For the past few months I have been working with academic and student researcher colleagues on a project to produce an online resource about social theory. It has raised design questions but the most interesting aspect of the exercise has been talking to academic colleagues (again academics and research students) about the role of theory… Continue reading social theory
Imagined communities
I have recently been looking at discussion of online community and I have been struck by the extent to which writers (particularly in the early days of the Internet) tended to exaggerate the ‘newness’ or uniqueness of being online. For example, many saw a sharp divide between physical community (based on face to face interaction)… Continue reading Imagined communities
Big Data and Education
Reading through contributions to debates on big data and education (see [1] – [9] below) reminds us that there are two perspectives on education: education as science and education as wisdom of practice. Education as science is about generalisation (if x what is likely to happen?), measurable outcomes (chiefly grades, if appropriate retention too) and… Continue reading Big Data and Education
Pessimistic narratives about technology (continued)
‘They’ are collecting data on us every day, who we phone, where we move, what we buy, who we see, what we do and say. Some at least of this is benign; if ‘they’ know more about where we go then we might be able to have a more rational transport system; if they know… Continue reading Pessimistic narratives about technology (continued)
Pessimism and technology in school
Two recent news items posted to the BBC news web site have helped contribute to a pessimistic narrative about using technology in school. The more recent of these is an evaluation of online charter schools which found that in 17 US states these schools were associated with ‘significantly weaker academic performance’ in maths and reading… Continue reading Pessimism and technology in school
Summer Reading
This being the summer period in UK, there is much in the review sections of the newspapers about what to take as holiday reading. My own suggestion is a short story by Julio Cortázar. Cortázar (1914 – 1984) was an Argentinian writer, who was born in Europe and spent a lot of time in France.… Continue reading Summer Reading
How to write a thesis
In writing about action research I once borrowed Richard Winter’s metaphor of ‘researcher as detective’ [1]. I should say the parallel for me is with the television detective made familiar to us recently in the UK through Swedish detective series such as the Bridge, the Killing and Wallender. It is the obsession of the TV… Continue reading How to write a thesis
In praise of Dewey
One way to look at Dewey [1] is as a radical liberal and a social reformer who identified the importance of a common humanity to personal and social growth [2]. He was an academic and the prototype of the public intellectual, contributing to political debate, active in teacher unions, supporting the settlement movement and setting… Continue reading In praise of Dewey
Social Science and Difficulties With Theory
It is difficult for those not following the field to get the importance given to theory in social research; researchers are continually asked to be theoretical and to align themselves with a position of some sort or another. To be theoretical is to lift your research to a ‘higher plane’; to deal with the world… Continue reading Social Science and Difficulties With Theory
Interdisciplinarity and Education
Our research students are putting on an interdisciplinary conference on education [1]. This is something I very much welcome, but I don’t imagine it to be straightforward to get agreement on how or why education research should be an interdisciplinary undertaking. In my own case I came to education research around mid career through teaching… Continue reading Interdisciplinarity and Education
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