Dewey's The Sources of a Science of Education and Teachers' Status in Today's Educational Research

• In Event: 28.062 - The Art in Science and the Science in Art

Abstract

This project considers how parts of the educational research world position teachers as a problem to be managed or worked around. After a discussion of scientifically based research (SBR), and how its quest for generalization/objectivity are often pursued at the expense of relevance we use the way teachers are positioned in some forms of SBR as an example of what’s wrong with educational research. A fundamental tension emerges from this inquiry--researchers’ need for scientific control is inescapably at odds with the idea of teacher as professional. Finally, we present pragmatism as an approach to educational research that meets some of the hopes of the SBR community while at the same time leaving space for teacher work to matter.

Authors

• Kurt Stemhagen, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Brionna Nomi, Virginia Commonwealth University