epistemology. The participants were faculty members in soft disciplines from Iranian universities. A qualitative thematic study was carried out. Also, the data were collected through interviews and observations, and were analyzed using thematic analysis. Four themes were identified: complex and diverse knowledges, negotiated and dialogical knowing, an open curriculum, and a process-oriented pedagogy. Contrary to expectations, the findings indicated that the participants were mainly multiplist, constructivist, and epistemologically relativist due to the nature of their soft disciplines, their backlash against a one-way and authoritarian educational thinking, and their striving for changing the structure of their educational system. The findings of the present study, which addressed Eastern higher education, showed that faculty members were encouraged to come into dialogues with mainstream voices as well as their learners to construct knowledges. Indeed, the participants called for a changing and learner-centered curriculum.

KEYWORDS:

• Personal epistemology
• faculty members
• soft disciplines
• qualitative research
• thematic analysis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.