Pragmatism and Educational Research (Philosophy, Theory, and Educational Research) PDF
Preview Pragmatism and Educational Research (Philosophy, Theory, and Educational Research)
Pragmatism and Educational Research Philosophy, Theory, and Educational Research Nicholas C. Burbules, Series Editor Books forthcoming in this series: Cognitivism and Educational Research by Ralph E. Reynolds and Nicholas C. Burbules Poststructuralism and Educational Research by Michael Peters and Nicholas C. Burbules Feminism and Educational Research by Wendy R. Kohli and Nicholas C. Burbules Pragmatism and Educational Research By Gert J. J. Biesta and Nicholas C. Burbules ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Lanham Boulder New York Toronto Oxford ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Published in the United States of America by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, MD 20706 www.rowmanlittlefield.com P.O. Box 317, Oxford OX2 9RU, UK Copyright 0 2003 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-PublicationD ata Biesta, Gert. Pragmatism and educational research I by Gert J.J. Biesta and Nicholas C. Burbules. p. cm. - (Philosophy, theory, and educational research) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8476-9476-3 (cloth : alk. paper) - ISBN 0-8476-9477- 1 (pbk: : alk. paper) I. Education-Philosophy. 2. Pragmatism. 3. Dewey, John, 1859-1952- Contributions in education. 4. Education-Research -Methodology. I. Burbules, Nicholas C. 11. Title. Ill. Series LB14.7.B53 2003 370l.1 -dc21 20030 1 1857 Printed in the United States of America eTM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO 239.48-1 992. Contents vii Series Preface 1 What Is Pragmatism? 1 25 2 From Experience to Knowledge 3 The Process of Inquiry 55 4 Consequences of Pragmatism 83 5 Pragmatism and Educational Research 107 Bibliography 115 Index 121 About the Authors 127 V This Page Intentionally Left Blank Series Preface This book with Gert Biesta is the second in a series appearing with Row- man & Littlefield Publishers: “Philosophy, Theory, and Educational Re- search.” Contemporary educational research has been experiencing an ex- plosion of new methodologies and approaches to inquiry. Many of these approaches have drawn from philosophical or theoretical positions that underlie their determinations of research methods, aims, and criteria of validity. Yet the substance of these philosophical or theoretical assump- tions is not always made clear to the reader, and so it is difficult for one to judge those assumptions for oneself. This series is designed to explore some of the dominant philosophical and theoretical positions influencing educational research today, in a man- ner that does justice to the substance of these views and shows their rele- vance for research aims and practices. Each volume will show how a par- ticular set of philosophical and theoretical positions affects the methods and aims of educational research and each will discuss specific examples of research that show these orientations at work. The emphasis is on lively, accessible, but theoretically sound explorations of the issues. These books are intended to be of interest not only to educational researchers but to anyone in education wanting to understand what these various “isms” are about. This series features a distinguished international group of scholars. It is important for the reader to know that the first author of each volume has been primarily responsible for conceptualizing and drafting the text. The series editor has played a very active role in selecting the topics and the vii ... Vlll Series Preface organization for each volume, has interacted regularly with the first author as the text has been drafted, and has had a relatively free hand in revising the text and adding or suggesting new material. This is a more involved role than editors normally play, so second authorship seemed the appro- priate appellation. However, the predominant voice and point of view for each volume in the series belongs to the first author. It could not be oth- erwise, since no coauthor could equally advocate all the positions, many of them mutually inconsistent, argued in these volumes. 1 Ulhat Pragmatism? Is No conclusion of scientific research can be converted into an immedi- ate rule of educational art. -John Dewey ( 1929b, 9) It is widely expected that educational research should generate knowl- edge that is relevant for the day-to-day practice of educators. Educators do not simply want to know how the world “out there” is. They want knowl- edge that can inform their actions and activities. The same is true for ed- ucational policymakers and politicians. They also seek knowledge that can support and guide their decision making. Educational research, one might say, is not so much research about education as it is research for ed- ucation. ,The idea that educational research should be relevant for educational practice is far from new. Ever since the end of the eighteenth century, when education became the object of systematic scientific inquiry, educa- tionists have stressed the practical orientation and significance of educa- tional research. This was a central concern for authors like Johann Hein- rich Pestalozzi, Johann Friedrich Herbart, and Friedrich Schleiermacher, the founding fathers of modern educational theory. It has become even more important today, at a time when educational researchers are contin- uously confronted with questions about the practical meaning and rele- vance of their work. Although there is almost unanimous agreement about the idea that ed- ucational research should have a practical orientation, there are many
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