Teachers' intuition-in-action: How teachers experience action

This article was downloaded by: [University of Calgary]On: 07 October 2014, At: 17:28Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Reflective Practice: International andMultidisciplinary PerspectivesPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/crep20

Teachers' intuition-in-action: Howteachers experience actionThorbjörn Johansson a & Tomas Kroksmark ba Göteborg University , Swedenb Jönköping University , SwedenPublished online: 18 Aug 2010.

To cite this article: Thorbjörn Johansson & Tomas Kroksmark (2004) Teachers' intuition-in-action: How teachers experience action, Reflective Practice: International and MultidisciplinaryPerspectives, 5:3, 357-381, DOI: 10.1080/1462394042000270673

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1462394042000270673

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the“Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis,our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as tothe accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinionsand views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors,and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Contentshould not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sourcesof information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims,proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoeveror howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to orarising out of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms &Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/crep20

http://www.tandfonline.com/action/showCitFormats?doi=10.1080/1462394042000270673

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1462394042000270673

http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Reflective Practice, Vol. 5, No. 3, October 2004

Teachers’ intuition-in-action: how

teachers experience action

Thorbjorn Johanssona* and Tomas Kroksmarkb

aGoteborg University, Sweden; bJonkoping University, Sweden

Reflection is frequently used and plays an important role in teachers’ work, but the concept ofreflection is not always clear. In this article the focus is on the (re)introduction of intuition inteaching. We examine and make explicit different ways of using and understanding reflection andintuition, concentrating on the essentials of the two concepts. The concept of intuition is knownand used all over the world. In this particular study, it is necessary to limit the historicalconceptualization to western philosophy and also to its use in Swedish philosophy and pedagogyin the twentieth century. The aim is to conceptualize teachers’ intuition through analysis ofqualitative interviews. Data is collected from 13 interviews with professionally active primary andsecondary school teachers. The study is carried out within the framework of phenomenology. Theprincipal methodological source of inspiration is Herbert Spiegelberg and the definite framepresented in his work The phenomenological movement (1984, pp. 678–719) With that as base, anumber of different items are adopted to describe and analyze the experience of teachers. Theresult shows that the concept of teachers’ intuition-in-action contains an extremely evidentdimension in the teachers’ work. This dimension is conceptualized in a qualitative area andorganized into the themes of the how and what aspects of intuition. The result also indicates thatteachers are more inclined to talk about teachers’ intuition-in-action than about teachers’reflection-in-action when articulating the practice of teachers. In the discussion we argue for theimportant content-aspect of teachers’ own experience captured in the concept of teachers’intuition-in-action. Using a stricter definition of both intuition and reflection their obviousrelation is discussed. Finally we try to highlight the necessary and integrated conection intuitionhas to teachers’ work, how it enrichens and widens the understanding of pedagogical practice andthe important impact it should have in teacher education.

Afterwards, you wonder where on earth you got that from […] if you sit down and wonder[…]

(Teacher in the study)

Every teacher is usually (more or less) well prepared for her own teaching, for longterm as well as short term planning. She plans the content of each lesson, the bestconceivable disposition, the best way to encourage students to learn, and the best

*Corresponding author: Department of Education, University of Goteborg, Box 300, 405 30Goteborg, Sweden. Email: [email protected]

ISSN 1462-3943 (print)/ISSN 1470-1103 (online)/04/030357-25 2004 Taylor & Francis LtdDOI: 10/1080.1462394042000270673

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4

358 T. Johansson and T. Kroksmark

possible way to make the content exciting and interesting. This takes place prior tothe lesson through pedagogical predictions, which later turn out to be right or wrongin the actual activity. In cases where the planning does not work, the pedagogicaldisposition is turned off, and the teacher has to depend on her practical andprofessional qualities. Lately many researchers have interpreted this sequence ofevents—by way of the so-called Schon tradition—as teachers’ reflection-in-action(Zeichner, 1984; Lauvas & Handal, 1993; Alexandersson, 1994a). This may be anexpression of an exaggerated expectation of what teachers are capable of doing, apedagogical desk product, a model which has been imported from disciplines withother professional realities than those of teachers.

Stuart Parker claims that the concept of reflection is used too vaguely in connec-tion with teachers’ work. According to Parker (1997, p. 30), it refers to thinking ingeneral terms. In this sense we can probably agree that teachers reflect when they actas well as when they do not. In a stricter definition of the concept of reflection(Bengtsson, 1995, pp. 23–32), it seems considerably more complicated to talk aboutteachers’ reflection-in-action. Is it at all possible to reflect in a professional work-dayas nuanced and complex as the teacher’s? Can you have dialogues, themes and/ordistance to the ongoing pedagogical action? Can you ‘freeze’ the actions of chalkdust? In previous studies (Johansson, 2000) and in conversations with teachers(Johansson & Kroksmark, 2000; Kroksmark, 2004), we have noticed that teachersare more inclined to talk about teachers’ intuition-in-action than about teachers’reflection-in-action.

It is possible to talk about teachers’ intuition in cases when it is identified byteachers in action. The question is what is meant by an intuitive pedagogical action,how this is related to the current opinions of the concept of intuition in philosophyand what implications it may have on teacher education (Schon, 1987) and theunderstanding of teachers’ practice. In this article we will describe an empiricalstudy carried out to conceptualize teachers’ intuition-in-action through analysis ofqualitative interviews (Fontanta & Frey, 1994).

The word intuition comes from the late Latin word ‘intuitio’ meaning ‘gaze,consideration’. It is built from the classical Latin verb ‘intueri’, a compound of thepreposition ‘in’, ‘directed towards’, and the verb ‘tueri’, ‘to see’. Gradually themeaning has extended to mean not only seeing with the eye but also with theintellect, that is to perceive, to understand. This is the basis of the philosophicalconcept of intuition.

The concept of intuition is known and used all over the world. In this particularstudy, it was necessary to limit the historical conceptualization to western philosophyand also to its application in Swedish philosophy and pedagogy in the twentiethcentury. We have very briefly described some of the questions the concept ofintuition give rise to, how the concept was treated during a particular historicalperiod, how these same questions appeared again several hundred years later andhow these concept was treated in philosophy and pedagogy at that time (Larsson,1925a). Despite this limitation the area is enormous. Please note that philosophyrelates to intuition in a general sense, while our study is directed towards intuitionwithin a specific professional area, primarily teachers’ intuition-in-action.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4

Teachers’ intuition-in-action 359

The history of intuition in western philosophy may broadly be outlined as in thefollowing extremely condensed version. Plato (428–345 BC) defines four kinds ofknowledge: imagination, persuasion, discursive knowledge and intuition. Throughintuition, knowledge is completed and the individual gains insight into the world ofideas which Plato perceives as the supreme kind of knowledge. In Bauch deSpinoza’s (1632–1677) philosophy, knowledge moves from experience, adequateknowledge over to intuition. The intuition results in an insight that the world isrationally organized, that it consists of a systematic entirety. Intuition goes beyondthe borders of discursive thinking since it with one single gaze understands what isessential. When the individual, by way of intuition, sees himself as necessary in thisentirety, he is filled with intellectual love for God. Friedrich Wilhelm JosefSchelling’s (1775–1854) system of thoughts moves from a simple sensation to a highspiritual activity. According to Schelling, this supreme activity appears in thecreative activities of the artistic genius. This artistic intuition is similar to theintuition a philosopher applies in his work. Even Schelling considers intuition aspiritual insight, a work of the soul (Aspelin, 1990, part II, p. 192ff). To Plato,Spinoza, and Schelling, intuition is a spiritual insight into the essence of things andthe essence of the world.

Rene Descartes (1596–1650) believed the individual receives knowledge aboutsimple, obvious truths through intuition. He considers intuition a spiritual insight.According to Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716), knowledge is reached if thesesimple concepts or truths are reached by way of intuition. Complex concepts andjudgements can later be built on this basis. In John Locke’s (1632–1704) philosophywe gain knowledge about the simplest relationships between simple ideas throughintuition. Complex ideas, on the other hand, require discursive evidence and haveto be connected to the intellect. Locke perceives intuition as knowledge about thesesimple relationships. To Descartes, Leibniz, and Locke, intuition appears to beknowledge about the simple and the obvious (Nordin, 1995).

