One of the important determinants of development during the transition to adulthood is the undertaking of social roles characteristic of adults, also in the area of finishing formal education, which usually coincides with beginning fulltime employment. In the study discussed in this paper, it has been hypothesized that continuing full-time education above the age of 26, a phenomenon rarely observed in Poland, can be considered as an unpunctual event that may be connected with difficulties in the process of identity formation. (...) Relationships between identity dimensions and identity statuses, and age and educational context were analyzed. 693 individuals aged 19-35 took part in the study. The participants attended three types of educational institutions: full-time university studies, part-time university studies, and full-time post-secondary school. Among the students of full-time university studies predictable dependencies, also in respect of highlevels of indicators of identity crisis and a high frequency of diffused identity occurrence, were observed. Such dependencies were not found in the group of full-time post-secondary school students. (shrink)

Higher education has been changing radically in recent years, with increasing numbers of students, and complaints about declining standards. This volume brings together leading intellectuals from the US and UK to examine the issues involved.

It is not uncommon in educational research and social science in general either to eschew the word truth or to put it in scare quotes in order to signify scepticism about it. After the initial wave of relativism in the philosophy of natural science, a second wave has developed in social science with the rise of postmodernism and poststructuralism. The tendency here is to relativise truth or to bracket out questions of truth. In contradistinction, this paper revindicates the (...) metaphysical nature of truth. Truth is a transcendental precondition of educational inquiry and is best understood as a formal, regulative norm. Realism about truth enjoins a defence of the correspondence theory, which is provided here. At the same time, however, the development of realism in the social sciences has ironically followed the postmodernists in its scepticism about truth and its rejection of the correspondence theory. This paper critically appraises such recent developments, since all research is unintelligible without realism about the social world and whether our substantive knowledge-claims correspond with it. (shrink)

Owing to the growing internationalisation of research, educational researchers in the Netherlands are increasingly expected to publish through the medium of the English language. Though this undoubtedly benefits the communication between scholars, there are also side-effects. This paper discusses problematic issues from three perspectives: (i) the use of a non-native language for communication between scholars in the area of education; (ii) the use either exclusively, or not, of a publication record of such publications for purposes of recruitment and (...) promotion of staff; (iii) the relationships between research groups of different disciplines and/or universities. It will be argued that the demand to publish exclusively in a non-native language has damaging effects as far as the context of education is concerned. Not only will it lead to a denial of one's own background and culture, but the uniformisation, (which is the result of it), will also stifle the rich educational landscape by allowing the publication only of items of international interest. The model of the natural sciences is not adequate for the context of education because of the necessarily more local character of the content of educational problems and production of strategies to deal with these. Thus it will become clear that the integrity of the educational researcher is at stake as the research area is selected. (shrink)

Since the advent of the twenty-first century, science has experienced a crisis pertaining to the replicability of quantitative research findings, which has become known as the ‘replication crisis’. The replication crisis has particularly afflicted research in the behavioural sciences, and psychology in particular. Given the relevance of psychology to education, it is unsurprising that the replication crisis also presents an issue for quantitative educational research, thus potentially compromising its practical usefulness. This article outlines the replication crisis (...) in psychology, and highlights its significance for quantitative educational research. Greater methodological rigour, aimed at addressing methodological deficiencies in the conduct of scientific research, has been suggested as a response to the replication crisis. Following a review of various calls for greater methodological rigour, the current article argues that, whilst methodological deficiencies may be a contributory factor, there is potentially a more fundamental reason for the replication crisis. The case is made that the non-separability of a measured attribute from the measurement instrument, and the irreducible uncertainty in unmeasured attributes, may be the principal reasons for the replication crisis in psychology and education. Implications of such an explanation for the crisis are articulated in relation to the evidence-based policy agenda in education. (shrink)

This paper draws on several projects over sixteen years which attempted to develop capacity in educational research at Addis Ababa University. It identifies what might be considered indicators of a thriving research environment as defined from a UK perspective, not simply the necessary skills and infrastructure requirements but also what might be considered 'academic' or 'intellectual' virtues. Having outlined specific project activities, our responses and mutual learning, the paper goes on to consider how such qualities might relate (...) to an Ethiopian academic setting where cultural norms and political contexts have tended to encourage silence and caution rather than critique and argument. Thus through these comparisons, I argue that research capacity building is not just a body of knowledge or set of techniques to be delivered through workshops, but is about the importance of developing a research culture which engages with the underlying attitudes that derive from the country context. (shrink)

Wilfred Carr; Can Educational Research be Scientific?, Journal of Philosophy of Education, Volume 17, Issue 1, 30 May 2006, Pages 35–43, https://doi.org/10.1111.

