Philosophy of Educational Research: New Epistemological, Methodological and Historical Approach

This paper attempts to provide insights on research paradigm as the philosophical foundation for educational research.The main purpose of writing this paper is to provide basic idea and knowledge about research paradigm to the prospective researcher with a claim as it is a philosophy of educational research.Different books and journal articles were consulted, reviewed and discussed to prepare this write up.After accumulating the idea and insights on research paradigms, the paper begins with the overview of research in terms of basic features.Then, it introduces about the research paradigms as the research philosophy and followed by the major components of research paradigms viz.ontology, epistemology, methodology and axiology.The key components of research paradigms are defined and discussed in terms of their basic premises in relation to the educational research contexts.Moreover, the paper also presents a brief discussion on the implications of research paradigms in educational research.

(2002). Philosophy of Educational Research. Educational Philosophy and Theory: Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 357-360.

What roles can (educational) philosophy have within educational research? This question concerns the ways in which one can do philosophy as philosophy, not as something else with inspiration or data from philosophy. Further, it concerns doing philosophy within the field of educational research, that is, with the deliberate intention of engaging with educational research. The question is not how to do “philosophy of” education as a separate, outside reflection on the domain of education; instead, what is at stake is delineating the forms of cooperation that philosophy can engage in with educational research on matters of common interest. This question raises the further question of what kind of endeavor philosophy is in comparison with other kinds of investigations. A traditional answer to this question has been the claim that philosophizing consists of conceptual analysis and that philosophical analyses are a priori, providing the conceptual framework for a posteriori empirical investigations. There are several problems with the clear-cut distinction between a priori and a posteriori, but it can be made sense of if understood in a more relative sense rather than as designating absolute categories. Four different views on what philosophy is as regards other kinds of investigations are delineated, and it is pointed out which role each view correspondingly ascribes to philosophy in its cooperation with empirical educational research. The four roles are philosophy as (a) provider of a priori conceptual analyses, (b) clarifier of educational research concepts and their implications, (c) interpreter of educational research results, and (d) dialogue partner with a voice of its own. The first view of philosophy is the educational variant of the traditional view that philosophy is “queen of the sciences,” acting as conceptual legislator on what it makes sense to say. Philosophy does the conceptual groundwork a priori, as a prerequisite for empirical study and practice implementation, and research and practice then a posteriori investigate the phenomenon delimited by philosophy. Philosophers often take on this role in practice through what they write: they provide analyses of concepts that are significant within educational research, such as “knowledge,” “learning,” “value,” “Bildung,” or “becoming,” and explications of the relationships of these concepts to one another or to other concepts. The second view of philosophy is the educational variant of the opposing traditional designation of philosophy as “handmaiden to the sciences.” Here, philosophy takes a posteriori state-of-the-art educational research as its premise and outset and provides help in clarifying a priori conceptual issues within these a posteriori bounds. The third view of philosophy also takes a posteriori state-of-the-art educational research as its outset but does not content itself with being a helper. Instead, philosophy’s role is to assist educational research in interpreting its results by engaging philosophical methods. In addition to conceptual analysis, this can involve, for example, phenomenological, hermeneutical, and critical-theory analyses. Both a priori and a posteriori philosophical investigations can be undertaken in intertwinement within the a posteriori bounds. The fourth view of philosophy sees the relationship between philosophy and empirical research as symmetrical. Each party can question, challenge, support, inspire, and develop the claims set forth by the other. In this view, philosophy and empirical research within education are concerned with the same subject matter, namely, the actual empirical phenomena of education, such as human knowledge and learning; educational practice; and design of education, curricula, and activities. The research aims of philosophy and empirical research do not coincide, however: Philosophy pursues normative and foundational questions that transcend empirical accounts, and engages intertwined a priori and a posteriori investigations, whereas the various strands of empirical research investigate empirical phenomena in much greater detail.

This new edition of Richard Pring’s successful Philosophy of Educational Research offers a comprehensive introduction to policy debates and developments in education whilst encouraging deep philoso...

This is the third edition of Philosophy of Educational Research, and its aim, as Richard Pring, the author, puts it, was “to provide background reading for those who, though not aiming to be philos...

This essay explores the evolution of research philosophy in educational research, highlighting the transition from positivism to interpretivism. The initial reliance on positivist methodologies, which emphasize quantitative research and data analysis, evolved through coursework and practical experiences. Critical turning points in teaching and research projects revealed the limitations of a monolithic approach, prompting the adoption of interpretivism. This shift emphasizes the importance of understanding diverse student backgrounds and the researcher's positionality. Interpretivism, which views knowledge as socially constructed and context-dependent, complements quantitative methods with qualitative insights. The essay advocates for a mixed-methods approach to educational research, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of complex educational phenomena. This integrated approach aims to tailor research methodologies to varied educational contexts, enhancing the relevance and impact of educational research.

