Common sense and published literature both assert that education research is often dismissed by practitioners on the grounds that it is irrelevant to their work. Some have argued that this is due primarily to a mismatch of professional epistemologies. While agreeing in principle, this work draws on work in sociology (Erving Goffman) and literary…

Background: The personal epistemologies of engineering faculty are an important and as yet underinvestigated aspect of engineering education. In this study, personal epistemology is defined as the stances an individual takes on issues related to knowledge and knowing, such as what it means to know, what counts as knowledge, and what makes some…

Western cultural practices contribute to our understanding of the purpose of higher education and how we are to conduct ourselves in educational contexts. In this article, entitled "Seekers after truth?", I analyse recent works of popular fiction which draw on and contribute to the idea that postgraduate research is a process of locating and…

This is an article about the struggle for control of knowledge in a divided society. It starts off by describing Belgium as a consociational democracy--that is, a society organized around integrated pillars of society (Catholic, secular), each of which provides a wide range of services (educational, training, health, health insurance, social care,…

The principle of reason "as principle of grounding, foundation or institution" has tended to guide the science of research toward techno-practical ends. From this epistemic superintendence of the terms of knowledge and inquiry, there has arisen the traditional notion of academic responsibility that is tied to the pursuit of truth via a conception…

The current, conventional approach to research does little to strengthen scholars' participation in civic life. However, models of research that promote more democratic inquiry methods, more reciprocal relationships between researchers and their subjects, and new collaborations between research institutions and communities are emerging and being…