Professor Richard Pring's BJES Vol. 48, No. 1 editorial shares a widespread unease regarding government centralisation of state-funded research (not only on education). Unfortunately the editorial compromises with this trend by suggesting it is obvious to academic experts where research should be so concentrated. Instead, an alternative model of research is advocated to counter so far as is possible the tendency towards centralisation.

We begin by examining the widespread scepticism about the value of empirical educational research that is found within sections of the philosophy of education community. We argue that this scepticism, in its strongest form, is incoherent as it suggests that there are no educational facts susceptible of discovery. On the other hand, if there are such facts, then commonsense is not an adequate way of accessing them, due to its own contested and variable nature. We go on (...) to examine the claim that teaching is a moral enterprise whose successful pursuit demands the grasp of moral concepts and their implications. We show that while this is the case, it is a necessary, not a sufficient condition for successful teaching, which also requires a grasp of facts that are relevant to effective teaching and learning. Finally we examine some protocols for educational research. (shrink)

It is one sign of the lack of understanding of the value of the humanities, to educational research and inquiry as well as to our world more widely, that such justifications of them as are offered frequently take a crudely instrumental form. The humanities are welcomed insofar as they are beneficial to the economy, for example, or play a therapeutic role in people's physical or mental well-being. In higher education in the UK, they are marginalized for similar reasons, (...) on the grounds that they neither appeal to the lucrative overseas student market nor constitute a significant source of grant income from research councils, industry, or other funding sources. While their place in educational research is still defended in many quarters, the increasing demand that research should have “impact” can leave the humanities appearing ineffectual. Furthermore, the very idea of research is widely taken to mandate empiricist and “scientific” approaches. Although there are no easy solutions to this state of things, Richard Smith argues in this essay that those of us who value the humanities in and for themselves might adopt two approaches in particular: to pursue vigilant criticism of the rampant instrumentalism and scientism of our time, and to emphasize the importance of that distinctive feature of humane inquiry: interpretation. (shrink)

The turn to cosmopolitanism in educational research on citizenship education is indicative of a wider discourse of cosmopolitanism evident throughout social and cultural policy. This discourse represents a more 'light-hearted' use of the term than the philosophical tradition offers. This discourse should not be dismissed, however, but, instead, attention should be paid to who the citizen is that is addressed by such language. An analysis informed by Foucault's concept of governmentality draws attention to the way in which the (...) discourse of cosmopolitanism relates to the entrepreneurial self and the form of accountability demanded of the knowledge economy. A particular understanding of citizenship and of our relations to others becomes apparent. In educational research on citizenship education, cosmopolitanism is afforded a problem-solving role in relation to globalisation and, more specifically, diversity. Attention is drawn to a meta-level, of the role of particular forms of research in answering to the demand for accountability. Research practice in educational research, or more specifically, education policy sociology concerned with citizenship education, is conducted in terms of the policy language it seeks to critique. Rather than seeking the openness associated with cosmopolitanism, therefore, such research is itself accountable to the demands for particular knowledge of the citizenry. This treatment is also evident in contemporary urban planning policy, similarly concerned with cosmopolitanism as a response to diversity and inclusion. In the current discourse of cosmopolitanism, 'diversity', 'inclusion' and indeed 'citizenship' operate in particular ways through social and educational policy that rather than being dismissed should be addressed due to their role in the construction of contemporary citizenship. (shrink)

Concise, engaging and accessible, Education Research: The Basics discusses key ideas about the nature and purpose of education research: what it can and cannot achieve, how it has been used over the years and where and how it has had an impact. Providing crucial background for understanding key thinkers in the field such as Plato, Dewey, Montessori and Freire, each chapter represents a way of understanding the goals and methods of research conducted in the field of education. (...) With key terms and further reading throughout, this book is a must-read for anyone undertaking or interested in research in the field of education. (shrink)

Ulrich Herrmann, 1993, claimed concerning the Enlightenment that there is a close relationship between educational theory and politics. On the one hand, in itse.

