Avila R. 2004. La Observación, una Palabra para Desbaratar y Re-Significar. Cinta moebio 21: 189-199

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Observation, a word to re-signify

Rafael Avila. Universidad Pedagógica Nacional, Bogotá (Colombia)


Abstract

This text and the seminar referred to, intend to open a window to observe observation, with a double purpose: firstly, to contribute to inquire the naïve concept and practice of observation which disregard its internal complexity; and secondly, identify and put under examination the assumptions and premises that maintain it anchored to the empiricist tradition, nowadays seriously questioned by the constructivist epistemologies. With these purposes in mind, the issues raised by this text, and by the corresponding seminar, transfer the object of study to the epistemological realm, far beyond the methodological concern. The author places the source of the observation practices within the realm of everyday life; making an effort to evidence the problematic character of transferring these practices to the field of the natural sciences firstly, and then to the sociocultural sciences, due to the dangerous "burden" that the objectivizing view holds. Finally, the author suggests the need to re-educate our view, not only to learn to observe educational situations, but also to learn to observe ourselves from a new perspective.

Key words: observation, view, observation practices, epistemology of observation.

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Cinta de Moebio
Revista de Epistemología de Ciencias Sociales
ISSN 0717-554X