Exemplarity and education: Retuning educational research

This article explores the idea of exemplarity in relation to educational research and teacher education. Exemplarity is introduced as an alternative to the paradigm of evidence and ‘what works’, which seems to be omnipresent in educational research at present. The idea of exemplarity relates to the particularity of educational practice. The claim of this article is that we need to skew the dominance of functionalistic studies of education, which focus on skills and solutions to problems, or on providing quick fixes and methods to be applied in practice. I will argue that this tactic shuts down interpretive spaces and gives the teacher an illusion of simplicity and efficacy that connects poorly with the complexities of pedagogical practice. Exemplarity provides a different way of answering the question of ‘what works’, since it does not claim generalisability, but instead offers a path to reflective engagement with the complexities of educational processes. The idea of exemplarity highlights how educators can be invited to lend an ear to practical experience and pedagogical theorising, and through these develop their tact and reflective abilities through exemplars that display pedagogical principles. This, in turn, offers the possibility of retuning one’s practice, and in the scope of this article, retuning educational research itself.     

The Interplay of Psychology and Mathematics Education: From the Attraction of Psychology to the Discovery of the Social

It is a rather safe statement to claim that the social dimensions of the scientific process are accepted in a fair share of studies in the philosophy of science. It is a somewhat safe statement to claim that the social dimensions are now seen as an essential element in the understanding of what human cognition is and how it functions. But it would be a rather unsafe statement to claim that the social is fully accepted in the philosophy of mathematics. And we are not quite sure what kind of statement it is to claim that the social dimensions in theories of mathematics education are becoming more prominent, compared to the psychological dimensions. In our contribution we will focus, after a brief presentation of the above claims, on this particular domain to understand the successes and failures of the development of theories of mathematics education that focus on the social and not primarily on the psychological.     

On Going (Way) Beyond One’s Data: A Proposal to Restrict Recommendations for Practice in Primary Educational Research Journals

To counteract what we see as a growing research-reporting concern, we propose the following editorial-policy change regarding the content of primary research articles in educational research journals: Contributors should restrict their discussion and conclusions to their data and not offer recommendations for educational practice nor speculate about the educational policy implications of their research. We believe that this change will be beneficial for maintaining a separation between evidence and opinion concerning the legitimate warrants of empirical research. We suggest viable accompaniments and alternatives to authors offering practical recommendations and policy speculations in primary-research journal articles. Among these is to rely on all sources of evidence, including systematic research syntheses based on the aggregated contribution of multiple research studies from different sources, with recommendations for practice tailored to specific situations so that both their validity and utility will be increased. It is hoped that our proposed policy change will initiate a conversation among researchers, editors, reviewers, and educational-policy experts with respect to the scope and purpose of primary research journal articles.     

What is implied when researchers claim to use a theory?

The focus of this article is on the use of theories and on what we imply when we in research claim to use a theory. In this article, diverse uses of one theory will be illustrated with reference to 10 different studies. The aim is not to evaluate or judge how the theory is used in these studies, but to discuss how the diverse uses of one and the same theory may infer very different things in research. Questions are raised about what happens with the hierarchy and the coherence of an argument and what conclusions can be drawn when only some parts of a theory are used.     

Papier‐mach(in)e: Thinking with “sticky” paper in the cloud

There is nothing less about paper and its use when it comes to academic study as we experience increasingly converging media spaces and functionalities of online applications within the screens of our laptops, mobile phones and tablet devices. The paper persists, and the paperless office, classroom and pedagogy become nothing but pure rhetoric. Hence, it is most pertinent to focus on paper and its “stickiness” in maintaining educational structures and practices. Usually hidden from view or neglected in educational technology studies is a consideration on how we think and interact not only with our mind but also with our heads and limbs. This paper will argue that paper has a composite place or bearing, a kind of stickiness to our technologised bodies, digital mobilities and hybrid practices in what I have coined here as papier‐mach(in)e. This claim will be supported by evidence that demonstrates how we simply think both practically and pathically and that our mobilities in media and physical spaces are in one form or another meshed with paper. In fact, a drive towards a paperless classroom or pedagogy is without much foundation when it comes to mobilising a sustainable agenda for technology‐enhanced learning.     

Lockean Puzzles

In analytic moral philosophy it is standard to use unrealistic puzzles to set up moral dilemmas of a sort that I will call Lockean Puzzles. This paper will try to pinpoint just what is and what is not problematic about their use as a teaching tool or component part of philosophical arguments. I will try to flesh out the claim that what may be lost sight of in such Lockean puzzling is the personal dimension of moral deliberation—for example, moral problems differ from technical problems in the sense that they are non-transferable, we cannot hand them over to others for solution.     