This chapter introduces the ontological and epistemological positions associated with three common paradigms underpinning Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) educational research: positivism, interpretivism, and pragmatism. These are important considerations for STEM educational researchers since they influence the research questions that can be posed and the methodology the researcher uses to answer the questions. For each paradigm, consideration is given to common criticisms of the paradigm and typical research methods employed in studies that adopt the paradigm. Finally, the rationale for, and consequences of, a transition to a quantum-theoretical paradigm for educational research are outlined.

Traditionally, philosophical inquiry into pedagogical issues has occurred far from the classrooms in which pedagogy materialises. However, an organised form of inquiry into issues of a normative nature (about what ought to be done pedagogically) and of an analytic nature (about the meaning of pedagogical concepts), making use of ideas obtained in an empirical way in classroom and classroom-related situations, is both feasible and desirable. About desirability, this form of inquiry depends on the particularities of the local situations, and that helps to take them into account when deciding on how to improve pedagogical practice. That is, it contextualises pedagogical decisions. About feasibility for normative issues, an analysis based on Donald Davidson’s philosophy of language shows that there is nothing that compels empirical observations to be descriptive and to not be normative. And normative occasional beliefs acquired empirically can serve as a general confrontation or testing field for ideas about the justification of pedagogical actions or strategies. About feasibility for analytic issues, as a consequence of giving up the analytic–synthetic distinction it is argued that they can also be explored by means of occasional beliefs acquired empirically, when confronted with the implications of the definition of any pedagogical concept.

This article focuses on disciplinary interrelationships between philosophy and history within the framework of educational sciences. It deals with the epistemological, material, political, and categorical conditions of permeability, some of which initiate a separation of historical science from philosophy, whereas others allow, on the one hand, for history to profit from philosophy and, on the other, for philosophy to profit from history. The article illustrates how both history and philosophy benefit through reciprocal openness within education as an academic field. Permeability between history and philosophy in educational research may draw attention to lacunae on both sides and challenge methodological stereotypes and seemingly unavoidable dispositions of reasoning, the recognition of which may contribute to an enrichment of educational research.

This classic text in educational research literature has been thoroughly updated to take into account new philosophical theories and the current political context for educational research. Remaining, however, are the three, key central themes: the nature of social science in general; the nature of educational enquiry in particular; and the links between the language and concepts of research, on the one hand, and those of practice and policy on the other. In analyzing and interrelating these themes, Richard Pring shows their relationship to such central philosophical concepts as meaning, truth, and objectivity.

Philosophy in Educational Research

Pring (Philosophy of educational research. Continuum, London, 2004, p. 23) presents a holistic and philosophical approach to educational research and warns us that complexity of concepts and their relationship to each other should not push us toward reductionism. One way to take Pring’s warning seriously is to take some concepts and put them under explicit theoretical and empirical scrutiny. These should be basic concepts and abstract enough to allow space for reflection and development. Blumer (What is wrong with social theory. Sociological methods. Butterworth, London, pp. 84–95, 1970, p. 91) invented the term sensitizing concepts to distinguish them from definite concepts. “Whereas definite concepts provide prescription of what to see, sensitizing concepts merely suggest direction along which to look.” Social researchers tend to use sensitizing concepts as an interpretive tool and as a starting point for a qualitative study (Bowen in Int J Q Methods 5(3):12–23, 2006). Therefore, sensitizing concepts are a target for empirical inquiry and can be refined (Blumer in What is wrong with social theory. Sociological methods. Butterworth, London, pp. 84–95, 1970). The conceptual framework presented here includes sensitizing concepts that are based on (1) our previous studies (colleagues and I) aimed at creating a neuropsychosocial framework for youth studies, (2) observations mentioned in the introduction, (3) the Child Convention, (4) pragmatist educational philosophy, and (5) knowledge of neuroscience about mental capacity. These concepts are capacity, being, becoming, authority, and responsible citizenship. Together they help to create an intervention package suitable for creating a new literacy in schools.

This is an unusual book in that it is largely made up of chapters which are constituted by one-to-one dialogue between each of the editors and a well-known thinker.The first two chapters are more t...

The Philosophy of Educational Research

Martin Levit and the philosophy of educational research