Postdigital Research in Education:Towards Vulnerable Method and Praxis

Postdigital times call for postdigital research methods, but the ambiguity and unpredictability of the postdigital problematises how such methods should be determined and constituted. This chapter contributes to the debate by bringing the concept of vulnerability to bear on the postdigital for the first time to suggest that in combination they offer an effective means of exploring the challenges of our times. It highlights the mess and uncertainty that are central to the postdigital context, education and education research and (re)conceptualises vulnerability as a means of exploring and inhabiting them. This moves vulnerability away from its neoliberal associations with demonising and stigmatising the individual towards a more open, ‘in between’ condition, both universal and individual, to be integrated into research. An initial framework for this method is proposed which emphasises its relational, multiple and emancipatory nature and its closeness to praxis, and the framework is tested by applying it retrospectively to two relevant research studies The conclusion calls for us to access our postdigital vulnerability as researchers and educators in order to develop research that can help us better understand our entangled context and resist its more pernicious elements