Thinking in Education Research examines the resources available from philosophy and theory that can be practically applied to any educational research project. Nick Peim argues that the current well-established divide between theory and the empirical in research methods is unhelpful to students. Instead, Thinking in Education Research looks at major lines of thinking in modern European philosophy, from Kant to Freud and Derrida to Malabou, and how they provide a rich resource for every stage of conducting research. By getting students engaged in 'how to think' and 'how to do', Peim illustrates that thinking is in fact a vital part of how you do research and is not an aside. Essential aspects of the research endeavour are re-examined in the light of key philosophical positions to offer constructive potential, including: - defining the object; - giving an account of the field; - the relation to truth; - the process of writing and constructing a case; and - the value attributed to formal knowledge. Thinking in Education Research does not try to resolve the unresolved issues of research thinking but rather encourages readers to productively engage with them so that we can enhance the possibilities of research practice and find opportunities for its expansion and refinement. Throughout the chapters, clear and concise summaries of key philosophical positions and ideas are complemented with boxed accounts of how the philosophical debates discussed can be applied to real research projects. These features encourage the reader to consider how they can develop thinking and apply theory at every stage of their own research. This is essential reading for any educational research methods student or practicing researcher for important ways of thinking afresh about research methodology.

Addressing questions about representation, this book critically explores the potential of different types of visual material to illuminate historical studies. The contributions in this collection range from explorations of picture schemes used in 19th century classrooms to contemporary popular representations of schooling. Film and photographic images are considered in specific contexts, presenting case studies along with theoretical reflections about methods, values and they very nature of historical studies. Images are examined in children's literature, in the induction of history of education students, in the recreation of past practices and in the promotion of government policies. Visions of education are put along-side discussion of' the visual turn', its value to historians, its relations with questions about the construction of knowledge and the archive. A range of positions on the visual are represented in the collection. Without presenting an orthodoxy the book aims to promote new awarenesses of this important aspect of education history and the issues it raises.

Rethinking the Politics of Education provides an entirely original rethinking of the modern and contemporary mythology of education. Problematizing the ideas concerning education as fulfilment and redemption, the book critically reviews the association of education with projects of social justice, democracy and improvement. This book argues for a fundamental rethinking of what education is, exploring how things stand with education and educational apparatuses in the contemporary world. It examines relations between educational discourses and their implied ontological stances and offers new ways of thinking that draw on ontological positions from psychoanalytical, philosophical and social discourses. The book contends that education is an essential form of politics and must be understood through a careful examination of its history modes of operation and its basic structures, rather than an idealized version of what it might be. Presenting an original and alternative account of a theoretically informed political ontology of education, the book will be of great interest to academics, researchers and postgraduate students interested in the philosophy of education, the politics of education, educational theory and the sociology of education.

The English teacher today works in an area whose very identity as a subject for study in secondary schools is open to doubt. Increasingly, it is becoming clear that the values and beliefs which have formed traditional English tend to devalue, or at least to exclude the experience of most students. At the same time, the tools of critical theory have become, in the context of higher education, the means to make the subject still more rarefied and more distant from everyday experience. In this exploration, Nick Peim, himself a practising English teacher, shows how the insights of discourse theory, psychology of language and deconstruction can be used on the material of modern culture from the news media to advertisements and pop songs, as well as on literature, traditionally defined, and in oral work. Throughout, he writes in a style which even those with no background in critical theory should find approachable, and backs his arguments with practical classroom examples.

In this radical exploration, Nick Peim, himself a practising English teacher, shows how teachers can use critical theory to bring students' own experience back into the subject. The author explains how the insights of discourse theory, psychoanalysis, semiotics and deconstruction can be used on the material of modern culture as well as on and in oral work. The book is written in a style which even those with no background in critical theory will find approachable, and arguments are backed up with practical classroom examples.

Thinking in Education Research examines the resources available from philosophy and theory that can be practically applied to any educational research project. Nick Peim argues that the current well-established divide between theory and the empirical in research methods is unhelpful to students. Instead, Thinking in Education Research looks at major lines of thinking in modern European philosophy, from Kant to Freud and Derrida to Malabou, and how they provide a rich resource for every stage of conducting research. By getting students engaged in 'how to think' and 'how to do', Peim illustrates that thinking is in fact a vital part of how you do research and is not an aside. Essential aspects of the research endeavour are re-examined in the light of key philosophical positions to offer constructive potential, including: - defining the object; - giving an account of the field; - the relation to truth; - the process of writing and constructing a case; and - the value attributed to formal knowledge. Thinking in Education Research does not try to resolve the unresolved issues of research thinking but rather encourages readers to productively engage with them so that we can enhance the possibilities of research practice and find opportunities for its expansion and refinement. Throughout the chapters, clear and concise summaries of key philosophical positions and ideas are complemented with boxed accounts of how the philosophical debates discussed can be applied to real research projects. These features encourage the reader to consider how they can develop thinking and apply theory at every stage of their own research. This is essential reading for any educational research methods student or practicing researcher for important ways of thinking afresh about research methodology.

This is an engaging exploration of the philosophies that illuminate and shape current practice to provide a fresh look at how we think about education and improvement. Offering a philosophical perspective to the educational improvement agenda, this engaging text provides a new language for research into educational improvement, bringing leading edge philosophy to current practice. Drawing on philosophical work, including that of Derrida, Foucault and Heidegger, the authors deconstruct the ethic of improvement before exploring key dimensions of education, its institutions and technologies. Each chapter draws on international case studies, provides engaging questions and makes suggestions for further reading to support the reader. Topics covered include: The Ethic of Improvement; Teacher Education; Leadership and Management; Lifelong Learning; The Rhetoric of Numbers; The governance of childhood; and, The state of education research. It is an essential text for all looking at how we think and talk about education and improvement.