Undisciplining Psychology through Pedagogy: An autobiographical case study of working knowledge

This paper is an analysis of my experience as an academic with a background in psychology (both general and developmental), and a scholarly and practical engagement with adult education. My purpose is to examine the story of my pedagogical practices as an academic engaged in teaching psychology to adult educators. In this story I identify two broad moves: firstly the move from disciplinary knowledge to applied knowledge, and to what may be termed "working knowledge"; secondly the move from the subject of psychology (and pedagogy) being regarded as the rational, autonomous, essential self; to the socially constructed self; and then to the relational self. Each move is depicted in terms of changes in: prevailing institutional values; the way the subject of psychology (and pedagogy) is configured; the relationship between theory and practice (or context); and the way competing paradigms in psychology are seen. I argue that practitioners need to constantly reassess their commitments and views in relation to changing circumstances, and that this is a key feature of "working knowledge".