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) claims there is a foundation of metaphysicalknowledge when while watching we are able to gain knowledge about ‘the thingitself’ in a direct intuition. While experiencing our own body, we experience anobject which also is a subject. As every other perception, the body is extended intime and place as a link in a chain of reason. We experience, however, that ourbodily movements are expressions of our own will. According to Schopenhauer, wecan understand that this will is our innermost essence in a direct intuition. Hence,we may conclude that other objects also are objectives of a fundamental will.Schopenhauer perceives intuitive knowledge as an experience of what can be sensedhere and now (Schopenhauer, 1992). It concerns direct knowledge as opposed toreasonable knowledge which employs abstractions.

According to Edmund Husserl (1859–1938), the so-called intentionality is afundamental feature of every conscious act. That means we can differentiate be-tween the conscious act itself and what it is directed towards in every case. Husserlbelieves he has come to this conclusion by way of the so-called looking at theessence, with which he claims it is possible to exceed the actual existing acts, and byusing our imagination we can vary these until we reach a point where variation nolonger is possible. Husserl points out that there exists an insight into a necessity of

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4


essence at this very point. He claims that this knowledge of essence is intuitive incharacter. The task of phenomenology is to reach this intuitive security through amethodic and gradual reduction. According to Husserl, intuition results in a securitywe experience when knowing there is a total agreement between what we mean withsomething and the way in which the thing is given (Kitaro, 1986; Levinas, 1995).Intuition is a term for knowledge of the essence indicating an extended understand-ing of experience of the directly given.

Christian von Ehrenfels (1859–1932) claims that an entirety of something takesshape as more than the mere sum of the individual components. All the characteris-tics of this entirety cannot therefore be reduced to the individual components.According to Ehrenfels, we gain access to this entirety by way of intuition. Ehrenfelsunderstands intuition as experience of the objects in their entirety. Henri Bergson(1859–1941) describes a methodic experience of the directly or immediately givenin its entirety as opposed to abstract divided thinking. Intuition is a methodicexperience of the directly given in its entirety.

The concept of intuition in Sweden in the early 20th century can be described bythe following examples. Hans Larsson (1862–1944) argues in several of his works(Larsson 1892, 1912) for the need of an intuition that is characterized by synthesisand which summarizes manifoldness in oneness. According to Larsson, intuitionfollows the rules of logic; it is logistically articulated. He perceives intuitive thinkingas the opposite of discursive thinking (Larsson, 1909). Bertil Hammer (1877–1929),the first Swedish professor in pedagogy from 1910 to 1929 (Kroksmark, 1991),challenged the prevailing scientific methods (Hammer, 1909) and claimed that withintuition as method, reality is not exclusively quantitative. Instead Hammer arguesfor a more down-to-earth and intuitive pedagogy (Kroksmark, 1989) and wants toapply intuition with a methodic purpose. As opposed to Larsson, John Landquist(1881–1974) claims that intuition is an absolutely simple act (Landquist, 1971;Kroksmark, 1989). He who understands by way of compounding and synthesis,does not understand simple matters. The act that understands what is simple mustbe simple itself. Landquist’s opinion about this point is closely related to Bergson’s(Ahlberg, 1951).

In this particular study, we collected data from interviews with 13 professionallyactive primary and secondary school teachers. The interviews were carried outaccording to the tradition of qualitative analysis (Denzin & Lincoln, 1994; Kvale,1994). The purpose of the analysis of the interview material was to treat the materialwithout choosing anything definitively central, thereby potentially missing some-thing because it has been assumed that it is of peripheral importance. The focus ofthe work was to examine the material in an as unbiased and open a way as possible,in order to get a clear picture of what actually was articulated about the concept ofteachers’ intuition-in-action (van Manen, 1990). In the second phase we allowedinterpretations of what could be concepts or themes which collected and concen-trated the statements. Gradually it appeared that the concept of teachers’ intuition-in-action is qualitative, complex and nuanced. Hence, an early attempt was made tofind a number of concepts which individually and together did justice to teachers’intuition-in-action.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4


A major difficulty in this work was that it turned out to be complicated to find apreviously established idea or model (Schon, 1991) which teachers’ intuition-in-ac-tion could become part of, or which could possibly be used as a starting point foranalysis (Guba & Lincoln, 1994). The first part of the description of teachers’intuition-in-action touches upon the concepts which in one way or another consti-tute the idea, the models or the system of teachers’ intuition-in-action that weeventually ended up with. The idea of the phenomenological attempt is—as weapplied it—not to be content with descriptions of ‘the-things-that-show-themselves’but to keep searching and examining these concepts and how their influence is tiedto the everyday practice of teachers. At the same time we try to keep track of thesubject’s own influence in the description process.

Methodological considerations

In this work about teachers’ intuition-in-action we have chosen a phenomenologicalmethod (Holstein & Gubrium, 1994; Kristensson Uggla, 1994). The principalsource of inspiration has been Herbert Spiegelberg and the somewhat definite framepresented in his work The phenomenological movement (1984, pp. 678–719). Withthat as a basis we have modified a number of different items as follows.

From a historical perspective, phenomenology has served as a tool for extremelydiffering contributions to research, Spiegelberg states. Nevertheless, he seeks amutual core in these phenomenologies and phenomenologists (Johansson, 2002a).This core consists of nothing else but the method. Spiegelberg presents the phe-nomenological method as a number of successive stages. Every stage builds on theprevious one, but is not necessarily followed by the later ones. There are at least twomotives for understanding the method this way. On the one hand, it is possible todetermine the systematic relation between different types of phenomenology; on theother hand, it is possible to consider and evaluate important elements in phe-nomenology stage by stage without pledging ourselves to accept or turn down thesame in its entirety. A closer description and presentation of these different stageshas at least two aims. One is to enable us to create our own understanding of thesections about result and discussion. The other is to make it easier for readers tofollow the train of thought in those sections.

The introductory step1 is more easily understood if divided into three closelyconnected phases: an intuitive one, an analytical one and a descriptive one. Theintuitive phase is characterized by the immediate experience of the phenomenawithout the examining subject being controlled by theories or previously set rules,models or perceptions. This can be called going-directly-to-the-thing-itself withoutintermediaries to let it-show-itself. It also deals with directing attention towards itsown subject. The phenomenological examination begins in calmness and silencebefore ‘the-thing-that-shows-itself-to-someone’. It concerns neither being absorbednor losing the sensitivity when meeting the phenomena in order to ascribe or neglectto ascribe to the phenomena something which is suitable. This might seem simplein theory, but is more difficult in practice. There is no distinct and easy-to-follow

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4


instruction, but the procedure is described using metaphors such as ‘open your eyes,keep them open, do not get blinded, look or listen’.

The aim of the analytical phase is to vary ‘the-thing-that-shows-itself-to-someone’in order to reach concentration in the material, and to repeatedly try to discover astructure which concentrates and does justice to the things. This applies both withinand between the concepts constituting this structure. It may be called discoveringespecially suitable expressions, preferably a small number of concepts with a lesscomprehensive structure. These may compensate for the statements in the originalmaterial; it means that the researcher traces the components and the structureobtained in the intuitive phase.

The descriptive phase requires a framework, a structure, an already developedsystem of classes or concepts. It is only possible to describe additional aspects or newcontents of already established meanings by allowing them room within an enlargedframework where new classes and concepts can be introduced. Before the researchergets fully acquainted with these classes and concepts, we should use negations in ourdescription to set a good example. Spiegelberg warns us not to use a too diligentusage of metaphors in this context. We should force ourselves to concentrate on thecentral and distinctive characteristics of our experiment. This selection is inevitable.With our own experience we do justice to ‘the-things-themselves.’

The next stage2 may be summarized with the concept ‘bracketing preunderstand-ings’, ‘stepping out of the natural attitude’ or ‘to use the epoche’ (Kroksmark, 1987,p. 259ff). According to Husserl, this is impossible as well as necessary to avoidphenomenology becoming too subjective. Bengtsson (1986) and Kroksmark (1987)suggest a weaker epoche which can be understood as an attitude making it possiblefor the things to present themselves, to appear as genuinely as possible. This stage,which is so difficult to access, can be understood as a theoretical way of varyingdifferent examples in order to extract general ideas from ‘the-thing-that-shows-it-self.’ It is a search for essence and core in an object, an abstract reproduction of itsidiosyncrasies. Bengtsson (1991) claims that the task of the eidetic reduction ‘is todirect the consciousness to general and necessary characteristics in phenomena inthe experienced reality’ (p. 165). Since this stage is on a different level of abstractionto the previous one, it becomes possible to use metaphors to describe Dasein,3 itscharacteristic structure or existence and its internal relations. This concentrates theobservation towards new links within and between the essentials in an object andallows its revelation to be understood modally; e.g. something exists as something inrelation to its psychological or physical existence.

