This volume offers an overview of the pragmatic understanding of knowledge and the acquisition of knowledge, and its implications for the conduct of educational research. Pragmatism and Educational Research focuses primarily on the work of John Dewey, and examines the relationship between pragmatism and educational research both in relation to research methodology and to a pragmatic educational theory. Biesta and Burbules provide examples of characteristic research questions and research methods and approaches, as informed by a pragmatist outlook. Further, they argue that the major benefit of a pragmatic approach to educational research lies in the possibility of promoting intelligent and reflective action by educational practitioners.
Exploring the challenges and obstacles that need to be overcome in education research, this text offers universal guidance that the reader can apply to their own research project.
This volume presents in a forthright and lively way, an account of the philosophical position generally identified as Postpositivistic that undergirds much of mainstream research in education and the related social sciences. The discussion throughout is informed by recent developments in philosophy of science. This book argues that, while there is much to be learned from recent critiques regarding truth in research, traditional scientific values and assumptions are not outmoded. Visit our website for sample chapters!
In this first book of the series Survey Methods in Educational Research, we have brought together leading authors and scholars in the field to discuss key introductory concepts in the creation, implementation, evaluation and dissemination of survey instruments and their resultant findings. While there are other textbooks that might introduce these concepts adequately well, the authors here have focused on the pragmatic issues that inevitably arise in the development and administration process of survey instruments. Drawing from their rich experiences, the authors present these potential speed bumps or road blocks a survey researcher in education or the social sciences might encounter. Referencing their own work and practice, the authors provide valuable suggestions for dealing with these issues “your advisor never told you about.” And all of the recommendations are aligned with standard protocols and current research on best practices in the field of research methodology. This book is broken into four broad units on creating survey items and instruments, administering surveys, analyzing the data from surveys, and stories of successful administrations modeling the entire research cycle. Each chapter focuses on a different concept in the survey research process, and the authors share their approaches to addressing the issues. These topics include survey item construction, scale development, cognitive interviewing, measuring change with self-report data, translation issues with surveys administered in multiple languages, working with school and program administrators when implementing surveys, a review of current software used in survey research, the use of weights, response styles, assessing validity of results, and effectively communicating your results and findings … and much more. The intended audience of the volume will be practitioners, administrators, teachers as researchers, graduate students, social science and education researchers not experienced in survey research, and students learning program evaluation. In brief, if you are considering doing survey research, this book is meant for you.
Acclaimed African American scholar and teacher educator Gloria Ladson-Billings examines the field of teacher education through the accomplishments and contributions of well-known African American teacher educators—Lisa Delpit, Carl Grant, Jacqueline Jordan Irvine, Geneva Gay, Cherry McGee Banks, William Tate, and Joyce King. Using in-depth interviews and storytelling, Ladson-Billings depicts deeply personal portraits of these scholars’ experiences to confront race and racism, not only theoretically, but within their everyday professional lives in “the Big House” of the academy. Ladson-Billings gives these portraits even greater resonance and meaning by pairing these teacher educators with historical figures—such as Harriet Tubman, Nat Turner, and Charlotte Forten—whose contributions to the struggle for social justice are a wellspring of hope and courage to all educators, and a tribute to African Americans whose political, scientific, and spiritual efforts made life better for us all. This compelling book is important reading for all educators who want to transform teacher education for the better. “The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education is enthused and excited about Ladson-Billings’s dynamic and provoking scholarship. Its focus on outstanding African American teacher educators is a major contribution to teacher education literature. This cutting-edge research is likely to prompt some of the best of unconventional teacher education thought.” —David G. Imig, President and CEO, American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education “In this moving and original book, Gloria Ladson-Billings offers complex insights about the politics of scholarship, the experiences of scholars of color in universities, and the larger enterprise of teaching and teacher education for social justice.” —Marilyn Cochran-Smith, Lynch School of Education, Boston College and President of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) for 2004–05.
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.
Drawing from an international authorship and having global appeal, this book scrutinizes, suggests and aggravates the relationships, boundaries and connections between arts, research and education in various contexts. Building upon existing publications in the field of arts-based educational research, it deliberately connects and disconnects the terms in order to expose and broaden the scope of this field thereby encouraging fresh perspectives. This book portrays both contemporary theoretical prospects as well as contemporary examples of practice. It also presents work of emerging scholars, thereby ‘growing the field’. The book includes academic text-based chapters, as well as poetry, narrative fiction, visual essays, and combinations of text-image-sound/video that demonstrate performance of music, theatre, exhibition and dance. This book provides and provokes critical dialogue about the forms, representations, dissemination and intersections of the arts, research and education. This is a focused collection and resource for scholars and students with an international authorship, perspective and audience.
In August 2005, over 500 researchers from the field of science education met at the 5th European Science Education Research Association conference. Two of the main topics at this conference were: the decrease in the number of students interested in school science and concern about the worldwide outcomes of studies on students’ scientific literacy. This volume includes edited versions of 37 outstanding papers presented, including the lectures of the keynote speakers.
This book provides an accessible introduction to using case studies. It makes sense of literature in this area, and shows how to generate collaborations and communicate findings. The authors bring together the practical and the theoretical, enabling readers to build expertise on the principles and practice of case study research, as well as engaging with possible theoretical frameworks. They also highlight the place of case study as a key component of educational research. With the help of this book, M-Level students, teacher educators and practitioner researchers will gain the confidence and skills needed to design and conduct a high quality case study. Dr Lorna Hamilton is a Senior Lecturer in Education Research at the University of Edinburgh. Dr Connie Corbett-Whittier is an Associate Professor of English and Humanities at Friends University, Topeka, Kansas. ′Drawing on a wide range of their own and others′ experiences, the authors offer a comprehensive and convincing account of the value of case study in educational research. What comes across - quite passionately - is the way in which a case study approach can bring to life some of the complexities, challenges and contradictions inherent in educational settings. The book is written in a clear and lively manner and should be an invaluable resource for those teachers and students who are incorporating a case study dimension into their research work.′ -Ian Menter, Professor of Teacher Education, University of Oxford ′This book is comprehensive in its coverage, yet detailed in its exposition of case study research. It is a highly interactive text with a critical edge and is a useful tool for teaching. It is of particular relevance to practitioner researchers, providing accessible guidance for reflective practice. It covers key matters such as: purposes, ethics, data analysis, technology, dissemination and communities for research. And it is a good read!′ - Professor Anne Campbell, formerly of Leeds Metropolitan University ′This excellent book is a principled and theoretically informed guide to case study research design and methods for the collection, analysis and presentatin of evidence′ - Professor Andrew Pollard, Institute of Education, University of London Research Methods in Education series: Each book in this series maps the territory of a key research approach or topic in order to help readers progress from beginner to advanced researcher. Each book aims to provide a definitive, market-leading overview and to present a blend of theory and practice with a critical edge. All titles in the series are written for Master′s-level students anywhere and are intended to be useful to the many diverse constituencies interested in research on education and related areas. Other books in the series: - Qualitative Research in Education, Atkins and Wallace - Action Research in Education, McAteer - Ethnography in Education, Mills and Morton
Published annually since 1985, the Handbook series provides a compendium of thorough and integrative literature reviews on a diverse array of topics of interest to the higher education scholarly and policy communities. Each chapter provides a comprehensive review of research findings on a selected topic, critiques the research literature in terms of its conceptual and methodological rigor, and sets forth an agenda for future research intended to advance knowledge on the chosen topic. The Handbook focuses on twelve general areas that encompass the salient dimensions of scholarly and policy inquiries undertaken in the international higher education community. The series is fortunate to have attracted annual contributions from distinguished scholars throughout the world.
