Description
Book Synopsis
With so much technical information about research methods it is easy to lose sight of the bigger picture of why we carry out educational research and where and how research might contribute to the improvement of education. Educational Research: An Unorthodox Introduction steps you through the wider social and political contexts of educational research, focusing on fundamental questions such as what education actually is' and what it is for. In doing so, the book raises questions that more orthodox' introductions to the theory and practice of educational research often leave aside.
Gert Biesta covers a range of key issues which permeate any educational research project, including the roles of theory in research, what it means and takes to improve education, the nature of educational practice, the history of educational research and scholarship, the connection between research, professionality and democracy and what the social and political dimensions of academic publish
Trade Review
Biesta is unique in the persistence and incisiveness of his critique of contemporary education and the place of research in it, and in this book he does a marvellous job of marshalling, explicating and developing his ideas. If only for his comments on theory, what works, and academic publishing, all education academics should read it. * Educational Review *
[Biesta] weaves a rich discussion where every sentence is meaningfully constructed... A fresh perspective on many educational research orthodoxies. * Education in the North *
Providing intellectual challenge, insight and assurance in the often complex work of educational research, Gert Biesta encourages readers to question many of the common and dominant assumptions that have come to pervade the field of educational research. For doctoral and postgraduate researchers, this is a ‘must have’ text. * Dave Trotman, Professor of Education Policy, Newman University, UK *
According to educational philosopher Gert Biesta, ’effectiveness’ is never an educational good in itself and without normative and critical purposes of educational practices politicians and educational ‘managers’ risk to misunderstand and damage education. His book is a fertile invitation to discuss what educational research is and what it is good for. Biesta once again testifies that he is an irreplaceable voice when it comes to education. * Steen Nepper Larson, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Danish School of Education, Denmark *
With Gert Biesta’s new book, we can create an inspired, diverse, and useful field.
Education Research: An Unorthodox Introduction is informative, thoughtful, and written in a language that is clear without being condescending. It is the best book on educational research I have read in a long time and reading it made me wish I taught a graduate course on educational research again. * Alexander M. Sidorkin, Dean of the College of Education, CSU Sacramento, USA *
A really useful text to give students a good handle on different things that have informed education research and will inform their own research. A really good window on the bigger picture that is written in an accessible and thought-provoking way. * Louise Gascoine, Assistant Professor, School of Education, Durham University, UK *
Table of Contents
Foreword Prologue: The Orthodoxies of Educational Research 1. Theories, Fashions and the Need for Pragmatism 2. Making Education Better 3. ‘What Works’ is Not Enough 4. The Practice of Education 5. Configurations of Educational Research 6. Education, Measurement, and Democracy 7. Knowledge Reconsidered 8. The Political Economy of Academic Publishing Epilogue: Too Much Research? References Acknowledgements About the Author
