Describes the Calvin Environmental Assessment Program (CEAP), which involves regular lab sessions or course projects to collect data that contribute to an overall environmental assessment of the campus and surrounding areas. Addresses the program's exploration of particularity versus universality in knowledge, and its Care Theory pedagogy. (EV)

Scientific, positivistic approaches to education have often circumvented, or even suppressed, alternative knowledge domains such as those of indigenous systems of medicine. In the postindustrial era, knowledge paradigms will become more holistic, context-dependent, and integrative, narrowing the gap between theory and practice. Contains 27…

Discusses the educational thought of Paulo Freire, focusing on metaphysical, ontological, epistemological, and ethical aspects. Presents Freire as a constructivist who viewed humanity as an ever-unfinished construction by human beings. Contrasts Freire's thought with that of Plato. (AS)

This essay is an updating of one that was published exactly two decades ago; in the intervening years there has been a revival of interest in positivism as a historical phenomenon in epistemology and philosophy of science (some references to which are given), but there also has been heightened awareness of the various weaknesses of the positivist…

This paper presents a study that used narrative inquiry to explore staff experiences of learning and teaching in immersive worlds. The findings introduced issues relating to identity play, the relationship between pedagogy and play and the ways in which learning, play and fun were managed (or not). At the same time there was a sense of imposed or…

While the notion of risk remains under-theorised in moral philosophy, risk aversion and moralist self-protection appear as dominant cultural tendencies saturating educational orientation and practice. Philosophy of education has responded to the educational emphasis on risk management by exposing the unavoidable and positive presence of risk in…

In this article, the authors use their personal narratives and collaborative portraits as methods to shed light on the complexities of developing a research identity while journeying through a doctoral program. Using the metaphors of a wanderer, a chameleon, and a warrior, their narratives represent portraits of experiences faced by doctoral…

This essay demonstrates how social cartography--the writing and reading of maps addressing questions of location in the social milieu--may enhance social research and move it forward in its struggles to distance itself from the positivistic restraints of modernism. Social cartography suggests an opening of dialogue among diverse social players,…

The problem of the intellectual independence of the university within a technologically oriented society was one of the problems which motivated Michael Polanyi's inquiry into the foundations of knowledge. The key elements of his resultant attempt to supersede objectivist accounts of science are isolated, and evaluated. (Editor/RK)

Proposes that a critical approach to evaluation in environmental education is needed to adequately address current epistemological, ethical, and procedural dilemmas. Offers perspectives on the scientific/analytic and critical evaluation schemes in respect to their epistemology, locus of control, and interests served. Emphasizes the socially…

Philosophical interest in reason is traced historically from its classical roots to its current context. While philosophic enquiry has had little discernable effect on what is happening in schools, educational philosophers should pose significant reflective questions to educators and help clarify the language of issues being discussed. (BS)

Presents agreement to Bowers's essay "Culture against Itself." Concludes that students should be taught tradition and have their consciousnesses raised to realize they cannot exist, think, or act outside their culture and tradition. A sociocentric, not egocentric, approach to creating knowledge and meaning will lead to positive results…

In recent years the work of Giambattista Vico, born more than three centuries ago, has been receiving renewed attentions from scholars interested in the nature and development of various types of knowledge. (Editor)

This article, concerning the importance of and need for educational theory, elucidates the etymology of the word "theory," describes the importance of ethnomethodology to educational principles, and views the concerns of epistemology to curriculum theory. The question "What is the good of theory?" is debated in relation to the…

In this reflective narrative, the author ponders the abstract nature of knowledge and knowing. The peeling of an onion while she sits in her father's garden recounting her funds of knowledge serves as an ontological and epistemological metaphor for her learning. (TD)