“…Perhaps most strikingly, Brian Simon, a champion of his own subdiscipline, the history of education, argued in his presidential address two years later, entitled ‘Educational research – which way?’, that BERA represented ‘a coming together from various disciplines’ (Simon, , p. 1), which would in his view encourage ‘submerging the undesirable aspects of contributory disciplines while extracting the most from them from the educational point of view’ (Simon, , p. 4). Simon was emphatic in his belief that: The study of education has manifestly suffered from subordination to disparate modes of approach and methodologies deriving from fields quite other than education which have simply been transferred to the educational sphere, and which, once there, have tended to maintain their own distinctive languages and approaches, to pursue their own ends.…”
Section: Partnerships and Educational Researchmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Simon was emphatic in his belief that: The study of education has manifestly suffered from subordination to disparate modes of approach and methodologies deriving from fields quite other than education which have simply been transferred to the educational sphere, and which, once there, have tended to maintain their own distinctive languages and approaches, to pursue their own ends. (Simon, , p. 4)…”
Section: Partnerships and Educational Researchmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The focus of educational research, indeed, said Simon, must be education , and ‘its overall function is to assist teachers, administrators, indeed all concerned in the field, to improve the quality of the educational process – and, in so doing, enhance the quality of life’ (Simon, , p. 5). This should also include recognition of the restraints on the educational process—economic, social, political and ideological—which require analysis.…”
Section: Partnerships and Educational Researchmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…This should also include recognition of the restraints on the educational process—economic, social, political and ideological—which require analysis. Education in this sense was nothing less than ‘the characteristic mode of development of human beings in society’, something that we still know all too little about, and so, Simon concluded, ‘It is with a more effective penetration into the extraordinarily complex dynamic process involved, at many levels, that educational research is concerned’ (Simon, , pp. 7–8).…”
Section: Partnerships and Educational Researchmentioning
The British Educational Research Association (BERA) was established 44 years ago, in 1974, at the height of the postwar expansion of education, and at the onset of a long period of controversy and reform of education that has continued ever since. The presidential address for 2017 looks back to reflect on the birth and early years of BERA, on its founding principles and the circumstances in which it grew. It does so to identify the ideals that motivated and helped to shape the nascent organisation, and to ask how relevant and useful these are at a very different time, charting our future in the twenty‐first century. More broadly, this address moves beyond an institutional history and a history of ideas, to contribute to a social history of educational research based on a wide range of documentary and archival evidence. In considering our past, we must attempt to resist an uncritical and functional approach in favour of a critical and reflective outlook that is alert to unresolved issues and problems, no less than it is to success and progress in our collective endeavours. This is necessary partly in order to reconstruct our historical experience in a robust manner, but also to address our present situation in an effective way. In 1977, the historian Brian Simon framed his presidential address to BERA around the key question ‘Educational research: which way?’ Forty years on, we can appraise how BERA has approached this question, and also ask at the same time: which way now?
“…Perhaps most strikingly, Brian Simon, a champion of his own subdiscipline, the history of education, argued in his presidential address two years later, entitled ‘Educational research – which way?’, that BERA represented ‘a coming together from various disciplines’ (Simon, , p. 1), which would in his view encourage ‘submerging the undesirable aspects of contributory disciplines while extracting the most from them from the educational point of view’ (Simon, , p. 4). Simon was emphatic in his belief that: The study of education has manifestly suffered from subordination to disparate modes of approach and methodologies deriving from fields quite other than education which have simply been transferred to the educational sphere, and which, once there, have tended to maintain their own distinctive languages and approaches, to pursue their own ends.…”
Section: Partnerships and Educational Researchmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Simon was emphatic in his belief that: The study of education has manifestly suffered from subordination to disparate modes of approach and methodologies deriving from fields quite other than education which have simply been transferred to the educational sphere, and which, once there, have tended to maintain their own distinctive languages and approaches, to pursue their own ends. (Simon, , p. 4)…”
Section: Partnerships and Educational Researchmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The focus of educational research, indeed, said Simon, must be education , and ‘its overall function is to assist teachers, administrators, indeed all concerned in the field, to improve the quality of the educational process – and, in so doing, enhance the quality of life’ (Simon, , p. 5). This should also include recognition of the restraints on the educational process—economic, social, political and ideological—which require analysis.…”
Section: Partnerships and Educational Researchmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…This should also include recognition of the restraints on the educational process—economic, social, political and ideological—which require analysis. Education in this sense was nothing less than ‘the characteristic mode of development of human beings in society’, something that we still know all too little about, and so, Simon concluded, ‘It is with a more effective penetration into the extraordinarily complex dynamic process involved, at many levels, that educational research is concerned’ (Simon, , pp. 7–8).…”
Section: Partnerships and Educational Researchmentioning
The British Educational Research Association (BERA) was established 44 years ago, in 1974, at the height of the postwar expansion of education, and at the onset of a long period of controversy and reform of education that has continued ever since. The presidential address for 2017 looks back to reflect on the birth and early years of BERA, on its founding principles and the circumstances in which it grew. It does so to identify the ideals that motivated and helped to shape the nascent organisation, and to ask how relevant and useful these are at a very different time, charting our future in the twenty‐first century. More broadly, this address moves beyond an institutional history and a history of ideas, to contribute to a social history of educational research based on a wide range of documentary and archival evidence. In considering our past, we must attempt to resist an uncritical and functional approach in favour of a critical and reflective outlook that is alert to unresolved issues and problems, no less than it is to success and progress in our collective endeavours. This is necessary partly in order to reconstruct our historical experience in a robust manner, but also to address our present situation in an effective way. In 1977, the historian Brian Simon framed his presidential address to BERA around the key question ‘Educational research: which way?’ Forty years on, we can appraise how BERA has approached this question, and also ask at the same time: which way now?
“…In a paper written in 1973 they gave a definition which included the concept of 'efficiency': "Educational research consists in careful, systematic attempts to understand the educational process and, through understanding, to improve its efficiency." Simon (1978), addressing the British Educational Research Association in 1977, expressed the view "that the focus of educational research must be education, and that its overall function is to assist teachers, administrators, indeed all concerned in the field, to improve the quality of the educational process-and, in so doing, enhance the quality of life". Eggleston (1979), addressing the same Association in the following year and attempting to 'map the domain' of educational research, cited Simon's view and suggested how "descriptions of schooling... could be generalised".…”
Section: The Prevailing Expectations That Educational Research Shouldmentioning
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