The phenomenological examination takes a further step4 beyond letting some-thing contribute to the individual parts within the object. This third stage containsmore than a mere understanding of the thing in its part. Here the researcher tries tounderstand how the previous structure behaves towards the relationship between itsparts as well as to other phenomena. Of fundamental insight is that the complexityincreases if the researcher makes generalizations from one and the same phenom-enon to several other surrounding phenomena. In theory, we can vary the conditionswithin a phenomenon to reach the idiosyncrasies in this particular phenomenon.The nexus to other phenomena implies considering essential possibilities and

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4


necessities. Spiegelberg (1984) defines the nexus to Husserl’s ‘free imaginativevariation’ as a connection: ‘For what we try to explore is the nexus among them inits necessity, possibility, or impossibility as revealed by the free imaginative variation.This is clearly a case of “synthetic” knowledge’ (p. 700ff). At this stage we found itimportant to try to discover nexus among different concepts in the structure wedescribed at the first stage.

The fourth stage5 concentrates on how an object appears, or as Spiegelberg (1984,p. 705) calls it ‘different perspectives or modes of clarity.’ The thing always appearswith a surface turned to us which we experience as an entirety. Furthermore, a thingalways appears on a certain background, yet it might not be the only background onwhich the thing can appear. Finally, a thing always appears with a certain foreshad-owing.6 Spiegelberg (1984) warns us not to overlook this stage when we become toopreoccupied with what appears: ‘Phenomenology is the systematic exploration of thephenomena not only in the sense of what appears, whether particular or generalessences, but also of the way in which things appear. … These ways of appearing areusually overlooked in our preoccupation with what appears’ (p. 704). At this stagewe try to focus on how the thing or the concept is described. We study the differentsituations constituting the background when the responding teachers paint a pictureof these concepts, and also in which way they illustrate it. What is most importantat this stage is how and not what.

Constitution is another step7 and a central idea in phenomenology. In his purposeof describing the phenomenological method, Spiegelberg (1975) interprets theconcept of constitution according to how the phenomena ‘constitute themselves’ assomething. In this process we move from the first impressions of a thing to acomplete picture of the structure of the thing.

At a sixth stage8 Spiegelberg brings up the problem of reduction. It is importantin all research since today’s methods always contain a certain amount of reduction,although Husserl’s phenomenological reduction is no longer appropriate. How canwe then develop knowledge about and understanding of how teachers in a deepersense understand teachers’ intuition-in-action? Placing reduction on a stage of itsown emphasizes it and makes it visible. It is worth noting that this reduction is activeat every stage in the phenomenological method. Back-Wiklund (1995, p. 73) de-scribes reduction as: ‘What should be placed inside parentheses is questions abouthow human beings and the surroundings actually exist. However, the interest isinstead concentrated on the constant flow of experience constituting our knowl-edge’. Consciousness is constituted; it takes shape by being directed towards thecontent of the consciousness acts. Consciousness is in-the-world. The meetingbetween the meaningful acts of consciousness and the phenomena in our world istherefore called constitution. When we in our research ‘refrain from making judge-ments’, it can be interpreted as us judging all data, real, unreal and doubtful witheven rights. In this way reduction can help us do justice to them. To refrain frommaking judgements is self-discipline of the thought. We liberate ourselves from ourusual self-containment and refrain from fast or hasty claims concerning knowledge.It requires an open-minded attitude, something we really need today, according toSpiegelberg.9 We handle this stage by strongly questioning the work itself.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4


Spiegelberg (1984) also defines a seventh stage.10 He understands this to be thehermeneutic aim of phenomenology. Bengtsson (1991, p. 33) claims that phe-nomenology becomes hermeneutic because of the insight that: ‘Observation hasrather the structure of understanding, the structure of the hermeneutic circle, andtherefore the things must be interpreted’. Both Heidegger (1990) and Gadamer(1989) argue for the need to interpret. Heidegger insists it is inseparably tied to ourexistence, our being-in-the-world, whereas Gadamer believes we allow a world toopen by using language in the interpretation process. We interpret in our daily lifeas well as in research. To eliminate interpretation from the phenomenologicalmethod would mean turning our backs to modern phenomenology (Bengtsson,1993b).

Results

The areas occurring in the first stage of the method may best be described as a whatand a how aspect (Kroksmark, 1987, p. 212ff; Alexandersson, 1994b, p. 118ff) ofteachers’ intuition-in-action. The how aspect refers to the system of concepts in theteachers’ work, and the what aspect describes the substantial aspects in the testobject. The first part of the result accounts for the system of concepts concentratingon the interviewees’ statements about teachers’ intuition-in-action. Next we applythe stages of the method to every single concept in that system. To give a full andthick description (Geertz, 1993), we account for a number of statements at the sametime as we keep our own texts short and highly concentrated. This is done to keepa balance between the richness in content and structure in order to follow therequirements of empirical anchorage.

The system of concepts are defined under the following headings: teachers’intuition-in-action as experience, as frame of mind, as approach, as reflection, assituated, as culture. The second part treats the what aspect, that is the ways in whichthe responding teachers describe the content in teachers’ intuition-in-action. Theyare defined with these titles: teachers’ intuition-in-action as something inside, as away of being, as method. Where teachers’ intuition-in-action as a way of being isdivided and described as feeling and as concrete doings.

The how aspect of teachers’ intuition-in-action

Teachers’ intuition-in-action as experience

One of the things that constitutes teachers’ intuition-in-action in the work of theinterviewees is experience (van Manen, 1991). The teachers’ backgrounds explainand answer why they intuitively act as they do. Intuition is built on experience, anexperience which constitutes a foundation for intuition, almost in the same way aswith Schopenhauer.

Well, it depends on […] Well, you know what it depends on, actually it depends verymuch on experience. That you learn from different situations […] (WL 164)

Yes […] let’s see […] Yes sometimes when you hit right, there is something and […]and you try to explain. Then suddenly you get hit by some kind of brain-wave, right!

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4


Ah! I’ll explain it like this. First you might think it comes barging in from nowhere, thatyou just happened to take that picture or that example. To me, just then, it feelssomething like where on earth did I get that idea? It came out of nowhere, yet I stillbelieve I had it in me, either because I had done it long ago or because I had read aboutit somewhere or […] because somehow have thought about this previously. And thenit sits there and I find it at that very moment. I don’t believe it drops down from above,you know. Some kind of flash of genius. Though at the time I have no idea where I gotit from. (VSK 100)

When the interviewees try to explain what significance experience has onintuition, they immediately talk about different kinds of experience. Experience assome kind of recognition seems to be closely connected to teachers’ intuition-in-ac-tion and becomes therefore a necessary requirement for teachers’ intuition. To makeexperience become of important use in teachers’ intuition-in-action, it has to beplaced at the disposal of reflection.

And then how much, I believe you can allow yourself to be more […] yes, moreintuitive, to put it like that, the more experience and knowledge you have […] bydefining intuition as I do […] Then I believe, I mean if I am new, if I am absolutelynew and without experience, then, then, I don’t act in the same way regardingintuition. Because there isn’t really anything to rely on. (VSK 527)

As I see it, it is to reflect, to think a lot. Reflect upon what I have done and do. So youbuild up that bank, you know. And it is my own, it is directed towards myself […](VSK 724)

Teaching experience is also considered a kind of knowledge. They feel that withmore experience they know more about the aim of the work and can therefore placethe separate teaching situation in a larger context. This aspect seems to developanother requirement for teachers’ intuition-in-action, namely of creating an underly-ing security. Experience of working in a school constitutes a part of the framedefining what can be done. Teachers’ situated actions are based on collectiveexperience, something they at times describe as the reason why they do not dosomething absolutely crazy—it often ‘turns’ out right instead. The reason teachersevaluate and handle the same teaching situation in a quantitatively and qualitativelydifferent way is related to the quality in their teaching experiences which in turn isdecisive in their intuition-in-action.

