The Transformative Paradigm: Equipping Technical Communication Researchers for Socially Just Work

ABSTRACT

This article provides an overview of robust social justice work already done in technical and professional communication (TPC) to introduce the transformative paradigm, an action research framework articulated by Donna Mertens. Research articles in TPC offer examples of the axiological, ontological, epistemological, and methodological tenets of the transformative paradigm. Together with a measured discussion of the paradigm, this Methodologies and Approaches article responds to calls in TPC scholarship to articulate and practice methodologies resonant with the social justice turn.

KEYWORDS:

• Action research
• research methods
• methodology
• ethics

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Victoria Dickman-Burnett for introducing me to Donna Mertens’s work and to the anonymous reviewers and Dr. Walton, whose feedback was crucial in my efforts to usefully frame this paradigm for TC researchers. Extensive acknowledgements are owed to the scholars and their research partners discussed herein who continually seek better ways to build the world.

Disclosure statement

The author reports no known conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Johanna L. Phelps

Johanna L. Phelps, PhD, MPA is an Assistant Professor of English and Director of Technical and Professional Writing at Washington State University Vancouver. Her goal in researching federal policy, institutional infrastructures, and community engagement practices is to advance equity, equalize opportunity structures, and promote justice.