My study has a dual purpose;
1. To examine the explanatory power of educational
theory as a means of illuminating a particular
educational practice.
2. To examine the potential for practice to
provide a critique of educational theory and
thus contribute towards the generation of new
theoretical perspectives.
I do this by focusing on the possible failure of a
particular opposition movement, to wit the progressive
movement in Victorian secondary schools 1966-1976. I
investigate the limits and possibilities of such a
movement with reference to ideal conditions.
There are 3 phases to this investigation:
1. a descriptive account of the progressive movement
which attempts to establish its status as an
oppositional movement and its context.
2. an internal analysis of its themes, intentions and
practices according to the criteria of consistency
and coherence .
3. an external analysis which takes up the
inconsistencies or contradictions as problems in need
of interpretation. Selected educational theories and
studies, such as those developed by Bowles and
Gintis, Sharp, Willis and Hinkson will be examined
both for their power to account for the particular
contradictions that emerged and their ability to
illuminate broader processes of constraint which work
both in and through schooling. The purpose of such
an analysis is to heighten our understanding of
contemporary educational theory and practice through
a sharper perspective of the immediate past, drawing
on, and learning from, both the mistakes and insights
of the past.
I offer in conclusion, some provisional remarks for use in
similar situations in the future.
This paper is not an empirical study or a case study, but
a form of conceptual analysis using texts and theoretical
perspectives.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/218837 |
| Date | January 1983 |
| Creators | Clark, Margaret, n/a |
| Publisher | University of Canberra. Education |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | ), Copyright Margaret Clark |
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