I think like this […] you need a lot of experience, it matters, it affects your intuitionand offers you possibilities to know what to say, a richer intuition. (JM 001)

The interviewees often mention that considering what they have done enablesthem to create new qualities in already performed and future teaching experiences.The material shows that the teachers apprehend the content and form of experienceto be influenced by whether it is studied, thought out and reflected. The teachersknow, that is they have knowledge about, as well as know that they know and believethey from their experience can create a security central to teachers’ intuition-in-ac-tion. In this way experience builds a platform to stand on as well as gives the teachera feeling of security in his work. Through experience the teachers navigate withintuition in their own pedagogical work.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4


Teachers’ intuition-in-action as frame of mind

The teachers describe their own well-being as something having to do with intuition-in-action. It depends on how they feel physically and psychologically; whether theyare happy, alert and inspired, or stressed, unbalanced and tired. Their personalexperience of how they feel occurs frequently in the material; when they believe thatthey themselves as well as the students can learn and be affected by it. If they feelunsuccessful, they shut out their surroundings. They believe it is necessary to besensitive, to be aware of feelings and others’ experiences. It is also a question ofbeing there, that is not to think of something else, not being occupied withsomething else nor having other things in mind.

If I one day feel happier, kind of, it turns out much better […] (LH 246)

[…] I think that when I’m occupied with my own […] problems or if I have otherthings on my mind, for example if I know that this afternoon I have to do this and that,it can be things away from school, for example things at home, then I think theseantennae of sensitivity are weaker in some way, you know. (BA 321)

[…] because it demands all the time that you, you are, you have to be present. Youcan’t just assume it’s going to function by itself. No, you must be present every singlemoment. (SI 522)

Frame of mind is of decisive importance for how the teachers handle the situationsince it affects whether they are settled in their thoughts. Frame of mind cantherefore be connected to the situation as ‘being there’. According to the teachers,this ‘being there’ conveys itself to the students. The interviewees describe that frameof mind expresses itself as an awareness; their eyes reveal their alertness. Frame ofmind also expresses itself as the teacher’s own signals to his surroundings, to theclass; most of all, however, it expresses itself as a capacity to understand the signalsfrom the students and the surroundings. In addition, frame of mind expresses itselfas something in the margin between sensitivity and insensitivity. A bad frame ofmind indicates that they do not care and do not pay attention to the signals. Theypull in their antennae and tentacles of sensitivity and think only of themselves. Agood frame of mind, on the other hand, makes the teachers able to be daring, to beopen for the teaching situation.

[…] then you get very tired and irritated in the end and then you don’t want to beflexible at all […] (WL 705)

And then I think I’m more likely to let go because I see this, this and that is possibleand I dare and it works out well and like that […] At times when you maybe areirritated or when it doesn’t really work, then I think it is less, I think I follow the rulesmore strictly and avoid digressions and […] (BA B377)

Through frame of mind teachers’ intuition-in-action might be controlled byinsight and the ability to be sensitive and understand feelings, and it is therebyempathic. When a teacher with only limited experience also has a bad frame ofmind, the consequences affect the intuitive work in the teaching situation. Frame ofmind provides the teacher with a position between being aware and unaware of thesignals in the teaching situation. The teachers feel that keeping up their frame of

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4


mind is demanding and makes them tired in their work. In our analysis weconcentrate on the extent to which maintaining a positive frame of mind determineshow much intuition-in-action can be directed toward experience.

Teachers’ intuition-in-action as approach

The statements in our material mention a kind of approach, outlook or attitude andconcern insight, flexibility and openness. A core consists of a personal part charac-terized by an ability to be influenced, to be attentive to what happens on thereceiving side. The statements indicate an individual variation stretching from‘jumping at the students’ ideas’ to ‘running your own race’. Someone emphasizedthis communicative and empathy side as an ability to ‘take in reality’. This isimportant, they say, since children are different and react to different things. Theteachers want to understand this, not only for their own sake, but also for thestudents’:

[…] develop […] fantasy, sympathy […] all in all empathy […] that’s how I feel.(PV 318)

[…] and then I also believe it has to do with […] how you are as a person and whetheryou are open to other people […] you are receptive regarding other people’s feelingsand, well, how other people perceive things. (JM 369)

You feel this […] more or less like having antennae or tentacles out feeling thesurrounding. Later, however, you can probably learn to be more sensitive or to openup your eyes to what happens around you, not to focus on yourself but to be extremelyoutgoing. (LH 146)

This attitude appears when the teacher is prepared to attend to the weak signalsfrom the students. Furthermore, there is a distinct connection with reflection, sincethey believe that well prepared planning is important, yet it should not control whathappens. Reflection and planning should not lock and bind the teacher in theclassroom. That would reduce teaching to a ‘race’ as the responding teachersexpress it. Instead they point out that their own attitudes through reflection ratherresult in remaining open to what they meet, above all in the teaching situation, butalso in other classrooms, in conversations with colleagues and when reading litera-ture. It concerns learning something new by ways of reflection.

You can’t be too locked. You have to be very flexible…I think, in my job. (EBS 435)

You reflect on what you have done. That I can say. I think it is extremely importantso you don’t get stuck in your usual pattern. (BM 089)

Teaching actions that harmonize with our own attitude give us a sense of security,especially if they coincide with the hidden attitude (towards the learner, schoolknowledge, work methods, etc.) constituting the pedagogical culture of the school.It is the other way around if the teacher is forced into teaching actions which are nothis own. Such actions usually make the teacher tense and unable to teach. Theattitude appears as a strong wish for dialectical presence in such a way that even the

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4


teacher can learn from the student. It concerns being influenced and ready for adialogue as well as using the student as a starting point.

But if you have a fundamental attitude towards school, a student point-of-view, it getsthe upper hand and you still fail. Or you don’t dare, yes, in some way it stops, thereis a barrier which gets the upper hand, I think […] (EA633)

Yes, that’s it and […] I learn that every day! I think it’s extremely funny when they havetheir own ideas […] and they say something and then I say something and complementwith what I know. They might not know how to do it, but they have an idea. (BI 400)

[…] you are always required to be there, so that you are present. (SI 522)

Yes, a security for me is to be able to be flexible, do you know what I mean? (HB 631)

Approach is characterized by our ambition and therefore connected to our ownwill. A certain amount of courage is also required in order to be able to follow whatthe situation has to offer in a flexible way. The teachers agree that the easiest andsafest thing to do is to follow one’s own planning without digressions that might goastray. The teachers overcome this by consciously directing their attitude towardsthe students’ reactions. They allow themselves to feel these signals. That makes theirown attitude the subject of reflection.

Teachers’ intuition-in-action as reflection

The interviewees describe in the interviews that they often need time to think. Theybelieve there is a connection between this reflection and teachers’ intuition-in-action(Dreyfus & Dreyfus, 1986) Many of their statements concern stopping, wonderingand reflecting on what they do and have done. For example, they think about theiractions but always afterwards.

Afterwards, you wonder where on earth you got that from […] if you sit down andwonder […] (VSK 158)

[…] sometimes you do things and afterwards you wonder why did I do that? (JM 034)

It is difficult for the teachers to find time and space for this reflection in the actualsituation (Bengtsson, 1995). This implies that reflection requires time, distance andquietness (Johansson, 2003a). Central to this reflection is that teaching normallydoes not allow any space for such reflection. Teaching is a continuous activity whilereflection requires a ‘freezing’ of the situation that has to be thought over.

Because there, exactly there, in the classroom…? There you don’t have time, there youdon’t have time. No […] (SI 598)

No, you don’t reflect, but you take notes and then you wonder […] a little bit and thenyou don’t have time to continue to find a reason or an answer. (CC 414)

During, precisely during the lessons, you are fully occupied […] (BA 403)

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4


The teachers mention a need to sit down, after working with the children orstudents, in order to think through what they have done and even reflect upon theirown way of acting. Through this reflection they become aware of their own actionsand also of themselves.

I think about what I have done, afterwards […] (BM 059)

It comes from experience and what I have studied myself. And that is some kindexperience although I have read it […] And also that you have done things and thought[…] about, well, some kind of reflected experiences, you know […] And also that I havediscussed, it is also a kind of experience, I have heard what others have done and so[…] (VSK 440)

There are three kinds of reflection: what you do by yourself, what you do togetherwith your colleagues and what you do through literary studies, that is, somethingconnected to research. To allow experience to become of real use in teachers’intuition-in-action, the teachers have to introduce distance to experience(Bengtsson, 1993a) by placing it at the disposal of reflection. The quality ofreflection is strongly connected to the teacher’s experience. The teachers believereflection can be connected to the school’s culture, if the school-day and the climatenaturally promote possibilities to exchange thoughts among colleagues. Often thesituation is without distance, because there usually is not any time available andbecause the teachers do not have a method for reflection. Such a method is oftendeveloped through experience. They themselves as well as their work may appear inreflection.

