Dilemmatic spaces in educational contexts – towards a conceptual framework for dilemmas in teachers work

Abstract

In this conceptual article, we argue that there is a need for a more elaborated theoretical perspective when discussing dilemmas in teachers’ work. Thus, we introduce the conceptual frame of dilemmatic space in educational settings and argue that introducing and analytically using the conceptual frame in an educational context offers a potential to elucidate and deepen the understanding of the complexity of teachers’ everyday work practices. Traditional ways of looking at dilemmas infer that they are related to specific situations in which people react to conflicting values, obligations or commitments and where there is often no right way to act. However, the idea of a dilemmatic space offers a more complex understanding of dilemmas and their positioning and relations. Instead of being regarded as specific events or situations, dilemmas are considered as ever-present in people’s living space, as in a dilemmatic space. As space is seen as a relational category wherein one object is related to another or others, the spatial dimensions of dilemmatic space highlight the dynamics of dilemmas and dilemmatic spaces. These dynamics are important to recognise, for instance, in relation to the changeable boundaries of the space or issues that conjure up the dilemmas at an individual and social level. These changing conditions of values, decisions, responsibilities and authority change the rules for relations, negotiations and positioning, and thereby the boundaries of the dilemmatic space and the dilemmas themselves. In this article, the theoretical base for the idea of dilemmatic space is elaborated on and connected to conditions for teachers’ work. Some conclusions are that new concepts force us to challenge pre-conceptions and involve us in new kinds of sense-making processes. As such, the conceptual frame of dilemmatic space offers a broad theoretical framework with which to conceptualise dilemmas and the complexity of educational contexts.

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