Culturally responsive pedagogy: A New Zealand case study

Abstract

This paper examines the justification for a culturally responsive educational initiative to raise the educational underachievement of Māori students in New Zealand. The initiative is justified by claims that the recognition in the classroom of a student’s cultural identity will lead to the student’s educational achievement. Using an account of a small study of teachers and their beliefs regarding New Zealand’s culturally responsive educational policy Kia Eke Panuku, we argue that such a claim is not established and it is the development of an epistemic identity which is more likely to be the means for Māori to attain educational success.     

教育改革的文化矛盾

政治、经济和文化领域各有其轴心原则,映射在教育之上就会产生不同的教育诉求：政治领域的轴心原则是平等,其教育诉求为实现教育公平;经济领域的轴心原则是效率,其教育诉求为提高教育质量;文化领域的轴心原则是自我实现,其教育诉求为学生自由发展。不同的教育诉求互相角力,导致教育改革矛盾重重。由于文化被赋予变革的先导功能,因此可以从文化领域入手,将其作为推进当前我国教育改革的着力点,这有助于教育回归人本,实现每一个学生自由全面发展,进而促使教育公平、教育质量和教育自由相辅相成、互动共生。     

Lifting a corner of the research rug: a case for meta-interviews in qualitative studies

The degree to which knowledge can be abstracted from the situations in which it is constructed has received criticism in recent years. There is growing awareness of the importance of the interrelationship between the content of what is said and the context in which it is said. Some researchers contend that if we ignore the situated nature of cognition, we defeat our own goal of providing robust, useful knowledge. What are the implications of such a claim for the practice of educational research? More specifically, what are the implications for the conduct of interview-based studies in which researchers derive knowledge claims from participants’ responses? In this paper, we describe and illustrate the use of “meta-interviews”, a research strategy for enhancing the credibility of the claims made from analyses of interview data. This approach brings to light key contextual issues that are sometimes ‘swept under the rug’ when reporting research results.     

Educational Research and Policy: Epistemological Considerations

This article is centrally concerned with the sort of knowledge that can and should inform educational policy—and it treats this as an epistemological question. It distinguishes this question from the more extensively explored question of what sort of knowledge in what form policy‐makers do in fact commonly take into account. The article examines the logical and rhetorical character of policy and the components of policy decisions and argues that policy demands a much wider range of information than research typically provides. Either the research task or commission has to be substantially extended or the gap will be filled by information or thinking that is not derived from research. One of the gaps between research of an empirical kind and policy is the normative gap. In the final section the article points to the inescapably normative character of educational policy. Of course the values that inform policy can be investigated empirically, but this kind of enquiry cannot tell us what we should do. There is a role for research/scholarship and more rather than less intelligent and critical argumentation in addressing these normative questions as well as the empirical questions that underpin policy.     

取消高中文理分科:必要性与可行性的博弈

取消高中文理分科的本质是我们应该秉持一个什么样的教育价值观的问题,是培养什么样的人、如何培养人的问题。受其背后的课程、考试尤其是高考问题、深层次教育问题及文化传统等因素的影响,这决定了取消高中文理分科的系统性、复杂性,同时也导致了其必要性与可行性的博弈。厘清取消高中文理分科的缘起、本质,必要性、可能性,有利于科学决策,促进学生的健康成长和素质教育的深化。取消文理分科不宜采取一刀切的过激行为,应立足国情,借鉴世界经验,深化理论研究,进行改革试点,改善内外环境,推进配套改革,稳步有效实施。     

Educating for Intellectual Humility and Conviction

It is argued that two plausible goals of the educational enterprise are (i) to develop the intellectual character, and thus the intellectual virtues, of the student, and (ii) to develop the student's intellectual self-confidence, such that they are able to have conviction in what they believe. On the face of it, however, these two educational goals seem to be in tension with one another, at least insofar as intellectual humility is a genuine intellectual virtue. This is because intellectual humility seems to require that one does not have conviction in one's beliefs. It is argued that this tension can be avoided so long as we have the right account of intellectual humility in play. This enables us to understand what educating for intellectual humility might involve, and how it might co-exist with the educational development of a student's intellectual self-confidence.     

The Value of Education: A Reply to Andrew Reid

Andrew Reid's essay on the value of education in this journal distinguished the intrinsic features of education from what education is for, the latter being ultimately located in the promotion of personal well-being. At a meta-ethical level, this response accepts Reid's claim about ultimate location, but challenges his view that prudential goods are desire-independent, arguing for a desire-dependent conception based on supra-individual, but not always universal-human, preferences. It also questions his claim that the source of educational value lies in the intrinsic features of education, rejecting the suggestion that epistemological rather ethical considerations should be the starting-point.     