Because […] in the beginning as a teacher, I could kind of, probably change a lot morewithout reflecting, because I could feel in the air […] but now I, in some way, Iunderstand where it is heading, well, more so, more conscious. (BA 254)

Teachers’ intuition-in-action as situated

Teachers’ intuition-in-action in this category refers primarily to limited teachingsituations. According to the interviewees, these are absolutely impossible to predictin details, and it is therefore impossible to predict or plan every single aspect ofthem. Common for all teaching actions is that they are in most parts unpredictable.The teachers know that something unexpected always appears. The situation itselfrefers therefore to the responding teachers’ own intuition. The fact that the situationis partly unpredictable and always contains a certain amount of future characterizesthe situations that are built on some kind of dialogue or interaction with thestudents. Here the teachers find a possibility to catch onto suggestions from thestudents, to make something out of something that originates from the students.

You can have an idea, a plan of what you have thought and so […] when you are sittingthere with the group, the conversation takes a different direction than the one you’dplanned, but […] You might jump at it right away when you see there is a possibility,that there is something they recognize, something they have done before and then yougo for it. (JM 136)

But that’s the way it is with all lessons. You never know what will happen during the

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4


day. I guess that’s what […] when you feel it’s, when you are positive and on, then youfeel this is it, the excitement with teaching, and when you’re tired of school, then youfeel that it’s annoying that you never manage to plan a day the way you want to, haha.Except you always have to change. (WL 626)

Well, most of all it is, well, when something unexpected happens that I have to dealwith, but that doesn’t count […] It’s then you realize that either the whole class doesn’tunderstand or that some of them don’t understand at all. Then I have to divide it intoparts somehow. Or they understand it much better than I had expected, that alsohappens, you know, and then I have to take an enormous step forward. Apparently itwasn’t anything we needed to work on since it was obvious to everyone in the class.Sometimes something comes up, well, sometimes they ask very intelligent questionswhere I have to make digressions which […] which I find just as important as what Ihad planned. Then we do that instead. Therefore it is some kind of reaction in thestudents that makes me change my plan. (VSK 369)

[…] but it is the students who signal I have to change my lesson plan. (EA 324)

If the interviewees are prepared for the students’ reactions, the situation appearsas a flow of situated signals-in-action. The teachers then understand that they haveto do something. The something-focus is that prepared rules can not guide theteacher. When the teaching situation no longer stays within the teacher’s frame, apedagogical breakdown of the teacher’s preparation happens. Her previously experi-enced reflection and planning no longer work. What the teacher has to do instead,depends to some extend on the signals she receives in the situation. The result of theteacher’s action is closely connected to the teacher’s experience. If she knows howto solve the situation, her experience creates a situational security. The inexperi-enced teacher perceives the signals from the situation as an incomprehensiblemurmur.

To them, maybe, but not to me. I know exactly what everybody does all the time andwhere everybody is. And I know, I know what they are working on. (SI 713)

I don’t feel, I often find it very nice to be able to do that, seize the moment. To notalways feel tied to my original plan. (BM 198)

Mm, you catch what you catch, what’s available at the moment, and sometimes it turnsout very well and becomes extremely funny, you know. (SI 549)

Intuition is active in the situation by solving the emergency in the situation. Itincreases the number of possible solutions within a given framework. According tothe interviewees, this requires a certain presence, their presence in the situation. Theteachers strive towards filling the situation with a purpose, a meaningful entirety forthe students. They do this by being present in the situation where no divisionbetween thought and action happens. One way they express this is that they do notthink about what they do.

Teachers’ intuition-in-action as culture

The interviewees’ statements in this section indicate that relationships in a widersense refer to teachers’ intuition. The cultural life prevailing in the school, among

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4


the interviewees’ own colleagues constitutes the core. But even the class as cultureis central to teachers’ intuition-in-action. This culture develops relations betweensociety-school-teacher-student-room-context. An influencing factor is how the sur-rounding culture believes the teacher should act. The teachers claim that theprevailing culture is to follow a line, to be prepared and to stick to it.

The climate between colleagues have a big influence, I think […] If you have to followyour intuition […] I think like this: the ideas I get in the situation are very closelyrelated, and if I consider both my intuition and my ideas, I have to feel […] secure inmy work situation and feel a kind of freedom. I think the staff, my colleagues, a goodworking relationship has a very big influence. You feel you believe in the same things,that you almost have the same opinions about children and school work on the whole,school life on the whole, I think this is liberating and makes me dare to act differentlyfrom the way I usually do. (JM 723)

I don’t know, it can be easy or hard in different classes, too. Some are very positive andfind everything funny and then it is easier of course, then I dare trying more and more[…] (BI 676)

Only if they have shown it is OK to go ahead. That the flexibility always exists. Evenif you have planned to do something together in the following lesson, they can suddenlycome in and say that it isn’t possible today. Well, then we don’t do it, of course. (LH617)

The teachers handle the signals from the class with reference to culture; theyeither dare or do not dare to leave what they have prepared and planned. But evencolleagues may send signals, signals which limit or allow. These signals may alsocome from people outside the school, parents for instance. Many statements fromthe teachers imply that matters outside the present teaching situation impact onteachers’ intuition-in-action. These matters limit the teachers and make them refrainfrom certain actions.

Summary of the How aspect

Teachers with enough and visible experience […]

who remember and feel secure in the situation […]

who experience a trust and a perceived allowability in their own culture […]

where the receiver’s reactions are central to their own attitude […]

and who have noticed themselves through reflection […]

work with an intuition characterized by SECURITY.

Teachers who are aware in the situation […]

who develop their lesson plan through a good frame of mind […]

where the students’ signals are the subject of their own attitude […]

work with an intuition characterized by PRESENCE.

Teachers who immediately act from their own experience […]

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4


who are aware of the signals of the present moment in the situation […]

work with an intuition characterized by being DIRECT.

The what aspect of teachers’ intuition-in-action

Teachers’ intuition-in-action as something inside the body

Among other things, the teachers describe intuition as ‘sitting in the bones’, assomething physical, something experienced inside the body. It seems that they actwithout thinking. A central feature is that it is difficult for them to articulate theirown understanding of intuition in their work (Polanyi, 1983; Rolf, 1995). They lackconcepts. One core is that they mention different physical locations for their ownintuition.

[…] something pops up and then maybe you say or try it and then you see whathappens. But where that pop comes from, I have no idea. I guess it could be differentimpressions I have collected from different places […] (EBS 380)

Yes, It is those things you do without really thinking about what you do, when youanswer a student, you don’t answer […] you don’t think, you just answer. You have alot of things in your backbone, […] whether it is right or wrong you never know… […](SBE 024)

They perform these actions without explicitly thinking or having to think. In-tuition is perceived as an unconscious and spontaneous usage of previous experi-ences which have been stored inside the body. Teachers’ intuition-in-action is tiedto habits not exposed to reflection.

Haha, if I act in a certain way, I have been exposed to the situation before and actedsomehow. The action is controlled, your brain knows about the action though youdon’t. You don’t even remember it, yet it is controlled by what you do when you findyourself in similar situations, well, in the same or almost the same situation yourintuitive acting is controlled by the event you don’t even remember. You haveabsolutely no idea, you have no way of remembering. Nevertheless, the event issomehow registered, and therefore you get a kind of progression during the years youwork. This means that the more situations you have been exposed to the better itbecomes, in a way. (EA 295)

Well, you have to set a few limits, otherwise the students might take over. Everythingwould be a mess then. So you must have a thought behind what you do. Intuition isnot a thought. No. (LH 663)

Teachers’ intuition-in-action seems difficult to define in the sense that it isimpossible to define it in its entirety. It is a physical phenomenon (Molander, 1993,p. 45). This results in the interpretation that the teachers cannot define teachers’intuition-in-action. They do not even try to define the phenomenon. Teachers’intuition-in-action is understood as a form of complex tacit knowledge. This kind ofknowledge is implicit. To define teachers’ intuition-in-action as something exclu-sively physical leads to the opinion that intuition is either a reflex action orsomething illogical and free of thoughts (Larsson, 1892).11

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4


Teachers’ intuition-in-action as a way of being

The interviewees describe intuition as something they use all the time, a way ofbeing. Intuition is undefined, yet the teachers seem aware of their intuition.