The issue of methodology is a fundamental concern for all who engage in educational research. Presenting a series of methodological dialogues between eminent education researchers including Michael Apple, Gert Biesta, Penny Enslin, John Hattie, Nel Noddings, Michael Peters, Richard Pring and Paul Smeyers, this book explores the ways in which they have chosen and developed research methods to style their investigations and frame their arguments. These dialogues address the specialized and technical aspects of conducting educational (...) class='Hi'>research, conceptualize the relationship between methodology and theory, and provide in-depth discussion of concerns including falsifiability, openness, interpretation and researcher judgement. Foregrounding the researchers' first-hand experience and knowledge, this book will provide future and current researchers with a deeper comprehension of the place of theory in education research. An illuminating resource for undergraduate and postgraduate researchers alike, Theory and Philosophy in Education Researchconfronts the intricate complexities of conducting education research in a highly engaging and accessible way. (shrink)

This paper examines the way in which recent criticisms of the work of primary school teachers in Britain, most notably those entailed in and following the publication of the so-called 'Three Wise Men's Report', have attempted to redefine the professional identity of early years teachers. The paper objects to the manner in which their critiques have been formulated and calls upon educational researchers to adopt a less reverential attitude to government proposals for the reform of primary education in general (...) and early years schooling in particular. (shrink)

Educational Research is commonly regarded as a rational pursuit aimed at the production of objective knowledge. Researchers are expected to avoid value bias by detaching themselves from the normative conceptions of education that shape practice in schools and classrooms, and by casting themselves in the role of the impartial spectator. It is assumed that, as a rational pursuit, educational research is not directly concerned with changing practice but simply with discovering facts about it.This paper claims that (...) it is possible to construct a view of educational research as a form of rational and disciplined inquiry that does not depend on any underpinning spectator theory of knowledge. Nor, the paper claims, does it imply any underpinning foundational principles of rational action and choice. Rather it implies a form of disciplined conversation in which reasons for action are scrutinised, critiqued and modified without resort to foundational principles of rationality. Drawing particularly on the work of John Dewey, Richard Rorty and Amartya Sen, the paper casts educational research as a practical science—a form of action research—that is underpinned by a democratic conception of rationality. In doing so, it contrasts educational research, shaped by a pragmatic theory of knowledge, with research on education that is shaped by a spectator theory. (shrink)

_Decolonizing Educational Research_ examines the ways through which coloniality manifests in contexts of knowledge and meaning making, specifically within educational research and formal schooling. Purposefully situated beyond popular deconstructionist theory and anthropocentric perspectives, the book investigates the longstanding traditions of oppression, racism, and white supremacy that are systemically reseated and reinforced by learning and social interaction. Through these meaningful explorations into the unfixed and often interrupted narratives of culture, history, place, and identity, a bold, timely, and hopeful (...) vision emerges to conceive of how research in secondary and higher education institutions might break free of colonial genealogies and their widespread complicities. (shrink)

Education Research and the Question(s) of Time is a seminal volume edited by David R. Cole, Mehri Mirzaei Rafe, and Gui Ying Annie Yang-Heim (2024), which offers an in-depth exploration of the ubiq...

Ethnographic fieldwork is subject to a number of tensions regarding the position of the researcher. Traditionally, these are discussed from a methodological perspective, and draw attention to issues such as ‘objectivity’ of the research and the supposed need for ‘distance’ in the process of knowledge-building. Approaching the issue from a different angle, this article provides a reflection on the positionality of the researcher through an autoethnographical account based on fieldwork with socially excluded groups. Rather than reflecting on the (dis)advantages (...) of proximity for the research process, it explores from a personal stance how this role interacts with other roles in the researcher's life (e.g. being a volunteer, a citizen, an advocate, a moral being). Increased awareness about this intrinsic positionality of the researcher calls for a situated conceptualisation of professionalism and science. The author furthermore explores how an autoethnographical approach relates to educational research and su.. (shrink)

The authors draw on literary theory, anthropology and sociology in order to construct alternative ways of reading and writing educational research, and come to terms with postmodernism and deconstruction.

