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Reconciling educational research traditions

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Abstract

The field of educational research encompasses a vast array of paradigmatic and methodological perspectives. Arguably, this range has both expanded and limited our achievements in the name of educational research. In Australia, the ascendancy of certain research perspectives has profoundly shaped the field and its likely future. We (are expected to) identify ourselves in relation to particular theorists, theories, and methodologies, reconciling who we are as education academics with what we do as educational researchers. In this paper, I explore how we might reconcile seemingly incommensurate traditions. The analysis is anchored in my own experience, having traversed the terrain from poststructuralism to randomised controlled trials, and is elaborated through research conducted with colleagues on student aspirations and teacher development. I argue that it is critical to reconcile differences within educational research if we are to ensure the strength of the field and support the next generation of researchers to make a more profound impact on schooling and society.

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Notes

  1. Sample of participating teachers: 75% female; 9% from language backgrounds other than English; average age 38 years; 20% with less than 4 years’ teaching experience; 25% with more than 16 years’ teaching experience.

  2. Sample of participating schools: both primary and secondary from urban and rural areas; 2–92% students from language backgrounds other than English; 0–62% Indigenous students; ICSEA from 766 and 1209, where median is 1000.

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Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Le Hoang Le, Skye Gibson, Barbara Kamler, and Geoff Whitty for their various contributions to this paper, and to Julie Bowe, Leanne Fray, Sally Patfield, Kath Holmes, Max Smith, Rosie Joy Barron, Adam Lloyd, Hywel Ellis, Wendy Taggart, and Bernadette Rickards for their collaboration in the research projects reported here.

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  1. Teachers and Teaching Research Centre, School of Education, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia

    Jennifer M. Gore

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Gore, J.M. Reconciling educational research traditions. Aust. Educ. Res. 44, 357–372 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-017-0245-8

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