Oh dear, […] you do it all the time […] I think you do it all the time. (SBE 062)

[…] so in some way I know what I’m doing, although I experience it as if I’m notabsolutely […] […] But I’m not consciously aware of what I’m doing. (VSK 211)

Teachers’ intuition-in-action as a way of being can be understood as if the actorand the action itself are neither divided in analysis nor in reflection. Hence, theteachers do not part themselves from the situation. Intuition as a way of beingbecomes an inclusive being in the situation—free of distance—where the subjectdoes not appear by itself. The teachers both think and act unconsciously in thesituation. It is not until later that they notice their actions and possibly even theirthoughts. The interviewees’ statements show that when they have to articulate andanalyze their situation, they choose two different possibilities. In the first possibilitythey direct their attention towards the subject, and in the second toward the objectin the situation. What happens depends on the particular context they describe. Inthe first case they describe their intuition as a subjective experience, a feeling. In thesecond case they describe their intuition as an object, an observable result (Martonet al., 1994), an action.

Teachers’ intuition-in-action as feeling

The teachers frequently describe intuition as a feeling. This implies that theteachers’ attention is directed towards the subject. This feeling is vague, uncertainand not quite reliable. The feeling is connected to sense impressions, seeing, hearingand understanding. The feeling is directed towards the students’ signals. It istherefore related to the attitude, but also to experience. The feeling appears as rightor wrong at that very moment.

I believe I have a feeling for what has to be done, a feeling […] to feel the attitudes,in the job I believe intuition is of great use. (PV 068)

[…] A feeling you got yet you’re not that sure about it. That you often […] it is quickand disappears quickly, and then later on I remember that it was exactly what I thoughtor felt, yet I didn’t dare trusting it or checking it out. (CC 033)

When I feel this is something I have to mention. Or when I see that something doesn’twork, then I have to try something else than what I’d planned. When I feel that thisdoesn’t […] Yes, in some way, either it is something I have to do now or becausesomething has happened, you can feel that here, now! Or when I just look at the kids,which I do sometimes to see if it works. And if it doesn’t work, I have to choose anotherdirection. This is intuition, that I feel I have to. (BM 102)

Yes, I think it is typical that you have some kind of feeling for something; however, itis based on endless experience because you have experienced a lot, and you know it,you don’t have to think about it. That’s what I believe. (VSK 070)

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4


The teachers know what they have to do; they can feel it. The feeling also appearsafterwards and is therefore connected to reflection. It also appears in the teacher asif some of them have developed it and others wrapped it up. It does not have to bereflected on, however.

[…] since it is only a feeling as long as you haven’t written it down maybe […] orverbalized it. But even when talking with a colleague, you can say that today I did this,and then I explain the situation, and then I felt it turned out like this. (CC 534)

Well, I feel it I guess, sometimes you let your feelings guide you. And that doesn’talways explain, I mean, sometimes it was right to do so. But sometimes it is, I meanyour feeling acts in a way that goes against what is practical or sensible. And that’swhere you have your conflicts. That it doesn’t work. (HB 380)

The interviewees express that the feeling is not absolutely certain; it does not sayit all. The complex situations teachers often get into and act on, result in themexplaining that they did because of a feeling. What do we mean when we say feeling?The feeling precedes and follows discursive thinking. At a lower stage, the feeling isirrational. Then analysis, a discursive thinking takes over. When knowledge reachesthe highest level, it is again expressed as a feeling. It is therefore an expression forthe lowest as well as the highest level of knowledge. As the highest knowledge,feeling is an expression for multiplicity, a whole bunch of thoughts (Larsson,1925b).

Teachers’ intuition-in-action as concrete doings

The teachers describe teachers’ intuition-in-action as concrete doings. Teaching ispractical. The teacher does something all the time. The doer and what is done areusually not divided through reflection. Thus teaching becomes free of distance. Whatthe teacher does to solve the situation, the action he performs, is a result of his collectedexperiences. The signals of the situation require that the teacher does something.

You don’t think about this, you know, that now I have done something withoutreflecting, yet I believe it happens quite often. Especially in the teaching profession Ithink it happens often. (EA 081)

Yes, teacher’s intuition to me is the result of the knowledge and the experiences I havestored in my […] thinking […] However, I don’t think actively about what I do […]somehow I do it automatically, but it is there, it is in my head. (VSK 084)

I don’t know what they say in word lists and so, but I think that this isn’t somethingI have learned from scratch but something I do which I have to do in a certain situation[…] (IB 041)

Where it comes from, the new way to, the angle of approach, in a discussion with astudent maybe, where it comes from? I don’t know… […] (BM 059)

[…] that teacher’s intuition, that is when you treat students ‘correctly’, when you arethere and create a positive learning situation encouraging the student’s self-confidence.But how I see it, it […] I guess I see it if I get positive results. (JM 105)

In the actual situation this acting is not just any acting, but a way to solve thesituation. When describing teachers’ intuition-in-action as an action, the intervie-

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4


wees do not follow this action so its origin becomes visible. Intuition appears as anaction to the teachers as a result of their mental work. The difference betweenintuition as a way of being and intuition as action is that the teachers’ attention isdirected towards the object. They are oriented towards the result. Intuition orientsitself towards an action that can solve the acute situation.

Teachers’ intuition-in-action as method

The interviewees describe intuition as a method, a way to handle the teachingsituation. Central is that the teachers know the importance of being prepared by wayof planning and reflection. However, they also know that the situation can not bepredicted and planned.

In a situation you have to, kind of, as a teacher you are confronted with very suddensituations. And then you have to, based on what you feel, do something new. You can’talways have everything planned out. You have to have a plan, yet you must be able togive it up. I think so. (BM 035)

Yes, I am, I have, I am the kind who has a fully outlined plan. I know, I try to makeit very clear to myself what I want, why and I have a lot of thoughts like that. Somefind me pedantic since I always write down what I’m going to do, but I like it that way.Then I have it right there […] well, the arrow is ready, and then I can do other thingsbecause I have the plan in mind. Then the kids say something, I answer and maybedevelop the thought, yet in some way I do it parallel to my plan so that I possibly cango back to or relate it to what I had prepared. (VSK 330)

No, I just know that unknown things happen constantly. The more such things, well,I mentioned that earlier, the higher frequency on success and then you dare […] thenyou dare let go more and more […] and dare to be unsure. Because in some way,somehow, you know that it will be all right anyway and you find solutions. You can getsomething positive out of it which you otherwise had not. (EA 591)

No, I don’t care about finding the five possible ways, because then I think I’m tied upif the students want to go other ways. There has to be other ways than those I havethought about, ahead of time. (EA 346)

By way of reflection the teachers are able to view themselves and their ownteaching. They know that the situation as a whole can not be given before hand. Itcontains unknown items. Intuition appears as an alternative available at that mo-ment. The teachers let the situation form their way of thinking. They rely on theirreflection and experience of the situation (Johansson, 2003b); an experience theyoften describe as fantasy, imagination, etc. To them the unknown in the situation isan advantage. Teachers who use intuition as a method are aware of the uniquenessin every situation. This means that the situation supplies what has to be handledwith teaching-intuition. This appearing multiplicity and plurality have to be summa-rized in a unity. The interviewees do this by teachers’ intuition-in-action.

Summary of the What aspect

The What aspect is divided in three categories. Teachers’ intuition-in-action as

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4


something in the body, teachers’ intuition-in-action as a way of being and teachers’intuition-in-action as method. These are characterized by an increasing level ofreflection and awareness. They therefore become more and more visible to theteachers. Teachers’ intuition-in-action as a way of being is divided in two sub-groups, teachers’ intuition-in-action as feeling and teachers’ intuition-in-action asaction. These sub-categories are described as either attention directed towards thesubject side, as feeling, or as action on the object side.

Discussion

The study shows that the concept of teachers’ intuition-in-action is an extremelyevident dimension of teachers’ work. We have also been able to conceptualize thisdimension, a qualitative area into the themes of a how and a what aspect of intuition.

The how aspect shows that teachers’ intuition-in-action appears in a so-calledchalk dust security. This refers to a sound fundamental schooling in education incombination with teaching experience including time for revision and reflection. Inaddition, the professional attitude towards the students is of importance as well asthe acceptance of intuitive acting in the cultural life in the school. Finally, it isimportant that the situation is recognizable and secure.

The what aspect also refers to security, implying that increased awareness aboutthe content in teachers’ intuition-in-action should influence the experience ofsecurity. This develops a foundation for making decisions about how the teachingsituations should be organized and arranged. This requires that teachers andteaching education describe and visualize teachers’ intuition-in-action as methodand content. Though this article barely touches upon teacher education it does seekto offer another conceptual system to think about teaching, teacher education andresearch.