Educational research has been criticised recently for being poorly conceived, self-indulgent and of little practical use. These allegations are discussed via an overview of the various functions of educational research: the production of knowledge about education, the formulation of educational policy, the promotion of improvements in educational practice, the promotion of radical change in society. The responsibilities of educational researchers are then discussed: proper attention to the functions of educational research, accountability (...) for monies spent, recognition of responsibility for their activities. The pressures exerted by external funding bodies and the distorting effects of the research assessment exercise in the UK affect our sense of priorities here. (shrink)

Much education research takes place under a convenient but spurious assumption that there is a common purpose to education research, and a common epistemology. This book takes a clear-sighted and perceptive look at the underlying truths of education research, and in refining our understanding of the subject paves the way to improving our methods and practice. It addresses the theoretical conceptual elements educational discourses that inform most debates about educational research, including: education and its (...) relationship to research; the problems and possibilities of quantification; and the diversity of methods researchers can use to create theory. In a second section the book explores these issues as they relate to a number of current and controversial debates in education, such as: researching school effectiveness; the study of curriculum, policy, sociology and anthropology; and the role of post-modern though in debates on education. (shrink)

This essay defines and critiques ‘methodocentrism’, the belief that predetermined research methods are the determining factor in the validity and importance of educational research. By examining research in science studies and posthumanism, the authors explain how this methodocentrism disenables research from taking account of problems and non-human actants that are presumed to be of no importance or value in existing social science research methodologies, both qualitative and quantitative. Building from a critique of these methods (...) as profoundly anthropocentric, the authors examine three crucial problematics in which methodocentrism functions in educational research: the institutionalization of graduate training, a wide-spread privileging of the visual, and the seeming necessity of ‘data’ in social scientific research methodologies. Ultimately, this article does not reject the necessity of particular studies having methods—rigorous, philosophically grounded approaches to problems in the world—but it argues that the belief that methods must be selected from existing options and assembled before approaching the ‘objects’ of study is not only a form of bad science, it is also deeply implicated in anthropocentric and colonialist politics. Instead, what research requires today is a thorough rethinking of the very distinction between subject and object and a renewed questioning of how agency functions in specific research settings. (shrink)

The latest book in the Philosophy, Theory, and Educational Research series introduces the main philosophical and theoretical ideas of recent western feminisms as it applies to educational research. Unlike other books that focus on these topics, the authors present a balanced overview of the issues, instead of pushing a particular perspective.

Educational research is widely believed to be essentially empirical, consisting mainly of collecting and analysing data, with randomised control trials as the 'gold standard'. This book argues that good educational research is often philosophical in nature. Offering a critical overview of the current state of educational research, the authors argue that there are two factors in particular that distort it. One is that throughout the world it is expected to serve the interests of the (...) state in securing educational improvements, as measured by standardised examination results, and to demonstrate 'scientific' credentials sufficient to guarantee absence of ideological bias and carry conviction. The other is that learning to do educational research is generally seen as a matter of being trained in empirical 'research methods'. The authors demonstrate, by contrast, that good educational research needs the rigorous thinking characteristic of philosophy, and that philosophical treatments themselves sometimes constitute such research. (shrink)

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"--Publisher's description. (shrink)

Baez and Boyle provide evidence that educational research is inherently political and shapes how we look at the world, what research questions we ask, and what counts as a valid answer. They show how those who hold powerful governmental and academic positions advocate for and limit funding to research that is positivistic and elevates the natural sciences above all other forms of science. Such an approach not only marginalizes other forms of science but also slights ethical (...) questions of good and right action. Moreover, this narrow view of science guides what research the government, foundations, and corporations fund, what academic journals are held up as most prestigious, which research is published, and what .. (shrink)

