Educational Research – serie

Focuses on the problematical nature of the search for 'what works' in educational contexts, in practice as well as in theory. This book seeks to go beyond simplistic notions of cause and effect and the rhetoric of performativity that grips educational thinking.

Does IT poison the minds of the young? And must educational institutions change to serve the needs of the twenty-first century? This book addresses these questions and more. It records the intellectual struggles of a group of scholars coming to grips with changes in knowledge production and research communication.

This provocative book brings together social problems, philosophy and history of education in a unique way. The editors use 'Educationalization' to identify the trend toward thinking about education as the focal point for addressing larger human problems.

The book discusses if funding is a factor in the shift of efforts of researchers from pure or basic research to more applied research, and if it encourages the development of large research teams, to the detriment of individual scholars.

This collection discusses and illustrates how educational research is affected by the economic, institutional and physical contingencies of its time, and in our time even increasingly is driven by them.

This collection addresses concepts and theories of change, contexts and functions of reform discourses, and fields of change in educational research.

This collection discusses and illustrates how educational research is affected by the economic, institutional and physical contingencies of its time, and in our time even increasingly is driven by them.

The book discusses if funding is a factor in the shift of efforts of researchers from pure or basic research to more applied research, and if it encourages the development of large research teams, to the detriment of individual scholars.

This collection addresses concepts and theories of change, contexts and functions of reform discourses, and fields of change in educational research.

This book focuses on the language of educational research as well as on the language of education. It conceives both as social practices and investigates how rhetoric plays a part in the complex process of historically situated argumentation. The book aims to answer such questions as: ‘What is the nature of the arguments and the kinds of sources one relies on?’ and ‘What kind of reasoning is offered to convince practitioners?’ Taking postmodern criticism seriously, the contributors argue that the scholar or researcher cannot indulge in relativism or be satisfied with a description of particular cases. Instead, theoreticians as well as practitioners have to engage in sound thinking and dialogue. The chapters in this volume highlight relevant characteristics of the language of educational research. In addition, attention is paid to the language of particular debates which figure prominently in the wider educational context, such as the language of goals, of parenting, citizenship and capability.

Education and educational research, according to the current fashion, are supposed to be concerned with ‘what works’, to the exclusion of all other considerations. All over the world, and particularly in the English-speaking countries, governments look for means of improving ‘student achievement’ 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 ‘what works’ 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. ‘Freedom of inquiry in educational research can no longer be taken for granted. Narrow definitions of what constitutes ‘scientific’ 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, ‘How did we arrive at this place? and ‘Where is educational research heading? Thebook illuminates the anti-intellectual consequences of a ‘what works’ mentality in education, and shows that the ostensibly ‘scientific’ revolution in educational research in fact reflects an ahistorical and conceptually muddled understanding of what actually constitutes ‘science.’ This book could not be more timely and important.’Nicholas C. Burbules, Grayce Wicall Gauthier Professor, University of Illinois‘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.’ Thomas S. Popkewitz, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USAThis 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 Reseach.

PAUL SMEYERS AND MARC DEPAEPE THE FRAMEWORK OF THE COLLABORATIVE PROJECT This is the third book that resulted from the close collaboration within the Research Community ‘Philosophy and History of the Discipline of Education: Evaluation and Evolution of the Criteria for Educational Research’, established by the Research Foun- 1 dation Flanders, Belgium (Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek – Vlaanderen). From the beginning, the aim of the network has been to combine research c- cerning the history and nature of the discipline with the science of education. Clarification, evaluation and justification of the different modes and paradigms of educational research are thus taken into account. The academics involved in this network share the belief that there is a place within the discipline of education for so-called foundationalist approaches. This is not, however, to answer a need for a (new) foundation, but to systematically study a particular area from a discipli- oriented stance. The essays, published in 2003 under the title Beyond Empiricism: On Criteria for Educational Research (Smeyers and Depaepe, 2003), bear witness to the belief that educational theory cannot help but go beyond empirical educational research to provide a real understanding of education as a human practice. Edu- tional research is discussed respectively as a social discourse, as a discursive practice, in relation to epistemological issues and in the light of questions of ethics.

This provocative book brings together social problems, philosophy and history of education in a unique way. The editors use 'Educationalization' to identify the trend toward thinking about education as the focal point for addressing larger human problems.

The book explores factors that have made educational researchers dependent on statistics, and examines their use in such areas as the maltreatment of children, European citizenship, well-being and happiness, illegal migrants, and university expansion.

This book focuses on the language of educational research as well as on the language of education. It conceives both as social practices and investigates how rhetoric plays a part in the complex process of historically situated argumentation. The book aims to answer such questions as: ‘What is the nature of the arguments and the kinds of sources one relies on?’ and ‘What kind of reasoning is offered to convince practitioners?’ Taking postmodern criticism seriously, the contributors argue that the scholar or researcher cannot indulge in relativism or be satisfied with a description of particular cases. Instead, theoreticians as well as practitioners have to engage in sound thinking and dialogue. The chapters in this volume highlight relevant characteristics of the language of educational research. In addition, attention is paid to the language of particular debates which figure prominently in the wider educational context, such as the language of goals, of parenting, citizenship and capability.

The book explores factors that have made educational researchers dependent on statistics, and examines their use in such areas as the maltreatment of children, European citizenship, well-being and happiness, illegal migrants, and university expansion.

