Interdisciplinary Ways of Thinking and Practicing . . . . Without Tears

There is evidence of change within higher education; in the need for research-based responses to the grand challenges facing society; in questions about the disciplinary context in which higher education is being delivered; and in the employability of graduates and post-graduates. Key features of these changes identified by the European University Association (EUA) and the Irish University Association (IUA), include quality research training, inter-disciplinarity, partnerships with industry, and a mentality of innovation. This paper, based on research undertaken both at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT), focuses on transforming graduate and post-graduate thinking and learning beyond disciplinary boundaries. The challenge for students is to continuously develop toward a possible and ideal interdisciplinary ways of thinking and practicing (WTPs) researcher self-state. More precisely, the study explored how distinctive learning spaces can be built into graduate and post-graduate teaching-learning environments (TLEs) in order to create opportunities for transformative learning to occur. The research results identify aspects of the learning space that impact on the students’ ability to overcome the ‘troublesome knowledge’ of disciplinary barriers; of engaging in insider inquiry; and of continuous reflection on evolving multiple self-states as researchers. Key words: inter-disciplinarity, teaching-learning environments (TLEs), researcher self-states, transformative learning, insider inquiry, troublesome knowledge, ways of thinking and practicing (WTPs).