A Study of the Philosophical Basis of Thought and Its Implications for Education From the Viewpoint of Bhaskar's Critical Realism

• In Event: Ontology and Becoming: The Challenge of New Theory to Educational Research and Practice

Abstract

Objectives
The objectives of this paper are: 1) to introduce the philosophy of Roy Bhaskar's critical realism to assess its ability to engage with ontology and becoming in education; 2) to explain Bhaskar's critical realist view point and how is underpins a philosophical method in education as new theory.
Theoretical Framework
Critical realism, which owes its popularity to the pioneering work of Roy Bhaskar, has found considerable application in the social sciences. Bhaskar provided much of the fundamental theory that positioned critical realism as an alternative to the long established paradigms of objectivism (positivism) and subjectivism (constructivism/constructionism). His concepts include important distinctions between a transitive realm of ‘knowing’, and an intransitive realm of ‘being’. He also proposed that there are multiple perceptions about a single, mind-independent reality; knowledge is constructed and therefore fallible; and phenomena have a layered ontology. His argument is that given differences in perspective and interpretation in science, it is a condition of sense in enquiry, that there is an objectively, mind independent material reality, intelligibly organized, that is the object of such perceptions. In addition, critical realism provides a relatively clear ontological position for education, based on the notion that the objects of our knowledge in the natural and social worlds exist whether or not we have knowledge of them.
Modes of Inquiry
For achieving the targets of this study, a concept interpretation from conceptual inquiry will be deployed. Coombs and Daniels (1991) explain the three different kind of conceptual inquiry: 1) concept interpretation, 2) conception development, and, 3) conceptual structure assessment. Concept interpretation is concerned with the clarification and simplification of concepts that includes the testing of concepts with the real-life examples. Conception development, in contrast, is concerned with the development and defense of a conception or conceptual structure. Conceptual structure assessment aims at determining the adequacy of conceptual structures.
Scholarly Significance
Improving students’ thinking ability is accepted as an important goal of education; however, ways in which this should be done is a matter of controversy among educators. All kind of schools of philosophy have a special view point about “thinking” for example: Analytical Philosophy has Analytic thinking, Pragmatism has Reflective thinking, and Popper has the Falsificationism view point. This research takes a critical realist perspective to understand “thinking”. Corson pioneered the examination of critical realism as a suitable perspective for the field of education. As such, Corson’s critical realist reading of the difficulties of other dominant philosophical traditions in education constitutes an important platform for this section. Corson (1990a,b, 1991a,b, 1995, 1998, 1999a,b) identifies Popper, Dewey, and Quine as founding important strands of thought in the philosophy of education, but suggests Bhaskar’s critical realism provides a more suitable alternative to these influential positions, by building on their strengths and avoiding their weaknesses.Taking this important work of Corson as a starting point, my research examines the potential of critical realism to understand the components of thinking to improve a student’s thinking ability and the consequiences for ontology and becoming in education

Author

• Mehri Mirzaeirafe, The University of Texas - Dallas