Over the top of my head

I read a paper last night by Karl Maton – a scholar who works with Basil Bernstein's theoretical frame but has also extended his concepts in innovative and intellectually stimulating ways. This paper was about theories that enable cumulative knowledge building and why Bernstein's theories have not enjoyed the same warm and positive reception as say Bourdieu. Well I managed to understand the overall gist of his argument, but actually grasped about 20% of the paper – the rest, well woooosh! over my head. But I was happy that I managed to finish reading the paper anyway. A common critique of Bernstein's writing and his theoretical exposition is that it is dense and highly abstract. To this Maton replies

"So while it is not necessarily more difficult to read and understand, whether it is experienced as such depends on whether one has the knowledge to understand the condensed concepts and/or the disposition to acquire that knowledge. This demands intellectual effort and the belief that this effort will yield rewards" (2008:34)

Makes one think hey!

Today at a seminar on thematic analysis (which was really great and did not go over my head, yet pushed me beyond my limits of understanding about this analysis method), I realised that there are so many 'things' I will have to juggle in my brain. All these bits and pieces about theoretical frameworks, their meta-histories and epistemologies, the data collection methods, the analysis methods and on, and on and on. All of these elements with their own rules, regulations and principles that need to be understood and applied. I asked a friend how the hell I will manage to keep all of this in my head. His simple reply was "Are you meant to keep them all in your head? Surely if you understand the principles, you don't have to store all the detail in your head?" See I'm thinking again.