This article considers how rhetorical scholarship might proceed if it were to take the charge of pragmatic meliorism seriously. After discussing the notion of meliorism as employed by John Dewey, I argue that it would involve a radical reshaping of method in rhetorical theory, criticism, and pedagogy. Not all research must be meliorative, but…

In this essay I comment on Stetsenko's (2008) essay that draws together the work of Vygotsky, Piaget and Dewey, as she attempts to counter the "new" reductionist synthesis in public educational policy. While this theoretical work is helpful, it could be enhanced further by illuminating everyday practices of learners. I pose some questions that…

There is a distinction between engaging in research and being a researcher. Although practitioner research has been widely supported, it has been understood as producing different types of research findings from that of the academic researcher. In England, much of the published research in geography education is conducted by academics or…

This paper provides a critical review essay of Ajay Sharma's "Portrait of a science teacher as a bricoleur: A case study from India." The main focus is two fold. First, arguments are presented to draw attention to how little advances in science teaching and science learning research have impacted teachers' practice and student…

Background: The term "distributed leadership" is now widely used among scholars and practitioners in the field of educational leadership. Major actors in the nonprofit sector promote and financially support the development of distributed leadership. Unfortunately, there is confusion and ambiguity about what "distributed leadership" means, and…

This review takes a critical position with regards to Treagust and Duit's article, "Conceptual Change: A discussion of theoretical methodological and practical challenges for science education." It is proposed that conceptual change research in science education might benefit from borrowing concepts currently being developed in the sociology of…

Symbolic interactionism is a theoretical framework that derives from critical humanism through social psychology and is presented as an alternative to sociological and psychological views of social reality. This paper analyzes the general arguments of symbolic interactionism, its portrayal of people as responsible agents, and its interpretive…

Objectivity is frequently described as a model of "objectivism" or transparent observation of an unproblematically given external world conducted by a completely neutral observer. However desirable objectivism is in theory, the presuppositions it makes in favor of a disembodied and decontextualized cogito, and against the inclusion of the…

This paper outlines a constructivist theory of learning with a more concrete and specific approach to the types of problems addressed in Piaget's equilibration theory. Knowledge, in this constructivist view, results from the subject's transformational activity on the world and his/her real efforts to organize that activity. The first section…

In this paper, in response to Ajay Sharma's paper titled "Portrait of a science teacher as a bricoleur: A case study from India" and associated reviews, I address the value of bridging two narrative styles for describing teacher development, discuss questions of over-essentializing an Indian school context, propose that teacher and…

This paper attempts to articulate some of the basic theoretical assumptions underlying functionalism, by viewing some of the major historical chapters in the development of modern functionalist theory, and by placing the theory in a longer historical perspective. Historical continuities are argued between Durkheim and Parsons, and between Durkheim…

In this response to commentaries by Ali Sammel, Jhumki Basu and Alberto Rodriguez, I present my perspective on three important issues raised by the commentators. These issues relate to the role of a researcher in her field settings and society, the critique of science and science education as oppressive dominant discourses, and co-opting…

In response to a previous article, the paper suggests it is unrealistic to expect one theory or even multiple theories within one paradigm to explain learning disabilities. The emphasis on reaching a consensus regarding theory or paradigm is seen as unproductive. (DB)

Discusses development of Didaktik, a teaching and learning theory which investigates relationships between disciplined-based and general teaching theories; discusses the need for concretization of general teaching models in terms of discipline-based teaching theory in distance education; and postulates the necessity of a theory of distance…

The process-product paradigm is examined as a framework for providing theoretical and practical development in teaching. The progress of this approach is explored, with the suggestion that a positive replacement for process-product research be developed. (DF)