Concrete and classrooms: how schools shape educational research

The notion of ‘the school’ as a set of institutional processes and practices that shape the possibilities of educational research forms the focus of this article. It is argued that the discursive and material practices that render schools agencies of cultural reproduction also have effects for what research can be undertaken in them and how. With reference to a series of ‘episodes’ that occurred during research about young people and sexuality in New Zealand, evidence for how schools shape research endeavours is provided. These examples present a complex picture of the way in which schools simultaneously police and are regulated by symbolic boundaries of gender and sexuality. How school disciplinary power works to effect what it is possible to claim about the voluntary nature of student research participation is also explored. It is argued that through the powerful discursive and material practices that occur in schools, these institutions can impede research that attempts to transgress dominant meanings about gender and sexuality.     

Does Homeschooling “Work”? A Critique of the Empirical Claims and Agenda of Advocacy Organizations

The phenomenal growth of homeschooling in recent years demonstrates not only the appeal of this educational approach but also the notable policy acumen of the homeschooling movement's leading advocates. This analysis examines and critiques the empirical claims made by homeschooling proponents to justify further expansion and deregulation of the movement, and sheds light on the homeschool advocacy agenda explicit in those claims. Advocates often strongly suggest a causal connection between homeschooling and academic success, postsecondary attainment, and even enjoyment of life. Seemingly, these benefits are experienced all at a reduced cost per student. It is through such claims that homeschooling advocates have expanded the practice of homeschooling and have pressed for fewer state regulations and less oversight. This article outlines and challenges those claims, showing the tenuous basis for such conclusions. Instead, in an era when policymakers demand evidence of effective educational practices, we note the remarkable lack of empirical evidence on the effectiveness of this popular approach and suggest that continued efforts to claim such evidence exists indicates the desire of advocates to further advance what is largely an ideological agenda of deregulation as an end in itself.     

Educational administration and history Part 1: debating the agenda

In this first editorial paper we scope the terrain on which the JEAH is located and consider the knowledge production process that will shape the journal and, in turn, enable the journal to shape what is known and what is worth knowing. We begin by making a case for productive pluralism where we assert that the JEAH is not directly connected to a particular society or epistemic group, and so the opportunity exists for a range of work that focuses on historical understandings of educational administration to be published. We make the argument that educational administration is a field of study and practice, and that it can draw on historical perspectives and research designs to enable new insights and theoretical explanations to be developed.     

教育学的出路何在：创建新教育学

教育学无法成为学科主要是因为找错了研究对象。＂目标-手段-结果＂是教育实践的整体框架。如果我们把＂手段＂完整地理解为教育系统,这个系统既是其他学科无法研究的对象,也隐含着对教育的整体理解。在教育系统中,任何局部的信息处理和交互都可以由心理学、社会学等学科解释,但是整个教育系统何以能够具有达到具体教育目标的功能只能由教育学系统机制来解释。研究教育系统能够发展出科学与技术知识,这些知识能提升从教者对教育的理解力和行动力。因此,教育系统是教育学的研究对象,而这种教育学不再是教育术语意义上的教育学,而是新教育学。新教育学包含教育技术学、教育现象学、教育价值学三个分支,主张践行以设计为中心的研究范式。新教育学不宣布一般的教育目的是什么,而是为制定清晰合理的教育目的和目标提供理论支撑;不关注泛泛的方法模式,而关注如何具体问题具体分析地设计教育系统以达到具体的目标;不关注有效性,而关注教育实践中的一致性;不关注人成长和社会发展的规律,而关注教育自身的规律;不关注实践的成功,而关注教育系统的缺陷。新教育学作为后发学科虽已开始,但其走向实践,转化为教育生产力的路还很长,至少需要在人员素质、实情数据以及软件工具等多方面做好准备。     

The implementation of best education practices for a student severely affected by autism

In this article, we describe an inclusive educational programme for a young boy severely affected by autism. The programme is exemplary not only academically, but also in terms of what children need socially and emotionally. It represents best practices in action. Given the wide agreement about what constitutes best education practices, but the lack of information about how to achieve these, we focus on the practical, systems-level interventions, including strong leadership, effective teaming, staff training, and ongoing flexibility and planning that have allowed the implementation of evidence-based practices in a school setting rather than on the specifics of the child's individual programme. In taking this approach, we describe overarching challenges and solutions that might contribute to the successful education of other children with an ASD. Our purpose is to share a positive story, which we hope will serve as an inspiration to others.