The argument for the autonomy of education as a discipline is that it should basically be free of undue influence from other disciplines such as religion, economics and politics, write Stefan Siegel and Eva Matthes (17 page PDF). This risk is exemplified by the rise since the 1960s of 'empirical education', represented by such initiatives as PISA, which emphasis quantitative research, "whereas, for instance, hermeneutic and historical approaches and reflection on fundamental normative questions, which would be very important for educational practice, are often neglected." And, "disciplines such as psychology and sociology ask, for instance, psychological or sociological questions about education; however, they do not ask educational questions about education." And yet, they note, education lacks the basic ingredients of a stand-alone discipline, for example, agreement on what constitutes an educational theory, or well-understood and theorized research methods. Via BERA Blog, which offers a short summary.
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