Preparing Education Doctoral Students for Epistemological Diversity

Abstract

The diversity of epistemological perspectives in contemporary educational research poses challenges for the faculty of doctoral programs striving to prepare the next generation of educational researchers. In this paper, I use Wenger's (1998) concept of community 6 EDUCATIONAL RESEARCHER

Critical thinking in Norwegian upper secondary biology education: The cases of complementary-alternative-medicine and health claims in the media

“…The epistemologies of conventional medicine treatments and CAM are largely different; what is evidence of a claim, what counts as a warrant for that evidence, and what are the standards of validity, are all epistemology linked questions (Sampson, 2001;Pallas, 2001). Despite the absence of scientific evidence, the interest in CAM in the lay public of Western societies has increased during the last twenty years, and younger people seem to be more positive towards the use of CAM than the elderly (Astin, 1998).…”

A Researcher’s Dilemma: Philosophy in Crafting Dissertations and Theses

“…The paradox of the knower begets the epistemic paradox (Burge 1984) in research in that the researcher is faced with the task to establish what can be known (Kroon 1993). This scenario is compounded by the proliferation of epistemologies in academia (Pallas 2001). It is, perhaps, this paradox that prompts human beings to want to know and researchers to feel obliged to provide answers.…”

Toward Strengthening the Preparation of Teacher Educator-Researchers in Doctoral Programs and Beyond

“…Although recently some discourse has occurred around improving the preparation of educational researchers in doctoral programs (Labaree, 2003;Levine, 2007;Neumann, Pallas, & Peterson, 2008;Pallas, 2001, Schoenfeld, 1999Wilson, 2006;Young, 2001;Zeichner, 2005), research about teacher educators and their research preparation in doctoral programs is understudied and in its infancy.…”

“…Boote and Beile (2005) argued that there is not enough attention paid to the importance of developing the skills and knowledge essential for the synthesis and analysis of existing studies in constructing quality literature reviews in doctoral programs, leaving many candidates unable to articulate clearly and frame a researchable question. Lagemann (2000), Pallas (2001), and Metz (2001) discussed the difficulties and struggles of helping doctoral students understand the epistemological diversity, and the subtle nuances and implicit assumptions, among different research methods.…”

“…Because their preparation at both the baccalaureate and master's degree levels is mostly in education schools, many prospective teacher educator-researchers are prepared primarily to teach and may not have had opportunities to develop deep disciplinary knowledge of theories, subject matter, or methods that would allow for epistemological debates or the generation of knowledge within a field (Boote & Beile, 2005;Eisenhart & DeHann, 2005;Labaree, 2003Labaree, , 2004Pallas, 2001;Wilson, 2006). Even though this lack of opportunity in predoctoral studies may not be unique to the field of education, beginning education doctoral students appear often to have had little exposure to theories.…”