CONNECTING ACADEMIC AND NON-ACADEMIC LIFEWORLDS FOR ENVISIONING A TRANSFORMATIVE STEAM EDUCATION IN NEPAL: AN EVOCATIVE AUTOETHNOGRAPHIC INQUIRY

Abstract

From the early years of schooling, I experienced a separation of my non-academic lifeworlds (contexts of brick factories, Newari culture, arts-related activities, restaurants, and the entrepreneurial world) from formal educational practices (curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment) – a dualism that academic world exists outside the non-academic world of a

learner. Pedagogical approaches implemented by my teachers and textbooks prepared by so- called experts did not seem to be aware of my diverse cultures, contexts, and abilities. From

school to under graduation, it seemed that I was under the domination of the highly teacher- centered and one-size-fits-all nature of education. As a teacher, I also followed the footsteps

of traditional/conventional perspectives. However, there appear to be diverse opportunities in my non-academic worlds to support my all-round development. During my MEd in mathematics education and MPhil in STEAM education, I had enough space to critically reflect upon my and others' beliefs, values, assumptions, and ongoing educational practices governed by those un/helpful ideologies. Similarly, I happened to develop knowledge/skills regarding the better alternatives of education possibly governed by constructivist and

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transformative philosophies. In this regard, I see the integrative context of education that might be helpful to blend learner's lifeworlds and formal education thereby promoting the holistic notion of education. Thus, this autoethnographic inquiry aimed at capturing my painful and gainful lived experiences of my non/academic lifeworlds to bridge them to envision a transformative vision of STEAM education. To address some of the emerging issues of education, I constructed four research questions to cover this entire inquiry. Under the multi-paradigmatic research design space, I employed three research paradigms: criticalism, postmodernism, and interpretivism to carry out this inquiry successfully. Similarly, I used evocative autoethnography as a methodology and writing narratives as a method of inquiry. In this entire inquiry process, I was mostly guided by, but limited to, three grand theories as referents: Living Educational Theory, Transformative Learning Theory, and Knowledge Constitutive Interests. Moreover, I used crucial concepts such as Holistic Education, Research as Transformative Learning, and Research as Envisioning as referents in this inquiry. I divided this inquiry mainly into four parts. I developed the first part to address the first research question. The aim was to portray my lived experiences from my schooling to under graduation in mathematics education. By critically reflecting upon every perspective I presented, I tried to capture the conventionality or traditional contexts of education in the context of Nepal which might be an unhelpful model of education. I tried to articulate the one-size-fits-all nature of educationally disempowering practices and how they could lead to emerging problems such as disengagement, disinterest, lack of real-world applications of knowledge/skills, injustice in education and society. On the other hand, I explored some of the alternatives to those practices such as assessment as/for learning, constructivist and progressive pedagogies (e.g., inquiry-based learning), etc. which might be helpful to solve some of the pressing issues in education.

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I developed the second part of this inquiry to address the second research question to capture my non-academic pursuits which could be effective assets for an education system governed by the holistic notion of education. Presenting my personal narratives and

dialogues, I tried to advocate for culturally contextualized educational perspectives, arts- based learning as living pedagogy, ICTs as tools for innovation and empowerment, and

entrepreneurial learning as a pedagogy for turning ideas into actions for economic sustainability. Moreover, this part greatly emphasized on blending or connecting students' lifeworlds through empowering teaching and learning methodologies to promote the holistic development of a learner. The third part was developed to capture my lived experiences during my MEd in mathematics education and MPhil in STEAM education. The central aim of this part was to discuss my transformative shifts in my thoughts and actions regarding my personal and professional practices. I presented narratives, dialogues, and stories to depict my moves towards embracing practices governed by constructivist and transformative sensibilities. In doing so, I envisaged the possibility for a drastic change in education through the ethical implementation of technology-blended pedagogy, culturally responsive pedagogy (ethnomathematics, fund of knowledge, etc.), arts-integrated pedagogy, STEAM as a pedagogical approach, and transformative images of the curriculum (curriculum as experience, as currere, and as social reconstruction, etc.). These could be vital to prepare students with meaningful experiences and 21st

-century skills wherein a student is anticipated

to be capable of being a creator, developer, critical thinker, and problem solver. The final part of this inquiry aimed to respond to my fourth research question by portraying my vision of transformative STEAM education. I have developed my vision through semi-fictive creative imagination towards implementing the integrated nature of education. Under the interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary integrated curriculum, I

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developed my vision of STEAM education by portraying the future attributes of assessment, school, teacher, and student. This probably was my vision to balance the traditional and modern vision of education thereby seeking a better alternative to make this world a better place through education. In the midst of accomplishing this evocative autoethnographic endeavor, however, this is yet not the conclusion, I found myself a more autonomous and responsible citizen and/or professional who always seeks/works for empowering and inclusive changes in people and ultimately in society. Inculcating the transformative sensibilities by developing higher abilities, I found myself being and becoming an agent of change in my personal and professional contexts. Hence, this research journey has been one of the meaningful life achievements for me. Additionally, for others, this might be a turning point to join this transformative journey.