Philosophy and Theory in Educational Research: Writing in the Margin

The book will address a significant gap in the market for a text aimed at postgraduate students, researchers and academics undertaking non-empirical research in education and related fields. Two types of introductory research texts currently exist: 1) handbooks for (empirical) research methods in education (e.g. Newby, 2013; 2) handbooks in philosophy of education (e.g. Smeyers et al, 2010). The proposed text does not fit either category. It will introduce philosophy of education, not as a pre-defined field or set of approaches to particular issues, but via its practices of reading and writing as research.

We do not present a new methodological approach to reading and writing, but make explicit how these practices are central to research, in any field, and are particularly pertinent to rethinking education. Empirical research methods texts tend prescribe a set of procedures for conducting and ‘writing up’ research effectively. Philosophy of education texts are, of course, rooted in the disciplinary philosophical tradition and therefore are often not easily accessible to those beginning postgraduate study in education. Central to philosophical research, however, are the practices of reading and writing, which are often presented as technical exercises in empirical research guides. Here we present them as complex and varied possibilities for research, illustrating and analysing them through contemporary examples.