Developmental and Educational Perspectives on Theory Change: To Have and Hold,or To Have and Hone?

Eric Schwitzgebel presents an attractive argument for the use of affective indicators to both assess and extend the 'theory theory' research agenda. A key component of his argument is an account of explanation that can be applied to both children and adults, few of whom possess the attributes and behaviors that warrant being called scientists. The core features of his account include 1) regarding a set of propositions as a theory and 2) subscribing to a theory by accepting and employing this set of propositions to explain events within the theory's domain. We will argue that this account, while potentially helpful for guiding research on the affective content of explanations, requires elaboration because it (1) does not fully characterize what is distinctive and important about theoretical and scientific thinking, (2) raises questions about different kinds of explanations, such as seen in transitions from common-sense explanations to theoretical explanations; (3) favors individual theorizing to the exclusion of socially mediated theorizing, and (4) raises developmental questions about the nature of explanation-seeking and the capacity to apply evidence to evaluate theories.     

Out of Love for Any Thing? A Response to Vlieghe and Zamojski on Some Pedagogical Problems with an Object‐Oriented ‘Educational Love’

In this paper we consider some of the problems inherent in the attempt to define and circumscribe an exclusively ‘educational love’, as presented by Joris Vlieghe and Piotr Zamojski in a recent paper for this journal. In seeking to move beyond the confusing interpersonal relations involved in student‐centred discourses on teaching, the authors aim to articulate an ‘educational love’ that is more oriented towards subject matter than the student subject. In the process, the concept of love itself becomes increasingly abstract and open to interpretation. Further, the attempt to reconcile these elements in an uncomplicated ‘love for the object’, following the example of Alain Badiou's St Paul, constitutes an injustice to the other subjects—the students—involved in the teaching situation. We consider the ways in which such abstractions might sit with student teachers, to demonstrate how and why the intersubjective dimension—with some of the possible emotive messiness that is implied therein—must not fade from view, if we are to avoid conceiving of education as something that can be purified of individual interest, motivation and desire.     

Cultural Issues Related to Transnational Open and Distance Learning in Universities: A European Problem?

Open and Distance Learning (ODL) is much more than a didactic or technological issue. On the basis of contemporary approaches to culture, it is both an agent and a barometer of culture: culture influences the appearances, models and contents of ODL, but is influenced itself as well by the ODL phenomenon. Illustration of the point is made through an analysis of the historic roots of ODL in comparison with Europe's contemporary transnational and technology based ODL. The analysis results in an agenda for important cultural issues, such as the institutional character of ODL, its contribution to Europe's competitiveness, the shaping of a European citizenship, and the nature of European ODL in terms of its cultural barriers and cultural assets. The ambiguity of culture typically emerges when looking at language. European transnational, and especially technology based ODL, may be hindered by the multilingual societies of Europe, and remain so as long as language policies are imposed. It is advocated that language policies be replaced with language management, applied in a creative way (eg, by implementing appropriate technical solutions). The final question examined here, is whether these problems and solutions are particular to Europe, or whether there are good reasons for acknowledging the cultural origins, barriers and assets of a wider ODL model.     

History, Philosophy and Science Teaching: Some Answers to “How?”

The study of the history and philosophy of science in school science courses is highly recommended. This paper deals with the methodological aspects derived from research in science education and how they have to be taken into account in order to generate effective classroom activities, so that history and philosophy are not relegated to the status of additional rhetoric of conclusions in an extensive curricula. This is illustrated with the analysis of episodes ___ transcribed from videotape records ___ which took place when such activity was introduced into high school physics classes. This analysis has shown that students, when working in cooperative groups over problematic historical episodes, may come to discuss essential features of science. This not only provides a more realistic view of science, but also enhances cognitive and argumentation skills, besides emphasizing the importance of teachers' guidance.     

Have the Cake and Eat It: Ecojustice Versus Development? Is it Possible to Reconcile Social and Economic Equity,Ecological Sustainability,and Human Development? Some Implications for Ecojustice Education

In this article I argue that it is impossible to look at educational issues before we develop a clear understanding of the dominant ideologies that currently perpetuate unsustainability. Only if we appreciate the pervasiveness and the fallacies of such concepts as "development," "growth," and "progress" within a limited biosphere can we start to see what ecojustice might mean: equitable sharing between all human beings, the natural world, and future generations. This, then, has stark consequences for our Euro-American lifestyles and should make us look to indigenous and/or vernacular societies for prompts for a good, yet noncommodified life. On the basis of such an analysis, we can then proceed to formulate some fundamental parameters for ecojustice education, the most important one being that tutors have to embody the ecojustice principles they are likely to advocate to their students.     