The closely argued and provocative contributions to this volume challenge psychology’s hegemony as an interpretive paradigm in a range of social contexts such as education and child development. They start from the core observation that modern psychology has successfully penetrated numerous domains of society in its quest to develop a properly scientific methodology for analyzing the human mind and behaviour. For example, educational psychology continues to hold a central position in the curricula of trainee teachers in the US, while the language of developmental psychology holds primal sway over our understanding of childrearing and the parent-child relationship.Questioning the default position of modern psychology as a way of conceptualizing human relations, this collection of papers reexamines key assumptions that include psychology’s self-image as a ‘scientific’ discipline. Authors also argue that the dogma of neuropsychology in education has demoted concepts such as ‘emotion’, ‘feeling’ and ‘relationship’, so that they are now ’blind spots’ in educational theory. Other chapters offer a cautionary analysis of how misshapen notions of psychology can legitimize eugenics (as in Nazi Germany) and poison racial attitudes. Above all, has psychology, with its focus on individual merit, been complicit in hiding the impacts of power and privilege in education? This bracing new volume adopts a broader definition of education and childrearing that admits the essential contribution of the humanities to the proper study of mankind.This publication, as well as the ones that are mentioned in the preliminary pages of this work, were realized by the Research Community (FWO Vlaanderen / Research Foundation Flanders, Belgium) Philosophy and History of the Discipline of Education: Faces and Spaces of Educational Research.

This collection of fresh analyses aims to map the links between educational theory and research, and the geographical and physical spaces in which teaching is practiced and discussed. The authors combine historical and philosophical perspectives in examining the differing institutional loci of education research, and also assess the potential and the limitations of each. The contributors trace the effects of ‘space’ on educational practice in the classroom, in the broader institutions, and in the academic discipline of education—doing so for a range of international contexts. The chapters address various topics relating to the physical and geographical environment. How, for example, does geographical space shape researchers’ mental frameworks? How did the learning environments in which young children are taught today evolve? To what extent did parochialism shape America’s higher education system? How can our understanding of classroom practice be enhanced by concepts of space? The book acknowledges that texts themselves, as well as the research ‘arena’, are ‘spaces’ too, and notes the fascinating debate on the concept of space in the field of mathematics education. Indeed, as more and more students move online, the book analyses the rising importance of virtual spaces such as Web 2.0, which have major educational implications for researchers and students joining the innovative ‘virtual’ universities of the future.This publication, as well as the ones that are mentioned in the preliminary pages of this work, were realized by the Research Community (FWO Vlaanderen / Research Foundation Flanders, Belgium) Philosophy and History of the Discipline of Education: Faces and Spaces of Educational Research.

This collection of fresh analyses aims to map the links between educational theory and research, and the geographical and physical spaces in which teaching is practiced and discussed. The authors combine historical and philosophical perspectives in examining the differing institutional loci of education research, and also assess the potential and the limitations of each. The contributors trace the effects of ‘space’ on educational practice in the classroom, in the broader institutions, and in the academic discipline of education—doing so for a range of international contexts. The chapters address various topics relating to the physical and geographical environment. How, for example, does geographical space shape researchers’ mental frameworks? How did the learning environments in which young children are taught today evolve? To what extent did parochialism shape America’s higher education system? How can our understanding of classroom practice be enhanced by concepts of space? The book acknowledges that texts themselves, as well as the research ‘arena’, are ‘spaces’ too, and notes the fascinating debate on the concept of space in the field of mathematics education. Indeed, as more and more students move online, the book analyses the rising importance of virtual spaces such as Web 2.0, which have major educational implications for researchers and students joining the innovative ‘virtual’ universities of the future.This publication, as well as the ones that are mentioned in the preliminary pages of this work, were realized by the Research Community (FWO Vlaanderen / Research Foundation Flanders, Belgium) Philosophy and History of the Discipline of Education: Faces and Spaces of Educational Research.

The closely argued and provocative contributions to this volume challenge psychology’s hegemony as an interpretive paradigm in a range of social contexts such as education and child development. They start from the core observation that modern psychology has successfully penetrated numerous domains of society in its quest to develop a properly scientific methodology for analyzing the human mind and behaviour. For example, educational psychology continues to hold a central position in the curricula of trainee teachers in the US, while the language of developmental psychology holds primal sway over our understanding of childrearing and the parent-child relationship.Questioning the default position of modern psychology as a way of conceptualizing human relations, this collection of papers reexamines key assumptions that include psychology’s self-image as a ‘scientific’ discipline. Authors also argue that the dogma of neuropsychology in education has demoted concepts such as ‘emotion’, ‘feeling’ and ‘relationship’, so that they are now ’blind spots’ in educational theory. Other chapters offer a cautionary analysis of how misshapen notions of psychology can legitimize eugenics (as in Nazi Germany) and poison racial attitudes. Above all, has psychology, with its focus on individual merit, been complicit in hiding the impacts of power and privilege in education? This bracing new volume adopts a broader definition of education and childrearing that admits the essential contribution of the humanities to the proper study of mankind.This publication, as well as the ones that are mentioned in the preliminary pages of this work, were realized by the Research Community (FWO Vlaanderen / Research Foundation Flanders, Belgium) Philosophy and History of the Discipline of Education: Faces and Spaces of Educational Research.

The twelve chapters are preceded by an introduction where issues of plurality and diversity in the study of education are at centre stage and followed by an Epilogue written by the Editors of the Springer Series Educational Research.