Education and educational research, according to the current
fashion, are supposed to be concerned with a ~what worksa (TM), to
the exclusion of all other considerations. All over the world, and
particularly in the English-speaking countries, governments look
for means of improving a ~student achievementa (TM) as measured by
standardized test scores. Although such improvements are often to
be welcomed, they do not answer all significant questions about
what constitutes good education. Also the research on which they
are based is not the only legitimate way to do educational
research. Social research, and therefore educational research,
cannot ignore the distinctive nature of what it studies: a social
activity where questions of meaning and value cannot be eliminated,
and where interpretation and judgment play a crucial role.
In this book distinguished philosophers and historians of
education from 6 countries focus on the problematical nature of the
search for a ~what worksa (TM) in educational contexts, in practice
as well as in theory. Beginning with specific problems, they move
on to more general and theoretical considerations, seeking to go
beyond over-simple ideas about cause and effect and the rhetoric of
performativity that currently has educational thinking in its
grip.
a ~Freedom of inquiry in educational research can no longer be
taken for granted. Narrow definitions of what constitutes a
~scientifica (TM) research, funding criteria that enforce
particular research methods, and policy decision processes that
ignore any research that is not narrowly utilitarian, create a
context in many countries that discourages scholarship of a more
speculative, exploratory, or critical sort.
This book brings together an exceptional combination of
international and cross-disciplinary scholars who bring the
perspectives of history and philosophy of science to ask, a ~How
did we arrive at this place? and a ~Where is educational research
heading? The book illuminates the anti-intellectual consequences of
a a ~what worksa (TM) mentality in education, and shows that the
ostensibly a ~scientifica (TM) revolution in educational research
in fact reflects an ahistorical and conceptually muddled
understanding of what actually constitutes a ~science.a (TM) This
book could not be more timely and important.a (TM)
Nicholas C. Burbules, Grayce Wicall Gauthier Professor, University
of Illinois
a ~With research increasingly tied to State policies with the
instrumental purpose of guiding school reforms, the volume provides
an important historical and philosophical questioning of the
possibilities, limitations and challenges of education research.
Internationally leading scholars engage in a significant
conversation that is sophisticated and nuanced for understanding
contemporary debates.a (TM) Thomas S. Popkewitz, the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, USA
This publication is realized by the Research Community
(FWO-Vlaanderen / Research Foundation Flanders, Belgium) Philosophy
and History of the Discipline of Education. Evaluation and
Evolution of the Criteria for Educational Research.
General
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