Educational research: Why 'what works' doesn't work

Abstract

Education and educational research, according to the current fashion, should be concerned with 'what works', to the exclusion of all other considerations. All over the world, and particularly in English-speaking countries, governments look to improve 'student achievement' as measured by standardized test scores. Such improvements are often to be welcomed, but they do not answer significant questions about what constitutes good education. Educational research cannot ignore the distinctive nature of what it studies: a social activity where questions of meaning and value cannot be eliminated, and where interpretation and judgment play a crucial role. Provocative and original, this book brings together educational research, philosophy and history of education to demonstrate how philosophical and historical approaches are relevant to the practice and theory of education. Distinguished philosophers and historians of education from six countries focus on the problematical nature of the search for 'what works' in education. Beginning with specific problems, they move on to more general and theoretical considerat. © 2006 Springer. All Rights Reserved.