Socially Toxic Environments: A YPAR Project Exposes Issues Affecting Urban Black Girls’ Educational Pathway to STEM Careers and Their Racial Identity Development

In this article, the author reports findings from a youth participatory action research (YPAR) project, aimed to engage a group of Black girls from a low-income urban high school in a social justice project. The YPAR project conducted during the 2015 and 2016 academic year focused on a critical examination of the high school educational pathway to specialized fields, such as STEM careers. Findings from phase one of the project show Black girls know race and class affects their educational experiences. However, they know little about racial and gender disparities along STEM educational pathways. In fact, when given an opportunity to engage in a critical examination of school-based issues, these girls initially reified negative racial stereotypes to explain social and educational injustices. The findings reveal how school and culture intersect and affect urban Black girls’ school experiences, perception of educational and specialized career pathways, and their racial identity development.

     

In‐service expectations,accreditation, sanctions and incentives: Some reflections on a recent study visit to the USA

Abstract

Competence‐based education has been the topic of considerable criticism recently. The purpose of this article is to argue that much of it is more justifiable as a critique of the particular format in which it is currently presented than of its underlying principles. A detailed critical analysis of the MCI materials in Management Education is presented, in order to show how many of the problems raised by these documents have been resolved in an alternative format for competence‐based education devised by the ASSET Programme, a competence‐based degree level qualification is social work, recently developed by the author and a colleague from Essex Social Services Department.     

Not Just a “Fleck” on the Epistemic Landscape: A Reappraisal of Ludwik Fleck’s Views of the Nature of Scientific Progress and Change in Relation to Contemporary Educational and Social Issues

In contrast to Thomas Kuhn, the work of Ludwik Fleck, a Polish-born physician, microbiologist, and epistemologist, is conspicuously absent from the science education literature. His originally obscure monograph first published in German in 1935, Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact, anticipates a number of views explicated by contemporary philosophers of science, cognitive psychologists, and learning theorists, and Fleck’s main thesis is, is many respects, strikingly similar to the oft-cited thesis developed later by Kuhn in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Fleck’s work is perhaps the best example of the social influence on scientific commitment and thinking and is one of the first works to suggest different scales or varieties of change in science. At the same time as Fleck’s work gains recognition, momentum, and force in philosophical circles, some educators are calling for a critical appraisal of Kuhn’s impact on science education. This climate provides an ideal opportunity to assess (or perhaps in some cases reassess) the value of Fleck’s work in a science education context. The primary aim of this article, therefore, is to introduce educators in general, and science educators in particular, to the main ideas developed by Fleck in his Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact. Throughout this article, Fleck’s ideas are compared and contrasted to those of Thomas Kuhn—arguably one of the most popular referents in nature of science studies over the past decade. As will be discussed, many of the ideas developed by Fleck anticipate central issues and perspectives in philosophy, epistemology, sociology, education, and cognitive psychology.     

Who matters to universities? A stakeholder perspective on humanities, arts and social sciences valorisation

Valorisation is at the centre of many debates on the future of academic research. But valorisation has largely become narrowly understood in terms of universities’ economic contributions through patenting, licensing, spin-off formation and technology transfer. This emergent restrictive definition of universities’ societal impacts is a worrying development, overlooking the potential of universities’ knowledge in the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS). Our hypothesis is that HASS disciplines’ disadvantage compared to the hard sciences (lesser policy attention and funding for commercialisation) arises because HASS stakeholders are not sufficiently salient as stakeholders to universities. Using case studies of three policy experiments, we argue that universities’ responsiveness to stakeholders does not evolve simply and functionally but in response to the networks of relationships in which they are situated. This has important implications for how stakeholder research is used in higher education research, and for the design and implementation of policies to improve universities’ societal contributions.     

The Authors Respond (Response to Arnstein,Liptzin, Marsh and May's Commentaries on ”Psychiatric Leave Policies: Myth and Reality”)

No abstract available for this article.     

Focus,funding, phonics—What's the point?: A reply to Pressley and Allington

In this paper, we reply to Pressley and Allington's (1999) contention that research supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in recent years has been narrowly focussed. We point out that their criticisms of this agency are opaque because they do not take account of the fact that research priorities of virtually all funding agencies are necessarily constrained by their unique missions. We also express our befuddlement over the apparent inconsistency, on the part of at least one of the co-authors, between the point of view expressed in this paper compared with the point of view expressed in a previous paper as to the weight given to phonological skills in early literacy instruction. Finally, we point out that Pressley and Allington's criticisms of recent intervention studies supported by NICHD are fraught with errors and misleading characterizations, and we use their criticism of an intervention study we have recently completed as a prime example.     

Response to “A design framework for enhancing engagement in student-centered learning: own it,learn it,and share it”: a design perspective

This essay is a response to the special issue call on the theme of Shifting to digital: Informing the rapid development, deployment, and future of teaching and learning. In this essay, the author first described the needs of student-centered learning that emerged from the current full-scale online teaching and learning practice due to the pandemic. With these needs, the author revisited the published article of A design framework for enhancing engagement in student-centered learning: own it, learn it, and share it (Lee and Hannafin, in Educ Technol Res Dev 64(4):707–734, 2016), discussed its value, application, and future development.