Abstract
In the spirit of rhetoric, this chapter offers a rhetoric for educational research. One direction within which to explore the thematic of this volume on language in education is into the realm of rhetoric. Its tradition within western thought is as old as history; its standard story is not new, although from near-ignominy there is a relatively recent resurgence of interest and scholarship. Also potentially significant is a rhetorical orientation toward contemporary educational theory, specifically applicable to educational research explored herein. The chapter is organized into two parts. The first part, background, provides framing for the second, more developed part, exemplar. Following introduction, sections of part one overview two conceptions of rhetoric, the first named “extension” as a general orientation toward inquiry and the second named “tradition” as a brief history of the classical formulation. A brief section makes connection to philosophy of education. Sections of part two begin with consideration of educational research and to rhetoric of science. Then the concept of ethos is overviewed as a lead into a special contribution from the late American literary theorist, Wayne Booth (whose work is referenced throughout). The last substantive section applies Booth’s concept of the implied author – and its ethos – to an exemplary document from educational research.
[Rhetoric] has no single discipline: it covers every bit of human communication, good and bad, every academic field, every corner of our lives.
See Wayne C. Booth (2004a)
Failure to examine the rhetorical practices of education limits the understanding of processes in play and the possibilities for education.
See Richard Edwards, Katherine Nicoll, Nicky Solomon and Robin Usher (2004, p. 11)
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Acknowledgments
This chapter is a revision of a paper delivered at the meeting of the Research Community, Fund of Scientific Research-Vlaanderen. Philosophy and History of the Discipline of Education, Evaluation and Evolution of the Criteria for Educational Research, Leuven, Belgium, May, 2008. Thanks to participants for stimulating questions especially to David Bridges who rightly asked for clarification.
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Stone, L. (2009). A Rhetoric for Educational Research. In: Smeyers, P., Depaepe, M. (eds) Educational Research: Proofs, Arguments, and Other Reasonings. Educational Research, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3249-2_8
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