Contemporary epistemologists of education have raised concerns about the distorting effects of some of the processes and structures of contemporary academia on the epistemic practice and character of academic researchers. Such concerns have been articulated using the concept of epistemic corruption. In this article, we lend credibility to these…

The core themes of research into higher education studies (HES) have previously been identified through quantitative approaches focused on publication patterns, but there is a lack of fine-grained, qualitative analysis about the development of the field. This paper provides an intergenerational analysis of the emergence of HES in the UK since the…

This article describes the discovery of action research by a "conscious incompetent" in higher education. The influences on the development of an action researcher's individual philosophy are discussed. These shape a specific investigation into the implementation of international staff exchange in a post-1992 UK university from the…

This paper explores a traditional Islamic pedagogy known as "halaqah" as a potentially useful authentic research method and contributes to discourses about critical and indigenous research methodologies through an analysis of Islamization of Knowledge and other "critical indigenous" movements amongst Muslims. Islamic research…

This article addresses key issues embedded within what some commentators are describing as a "virtual" or "digital" ethnography. Namely, that through the adoption of new (virtual) spaces for ethnographic inquiry it is possible to trouble previous notions of site, place, space and meaning when collaborating in online fields.…

What I want to share in this contribution to education inquiry are some insights from my educational research programme between 1973-2010 about the kind of educational theories that can explain the educational influence of an individual in their own learning, in the learning of others, and in the learning of the social formations in which we live…

This paper addresses the form of enquiry appropriate for the workplace researcher. The first part of the paper is used to introduce the main themes of "phronesis" and relies heavily on Aristotle and Heidegger. It is argued that practical wisdom developed through experience of practical judgements offers a form of enquiry appropriate for…

This paper explores themes associated with teacher research and its role in enhancing and more deeply emancipating practice. Wider themes underpin how research might be understood which entails one in acknowledging political and epistemological controversies about the concept of evidence and its use in defining professionalism. Evidence-based…

This paper reflexively explores an initiatory period of ethnographic fieldwork undertaken in a UK secondary school by a first-time researcher. Concern is expressed over the tendency to memorialise early encounters, the impression being given that reflexive accounts should be "saved" for later in the academic career, when previously…

This study investigates how learning to become a "researching professional" (Bourner, Bowden, & Laing, 2000) is understood by students undertaking a professional Doctorate of Education in one university in the United Kingdom (U.K.). This research is apposite given the present context for doctoral education both internationally and in…

In a qualitative study of South Asians in education, methodological issues pertaining to the social interactions between the same-ethnicity researcher and researched are analysed and interpreted. Based on in-depth interviews with 89 South Asian school pupils and 25 South Asian parents, it was found that political ideology and shared ethnicity were…