This first paragraph is not directly part of the discussion but based on the discussion criteria. I am interested in other people’s views. Usage of the terms modern and postmodern in an academic setting is a poorly thought way to describe anything. Postmodern lacks definition (Kretchmar, 2021). These terms elude that there are only two options based on time. A subject was one way and is now another way. It is as if society made a change once, and that is all there will ever be. Considering postmodernism is nearly 100 years old, academics should move on to better terminology. Even in Stringer and Ortiz Aragón (2021) the use of these terms is confusing by referring to scientific fixed definitions as modern and having things in flux with no definable, set, explanations as postmodernism. I know that statement may make it appear that I do not grasp the meaning of the words, but for a theory that strives to allow everyone to participate such abstract wording could be
an issue.
Stringer and Ortiz Aragón (2021) and Kretchmar (2021) both describe post modernism as being able understand things in multiple ways, in other words not defining a subject. That makes it possible to question postmodernism research because depending on who you talk to anything is just a theory if they hold another view than you do. On the other hand, multiple understanding opens the world to a lot of possibilities that binary right or wrong answers may have prevented over the years. This does make me think back to being part of a large multinational organization that required me to report KPI’s. Some of the requirements did not fit my plant. The ability to achieve them was out of my control, but those reasons were
not accepted. It was a modern pass or fail situation, but should have been a postmodern multiple option situation to account for facility variability.
Lewin’s idea that action research must feel the need for change, analyze the situation correctly, plan, and act ties closely with the thought behind my current project (Burnes, 2004). Safety is an important factor for any job. According to the CDC (2023) agriculture is one of the highest risk occupations. My organization is transitioning as people retire. The experienced employees know the hazards, the new employees may not recognize them. Both groups, for different reasons, do not feel the need for information sharing. One assumes everyone knows, the other does not know that they do not know. Using action research both groups can come together to analyze the situation and learn from each other. For the early phase of my action research project education and knowledge sharing, so everyone feels the need, is the main goal.
