"In the varied topography of professional practice, there is a high, hard ground overlooking a swamp. On the high ground, manageable problems lend themselves to solution though the application of research-based theory and technique. In the swampy lowland, messy, confusing problems defy technical solution. The irony of this situation is that the problem of the high ground tend to be relatively unimportant to individuals or society at large, however great their technical interest may be, while in the swamp lie the problems of greatest human concern. The practitioner must choose. Shall he remain on the high ground where he can solve relatively unimportant problems according to prevailing standards of rigor, or shall he descend to the swamp of important problems and nonrigorous inquiry?"
Donald Schon
Educating the Reflective Practitioner (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1987)
This wanna-be practitioner shall choose the middle ground. Thus, depending on mood, one can go to either the high ground or the low swamp. And on days where neither options are feasible, one can lock up the house and curl up in the comfort of one's bed and read.
ReplyDeleteBesides, one need both high-born and low-living humans for one's experiments!
fence sitter
ReplyDelete;p
ReplyDeleteYou're just jealous cause it's comfortable up here.
Ok, gtg and sleep. Two more exams to go...