Intuition is characterized by a certain kind of presence. This presence concernsteachers’ intuition and intentionality in the situation. Intuition and directednessdepend on fundamental school questions about the school’s first objective, how theteachers should handle and evaluate different situations and performances individu-ally as well as collectively. Hand-in-hand with this follows the teacher’s currentframe of mind implying that teachers during parts of the work-day move around atseveral different levels and dimensions. We believe this kind of complexity is obviousin the material, and the insight into this type of teacher’s action ought to influenceour view of teacher competence. First of all, the conclusive dynamics should beappreciated, and the occasional ideas that teachers only do one thing at a time, andthat the classroom dynamics only offers one thing at a time could possibly bedisregarded.

Our material also shows that one aspect of teachers’ intuition-in-action is that itis direct and immediately given. The direct aspect refers to the ongoing, constantmovement which is never-ending and to the situation. In this direct givenness,teachers’ intuition-in-action appears as an effect of experience. It seems as ifexperience is the basis for what and how teachers understand the complexity of chalkdust and the qualities that later on appear in the acting itself. This relationship

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4


indicates that the practical periods in teacher education must be arranged in themes(Johansson, 2002b) and analyzed in terms of intuitive action. Otherwise, they arenot built on experience but become trite and superficial.

The dialectics of teachers’ reflection-in-action and teachers’ intuition-in-action

To discuss the question of how teachers’ intuition-in-action relates to teachers’reflection-in-action it is necessary to stay with the general meaning of the concepts.In our special case we had to place reflection next to intuition. What is meant withreflection and more specifically teachers’ reflection-in-action? Reflection is used inpedagogy in many different ways resulting in a number of separate conclusions andmeanings of the concept. Basically, reflection is compounded by the prefix ‘re’meaning again and ‘flectere’ meaning ‘bend; bending’. Reflection means to ‘throwor bend back, to ponder, think’.12 Over the years, the concept has been exploited ina number of different pedagogies, yet it seems to depend on distance, dialogue andsequencing. Reflection-in-action requires an immediate and continuous distance anddialogue. Dewey, for example, describes reflection as something helping the teachernot to get stuck in certain patterns (Dewey, 1996). In Donald Schon reflection is away to develop one’s own knowledge about the professional work in the ongoingaction (Schon, 1996). John Olson states:

This reflection-in-action appears mainly to be a cognitive process which legitimates theaction because the rationality of the action lies in the concurrent thinking that goes inconjunction with it (Olson, 1991, p. 223)

Reflection may also inform and liberate the teacher regarding the expectations ofsociety (Zeichner, 1993). As applied in pedagogy, the concept seems to refer to acertain kind of thinking resulting in that the teacher becomes more and moreinformed, aware and liberated (Johansson, 2003c). By way of reflection the peda-gogical processes are transformed to distance and dialogue resulting in a moredeveloped way of understanding and therefore also a more developed action.Teachers’ reflection-in-action, however, needs and requires either a ‘freezing’ of theongoing situation or the possibility to make it the subject of reflection afterwards.Our study clearly shows that teachers have no other possibility than the latter, andtherefore teachers’ reflection-in-action seems impossible.

Assuming teachers’ reflection-in-action is a form of integrated reflection con-tributing to teachers’ information, awareness and liberation, how does it then relateto teachers’ intuition-in-action? In the study the responding teachers claim thatintuition is an immediate experience of a teaching situation in its entirety, withoutany need or possibility of distance, analysis or sequencing. What is the characteristicof the teacher’s work? Bengtsson (1993a) insists that by way of reflection the teacherintroduces a distance to him/herself and his/her activities. Our study agrees with thisassumption which makes teachers’ reflection-in-action impossible. According toBengtsson, Schon’s term reflection-in-action is rather an example of interruptionthan an integration of reflection in the action (Schon, 1983; Bengtsson, 1995).

Intuition belongs in the teacher’s work, in the teaching situation. In this article we

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4


have highlighted the necessary and integrated connection intuition has in theteacher’s work. Possibly the oscillation between closeness and distance, between apartial and a comprehensive view, between analysis and synthesis, between thediscursive and the intuitive thinking and acting, constitute a dialectic entirety. Tostudents in teacher education and to unexperienced teachers the concept of intuitionenrichens and widens the understanding of pedagogical practice, and to experiencedteachers the concept contributes to an ability to articulate a fuller and deeperknowledge about their work.

Notes

1. Spiegelberg (1984) Investing particular phenomena; (1975) Descriptive phenomenology.Bengtsson (1991) mentions Husserl’s first phenomenological phase of development inLogische Untersuchungen.

2. Spiegelberg (1984) Investing general essences; (1975) Phenomenology of essences.Bengtsson (1991) mentions the nexus of transcendental phenomenology to Husserl’slectures in 1907 about The Idea of Phenomenology (Husserl, 1989).

3. Interpreted in Haugeland’s (1982) understanding of Heidegger.4. Spiegelberg (1984) Apprehending essential relationship among essences. Spiegelberg

(1975) does not include this stage, and we therefore assume it is included in stage 2.5. Spiegelberg (1984) Watching modes of appearing; Spiegelberg (1975) Phenomenology of

appearances.6. Spiegelberg (1984) mentions ‘Abschattung—perspective shading-off’.7. Spiegelberg (1984) Watching the constitution of phenomena in consciousness; Spiegelberg

(1975) Constitutive phenomenology.8. Spiegelberg (1984) Suspending belief in the existence of the phenomena, Spiegelberg

(1975) Reductive phenomenology.9. See Spiegelberg, 1975, p. 68.

10. Spiegelberg (1984) Interpreting concealed meanings; Spiegelberg (1975) Hermeneuticphenomenology.

11. A stricter application of logic and a finer usage of thought.12. See Bengtsson, 1995, p. 26.

Notes on contributors

Thorbjorn Johansson teaches and researches at Goteborg University. His primaryinterest and work focuses on the conceptualization of teachers’ experience andpractice, professional knowledge and ways of knowing, and professional learn-ing and development for teachers. He is currently undertaking his Ph.D. on apart-time basis, researching the notion that teachers improve their work bydeveloping both their intuition and their reflection. His research interests alsoinclude the improved relationship between teaching, teacher education andresearch. He is engaged in teacher education and a member of The Educationand Research Board for Teacher Education at Goteborg University. He is theeditor of the Nordic Journal of Teaching and Learning.

Tomas Kroksmark is professor in Education at Jonkoping University in Sweden,where he leads a group of researchers in Pedagogic Work, a research areaconnected to the professional education gained at universities and colleges and

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4


to teaching professions both within and outside the traditional educationsystem. Kroksmark is also affiliated to Helsinki University, Finland. His mainresearch interests are in Philosophy of Education (phenomenology and phe-nomenography), History of Education and in theory of teaching and learning.Kroksmark is currently actively researching two projects: Robotics Learningand Room for Learning (architecture and education).

References

Ahlberg, A. (1951) Filosofiskt lexikon [Dictionary of philosophy] (Stockholm, Natur och kultur).Alexandersson, M. (1994a) Metod och medvetande [Method and consciousness] Goteborg Studies in

Educational Sciences, 96 (Acta Universitasis Gothoburgensis).Alexandersson, M. (1994b) Den fenomenografiska forskningsansatsens fokus [Focus on phe-

nomenography], in: B. Starrin och P.-G. Svensson (red) (1994) Kvalitativ metod ochvetenskapsteor [Qualitative method and theory on science] (Lund, Studentlitteratur).

Aspelin, G. (1990) Tankens vagar. En oversikt av filosofiens utveckling. I–II. [The roads of thinking](Lund, Bokforlaget Nya Doxa).

Bengtsson, J. (1986) Konkret fenomenologi [Concrete phenomenology] (Institutionen for filosofi,Goteborgs Universitet).

Bengtsson, J. (1991) Den fenomenografiska rorelsen i Sverige. Mottagande och inflytande 1900–1968[The phenomenological movement in Sweden] (Goteborg, Daidalos AB).

Bengtsson, J. (1993a) Theory and practice. Two fundamental categories in the philosophy ofteacher education, Educational Reveiw, 45(3), 205–211.

Bengtsson, J. (1993b) Sammanflatningar. Husserls och Merleau-Pontys fenomenologi [Interlacings](Goteborg, Bokforlaget Daidalos AB). Andra reviderade upplagan.