In the mathematics education research literature, there is a growing body of scholarship on how mathematicians practice their craft. The purpose of this chapter is to survey some of this literature and explain how it can contribute to the philosophy of mathematical practice. We first describe how mathematics educators use empirical methodologies to investigate the behaviors of mathematicians and argue that findings from these studies can inform the philosophy of mathematical practice. We then illustrate this by summarizing research (...) on mathematicians’ understandings and mathematicians’ proof reading. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Using a five-point Likert scale survey and a follow-up open-ended questionnaire, this study examined Chinese participants’ perceptions of their ethical responsibilities as educational researchers as well as their ethical awareness as human subjects. The participants were 418 faculty and graduate students from two specific Chinese schools, where the first two educational research ethics committees were recently established in Chinese higher education. Results indicate that participants demonstrate basic understanding of their ethical responsibilities as educational researchers and (...) develop their general sense of ethical awareness as human subjects. Further, there are significant gender, faculty versus graduate student status, and research experience effects on their perceptions of general ethical issues in educational research. Important implications for research ethics education in China are discussed. (shrink)

The use of phenomenology and phenomenography as a method in the educational research literature has risen in popularity, particularly by researchers who are interested in understanding and generati...

This paper considers the role of the British Educational Research Association (BERA) in promoting the improvement of UK research over the past 27 years. The views of some BERA representatives, as expressed at Conferences, in occasional publications and particularly in the pages of Research Intelligence, suggest a certain complacency. These representatives have devoted considerable effort to defending the existing quality of research, arguing for greater funding, and explaining how it is that educational research (...) is so much more difficult than in any other field of endeavour. Some effort has been devoted to making more people aware of the value of existing research, but relatively little attention appears to be devoted to rallying the field to improve. This paper suggests that this relative emphasis should be adjusted, and presents a few examples of ways in which the BERA of the future, if it is to survive in strength, as it should, might address these deficiencies. In my opinion, BERA as the sole professional organization of UK educational researchers should be leading our way rather more on this, and not merely acting as our apologist. (shrink)

The aesthetic functional education of film art lies in the fact that Chinese people of their background in traditional culture, can be influenced and infected by truth, goodness, and beauty through excellent film works and develop empathy in the ritualized activity of watching movies. The animation film "30,000 Miles from Chang’an" combines historical narrative previous historical cultural and artistic aesthetics, presenting a colorful world of aesthetic education. The film is based on traditional poetry, and is conducive to unique narrative art (...) techniques, presenting history and reality to the audience to the extensive greatest. The audience cannot appreciate the prosperity of the heyday of the Tang Dynasty from the film pictures only appreciate the charm of Tang Dynasty poetry, which enhances the audience's understanding and recognition of Chinese traditional culture. This movie provides the audience with an animated film with an opportunity to explore information about the original history that is told as a true story through this film through the traditional culture of China and enrich the audience's aesthetic experience and cultural literacy. Interestingly, the film system of China and the socialist film system were established at this stage and exerted a continuous influence on the political, economic, social, and cultural fields. (shrink)

Judgements concerning proper or appropriate educational endeavour, methods of investigation and philosophising about education necessarily implicate perspectives, values, assumptions and beliefs. In recent years ideas from the complexity sciences have been utilised in many domains including psychology, economics, architecture, social science and education. This paper addresses questions concerning the appropriateness of utilising complexity science in educational research as well as issues relating to the ways in which complexity might be engaged. I suggest that, just like all human (...) endeavour, approaches to research emerge out of discursive communities and can be understood as self‐organising, dynamic and emergent over time. In this formulation, complexity represents one such newly emergent approach. I argue that it is important that researchers partake in critical and reflective discourse about the nature of education and conceptual frameworks, as well as about impacts and legacies of utilising complexity, so as to participate in and influence the ongoing emergence of educational endeavour. I conclude by suggesting a series of caveats for researchers considering using complexity in educational research. (shrink)

This article stems from a dialogue with the philosopher Pietro Montani, starting from his studies in the field of aesthetics and the philosophy of technique and from the significance of some analyzes that prompt a critical debate also with the philosophy of education. The dialogue with the international scientific community and with the theories of authors such as Vygotskij, Benjamin, Kant, Lo Piparo, Gallese, Garroni, Stiegler, Ricoeur (to mention only the authors treated in this interview) makes these reflections extremely topical (...) and attentive to developments related to the destiny of knowledge and languages in times of digital revolution and cultural and social crisis. (shrink)

Adolescent populations have become increasingly accessible through online data collection methods. Online surveys are advantageous in recruiting adolescent participants and can be designed for adol...