The majority of social scientists continue to dismiss literary narratives as data that might lead to complex understandings of human phenomena. Introducing a method I call "novel inquiry", I argue that literary narratives merit inclusion as a source of data for educational inquiry. Utilizing literary narratives as a data source expands and…

Pickles replies that Smith's critique masks the concrete experience of everyday understanding. The issue of education is not about the transmission of information, but one about how we produce and reproduce our social world. Education must permit rational discourse and decision making within the context of a moral community. (CJH)

This rebuttal of Pickles's article points to stylistic and substantive flaws. His isolation of the prevalent ignorance about geography sets up a "straw man" concerning the nature of educational dialog as an issue. His Cartesian "banking" model and Aristotelean "rhetorical" model present a false dichotomy of learning…

Examined is what radical constructivism in connection with Intuitionism might mean to mathematics instruction. Implications for mathematics education, especially the potential consequences for the teaching of mathematics of a relativist view of mathematical knowledge, are suggested. (YP)

Some feel that a persistent shortcoming of the collective views of human action is that they often advocate a view of the individual as merely a bearer or token for the group to which he or she belongs. These theories do not account for individual choice. This project attempts to arrive at a general critique of individualism, drawing on a number…

Defines and explicates the systems approach--the conceptual heart of educational technology--in the broader context of general systems theory, and presents four propositions based on principles from four schools of philosophical thought that may provide alternative means for analyzing the mediation of experience and practice of educational…

The critical examination of society's circumstances, institutions, and cultural predispositions and values can help detect problems and injustices and can suggest opportunities for improvement. Neo-Marxist critical theorists of the Frankfurt school are committed to work of this kind, but their perspective is informed by Marxian precepts, and their…

In this paper, Piaget's theory is analyzed using Locke's philosophy. The first part, "Mental Experiences," describes the author's view (with a tentative interpretation of Piaget's position) of reflection, abstraction, re-presentation, and the use of symbols. The second part, "Piaget's Theory of Abstraction," has four sections:…

This book contains 15 essays written between 1969 through 1983. The essays included are: (1) "Semantic Analysis of Verbs in Terms of Conceptual Situations"; (2) "'Because' and the Concepts of Causation"; (3) "The Development of Language as Purposive Behavior"; (4) "Adaptation and Viability"; (5) "On the…

Like any apparently novel approach to the basic epistemological problems of "knowledge," the constructivist ideas that have spread in the last 20 years continue to generate a host of negative as well as a few positive reactions. This document focuses on some aspects of Radical Constructivism, as distinct from "trivial"…

Despite a long history and considerable study, leadership remains a notoriously perplexing and enigmatic phenomenon. Although the "new leadership" perspective has revived convictions and general interest in leadership studies, conceptual and methodological problems nevertheless remain a feature of the research and theory-building terrain, and some…

This paper uses a book, "Proofs and Refutations: The Logic of Mathematical Discovery," as an example of Lakatos's use of dialogue. The book was originally adapted from his dissertation and influenced by Polya and Popper. His discussion of the Euler conjecture is summarized. Three purposes for choosing the dialogue form for the book were…

This monograph describes the historical development of radical constructivism. Major topics included are: (1) "The Way of the Sceptics" (describing the sceptic position from Xenophanes, through Pyrrho, to the British Empiricists, and its failure); (2) "The Changed Concept of Knowledge" (outlining G. Vico's statement "the…

Four questions are posed: (1) Is knowledge utilization a rhetorical evocation? (2) Is the conjunction of knowledge with utility part of a cultural system of common sense? (3) Is utility a normative or a descriptive concept? and (4) How does the concept of knowledge utilization figure in the specialized discourse of social scientists? This paper…

The tentativeness of knowledge is a safety catch that a pretension to usefulness tends to remove. The problematic concept of knowledge utilization defeats the purposes of both knowing and action, for it overestimates the certainty of knowledge and underestimates the range of valid practical concerns. Thirty-seven references are provided.…