Bengtsson, J. (1995) What is reflektion? On reflektion in the teaching profession and teachereducation, Teachers and teaching: theory and practice, 1(1), 23–32.

Back-Wiklund, M. (1995) Fenomenologi: Livsvarld och vardagskunskap [Phenomenology: life-world and everyday knowledge], in: P. Mansson (red) Moderna samhallsteorier. Traditioner,riktningar, teoretiker (Stockholm, Raben Prisma).

Denzin, N. K. & Lincoln, Y. S. (1994) Entering the field of qualitative research (Thousand Oaks,CA, Sage Publications Inc.).

Dewey, J. (1991) How we think (New York, Prometheus Books).Dewey, J. (1996) En analys av det reflekterade tankandet. [An analysis of reflective thinking], in:

C. Brusling & G. Stromqvist (red.) (1996) Reflektion och praktik i lararyrket (Lund,Studentlitteratur).

Dreyfus, H. L. & Dreyfus, S. E. (1986) Mind over machine. The power of human intuition andexpertise in the era of the computer (New York, The free Press).

Fontana, A. & Frey, J. H. (1994) Interviewing (Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage Publications Inc.).Gadamer, H-G. (1989) Truth and method (London, Sheed & Ward).Geertz, C. (1993) The interpretation of cultures. Selected essays (London, Fontana Press).Guba, E. G. & Lincoln, Y. S. (1994) Competing paradigms in qualitative research (Thousand Oaks,

CA, Sage Publications Inc.).Hammer, B. (1909) Experimentell och intuitiv pedagogik. Nagra studier rorande pedagogiska principer

och detaljfragor [Experimental and intuitive pedagogy] (Uppsala och Stockholm, Almqvist &Wiksells Boktryckeri AB).

Haugeland, J. (1982) Heidegger on being a person, Nous, XVI, 15–28.Heidegger, M. (1990) Being and time (Oxford, Basil Blackwell).Holstein, J. A. & Gubrium, J. F. (1994) Phenomenology, ethnomethodology, and interpretive practice

(Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage Publications Inc.).Husserl, E. (1989) Fenomenologins ide [The idea of phenomenology] (Goteborg, Daidalos).Johansson, T. (2000) Teachers’ intuition-in-action. How teachers experience action, paper

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4


presented at the Annual Meeting of the Nordic Educational Research Association, Kristiansand,Norway.

Johansson, T. & Kroksmark, T. (2000) Teacher intuition—didactic intuition, in: Discussions onsome educational issues IX. Research Report 211 (University of Helsinki).

Johansson, T. (2002a) On methodological understanding in phenomenology, a paper presentedat the Annual Meeting of the Nordic Educational Research Association, Tallinn, Estonia.

Johansson, T. (2002b) I motet mellan teori och praktik [In the meeting between theory andpractice], Didaktisk Tidskrift nr 3–4, 2002.

Johansson, T. (2003a) Some reflections on the concept of reflection, paper presented at theAnnual meeting of the Nordic Educational Research Association, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Johansson, T. (2003b) Some reflections on the concepts of intuition and reflection, paperpresented at the Annual Meeting of the European Educational Research Association, Hamburg,Germany.

Johansson, T. (2003c) Intuition, genusordning och reflektion [Intuition, gender and reflection],in: E. Gannerud & K. Ronnerman (red) Larande och omsorg i forskola och skola. (Goteborgsuniversitet, Institutionen for pedagogik och didaktik). Rapport nr 3.

Kitaro, N. (1986) Intuition and reflection in self-consciousness (New York, State University of NewYork Press).

Kristensson Uggla, B. (1994) Kommunikation pa bristningsgransen. En studie i Paul Ricoeurs projekt[Communication on the breaking-point] (Stockholm, Brutus Ostlings Bokforlag Symposium).

Kroksmark, T. (1987) Fenomenografisk Didaktik [Phenomenography didactics], Goteborg Studies inEducational Sciences, 63 (Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis).

Kroksmark, T. (1989) Didaktiska strovtag. Didaktiska ideer fran Comenius till fenomenografisk didakti[Didactic rambles] (Goteborg, Bokforlaget Daidalos AB).

Kroksmark, T. (1991) Pedagogikens vagar till dess forsta svenska professur [The roads of education]Goteborg Studies in Educational Sciences, 78 (Acta Universitatis Gotoburgensis).

Kroksmark, T. (2004) Quality in teaching. Forthcoming in Reports from The Swedish NationalAgency for Education.

Kvale, S. (1994) Ten standards objections to qualitative research interviews, Journal of Phe-nomenological Psychology, 25, 147–173.

Landquist, J. (1971) Manniskokunskap. Studie over den historiska och den konstnarliga kunskapen[The knowledge of man] (Stockholm, Natur och kultur). Forsta utgavan 1920.

Larsson, H. (1892) Intuition. Nagra ord om diktning och vetenskap [Intuition. Some words on poetryand science] (Stockholm, Albert Bonniers forlag).

Larsson, H. (1909) Ideer och makter [Ideas and power] (Lund, C. W. K. Gleerups forlag). Andraoforandrade upplagan.

Larsson, H. (1912) Intuitionsproblemet [On the problem of intuition] (Stockholm, Albert BonniersBoktryckeri).

Larsson, H. (1925a) Filosofiens historia i korta drag [Short history of philosophy] (Stockholm, P. A.Norstedt & Soners Forlag).

Larsson, H. (1925b) Gransen mellan sensation och emotion. Vad ar en kansla? [The border betweensensation and emotion] (Stockholm, Albert Bonniers Forlag).

Lauvas, P. & Handal, G. (1993) Handledning och praktisk yrkesteori [Supervision and the theory onpractice] (Lund, Studentlitteratur).

Levinas, E. (1995) The theory of intuition in Husserl’s phenomenology (Evanston, NorthwesternUniversity Press).

Marton, F., Fensham, P. & Chaiklin, S. (1994) A Nobel’s eye view of scientific intuition:discussions with the Nobel prize-winners in physics, chemistry and medicine (1970–86),International Journal of Scientific Education, 16(4), 457–473.

Molander, B. (1993) Kunskap i handling [Knowledge in action] (Goteborg, Bokforlaget DaidalosAB).

Nordin, S. (1995) Filosofins historia. Det vasterlandska fornuftets aventyr fran Thales till postmod-ernism [History of philosophy] (Lund, Studentlitteratur).

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4


Olson, J. K. (1991) Teacher influence in the classroom, Instructional Sciences, 10, 259–275.Parker, S. (1997) Reflective teaching in the postmodern world (London, Open University Press).Polanyi, M. (1983) The tacit dimension (Gloucester, Massachusetts, Doubleday & Company Inc.).Rolf, B. (1995) Profession, tradition och tyst kunskap [Profession, tradition and tacit knowledge] (Nora,

Nya doxa).Schopenhauer, A. (1992) Varlden som vilja och forestallning [The world as will and imagination]

(Nora, Bokforlaget Nya Doxa).Schon, D. A. (1983) The reflective practitioner. how professionals think in action (New York, Basic

Books).Schon, D. A. (1987) Educating the reflective practitioner. Towards a new design for teaching and

learning in the professions (San Francisco, CA, Jossey-Bass Publishers).Schon, D. A. (1991) The reflective turn. Case studies in and on educational practice (New York,

Teachers College Press).Schon, D. A. (1996) Den reflekterande praktikern [The Reflective Practitioner], in: C. Brusling

& G. Stromqvist (red) (1996) Reflektion och praktik i lararyrket (Lund, Studentlitteratur).Spiegelberg, H. (1975) Doing phenomenology. Essays on and in phenomenology (The Hague,

Netherlands, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers).Spiegelberg, H. (1984) The phenomenological movement. A historical introduction (The Hague,

Netherlands, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers).van Manen, M. (1990) Researching lived experience (New York, The State University Press).van Manen, M. (1991) The tact of teaching. The meaning of pedagogical thoughtfulness (Toronto, The

Althouse Press).Zeichner, K. M. (1984) The teacher, in: C. Grant (Ed.) Preparing for reflective teaching (Boston,

MA, Aclyn & Bacon).Zeichner, K. M. (1993) Research on teacher thinking and different views of reflective practice in

teaching and teacher educationy, in: I. Carlgren, G. Handal & S. Vaage (Eds) Teachers’minds and actions. Research on teachers’ thinking and practice (London, The Falmer Press).

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alga

ry]

at 1

7:28

07

Oct

ober

201

4

Documents

Teachers' intuition-in-action: How teachers experience action