The Nature Of Educational Theories

This important book offers a meta-theoretical account of educational theories and how they work. It offers a classification scheme of distinct types of educational theory in which the account developed can inform the work of educational theorists and practitioners. Kvernbekk observes throughout how meta-theoretical knowledge of the structure of theory types will improve the understanding and representation of educational phenomena and enhance theorists’ and practitioners’ ability to change those phenomena for the better. She explains how philosophical accounts of scientific theories can help us understand the nature of educational theories by applying two influential but different theory conceptions – the Received View and the Semantic Conception – to the field of education. Kvernbekk argues that educational theories, like other scientific theories, are representational devices that allow us to understand, describe and explain phenomena, and, when desired, to change them. The classification scheme offered allows us to discriminate distinct types of educational theory: goal-directed, equivalence and interlevel theories. Examples of all three types are discussed, explaining their structure, what they say about the phenomena and how they say it. The book also offers a critical overview of different conceptions of practice and different understandings of the theory–practice relationship. Encouraging a strong understanding of what theories say about the phenomena they represent, this book will be of interest to educational researchers and postgraduate students in the fields of philosophy of education, education theory and education policy, and to philosophers of science and philosophers working on ‘practical’ philosophical issues.

This book provides an analysis of the major educational theories of European culture. It covers the spectrum of educational thought from the traditional positions of Plato and Aristotle, through the opposed progressive positions of Rousseau and Dewey, to recent and contemporary variations and reactions to these viewpoints in the work of the Russian communist educator Makarenko, the behaviourist and social theorist B F Skinner, the apostle of freedom in education A S Neill, the British analytic philosopher R S Peters, and finally the prophet of the deschooled society, Ivan Illich. In this second edition a new section covers developments in educational theory up to the present day, along with a comprehensive bibliography. The book provides an introduction to the theory and philosophy of education for beginning students in the subject. The readings are of sufficient length to give representative coverage of the ideas of the individual theorists and are each introduced by a commentary which provides philosophical and historical context. Central issues in education that recur throughout the book include the nature and aims of education, choice of curriculum content, the teacher pupil relationship, freedom and authority, moral development, and the role of the state in education.

Introducing you to 18 key educational thinkers who have offered challenging perspectives on education, this new edition comes with: - 3 new chapters on Ivan Illich, Loris Malaguzzi and Michael Apple - A glossary of key words related to each theorist’s work - A context-setting overview of key themes - Practical examples that shows how theories can be applied to your practice Use this book with it′s companion title Aubrey & Riley, Understanding and Using Educational Theories 2e (9781526436610)

Children in today's world are inundated with information about who to be, what to do and how to live. But what if there was a way to teach children how to manage priorities, focus on goals and be a positive influence on the world around them? The Leader in Meis that programme. It's based on a hugely successful initiative carried out at the A.B. Combs Elementary School in North Carolina. To hear the parents of A. B Combs talk about the school is to be amazed. In 1999, the school debuted a programme that taught The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Peopleto a pilot group of students. The parents reported an incredible change in their children, who blossomed under the programme. By the end of the following year the average end-of-grade scores had leapt from 84 to 94. This book will launch the message onto a much larger platform. Stephen R. Covey takes the 7 Habits, that have already changed the lives of millions of people, and shows how children can use them as they develop. Those habits -- be proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first things first, think win-win, seek to understand and then to be understood, synergize, and sharpen the saw -- are critical skills to learn at a young age and bring incredible results, proving that it's never too early to teach someone how to live well.

The aim of this book is to discuss the fundamental ideas which lie behind the statistical theory of learning and generalization. It considers learning as a general problem of function estimation based on empirical data. Omitting proofs and technical details, the author concentrates on discussing the main results of learning theory and their connections to fundamental problems in statistics. This second edition contains three new chapters devoted to further development of the learning theory and SVM techniques. Written in a readable and concise style, the book is intended for statisticians, mathematicians, physicists, and computer scientists.

This book comes strongly to the defence of educational theory and shows that it has a structure and integrity of its own. The author argues that the validity of educational theory may best be judged in terms of the various assumptions made in it. His argument is illustrated by a review and critique of some particularly influential theories of education: those of Plato, Rousseau, James Mill and John Dewey. He stresses the need for an on-going, contemporary, general theory of education and examines the ways in which the disciplines of psychology, sociology and philosophy can contribute to a general theory of this kind.

This book examines Robert Grosseteste’s often underrepresented ideas on education. It uniquely brings together academics from the fields of medieval history, modern science and contemporary education to shed new light on a fascinating medieval figure whose work has an enormous amount to offer anyone with an interest in our educational processes. The book locates Grosseteste as a key figure in the intellectual history of medieval Europe and positions him as an important thinker who concerned himself with the science of education and set out to elucidate the processes and purposes of learning. This book offers an important practical contribution to the discussion of the contemporary nature and purpose of many aspects of our education processes. This book will be of interest to students, researchers and academics in the disciplines of educational philosophy, medieval history, philosophy and theology.