Evidence-based Practice in Education: Functions of evidence and causal presuppositions

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Much educational debate today is dominated by a "what works" vocabulary, intimately associated with evidence-based practice (EBP). The vocabulary consists of concepts and ideas such as accountability, competency, effectiveness, employability, learning outcomes, predictability, qualifications, and testing. As schooling and education are considered successful when predetermined outcomes have been achieved, education is often believed to require assessment, measurement and documentation.

In this book, Tone Kvernbekk leaves the political, ethical and professional dimensions on the sidelines and focuses instead on further unpacking the core of EBP. Chapters concentrate on several fundamental issues ignored by current literature, including:

    • the character of the evidence that plays a central role in EBP in both practical reasoning and acting under uncertainty
    • the notion of causality presupposed by discussion of the production of desired effects and played out in the basic structure of interventions
    • a system-theoretical look at why interventions might not work.

By considering these key points, Kvernbekk articulates both the legitimate uses and the illegitimate, philosophically problematic misuses of EBP in educational thinking and practice. The book will be of key value for academics and postgraduate students in the fields of educational research and practice, philosophy of education and educational theory, especially those concerned with research methodology, professionalism, and discussions regarding evidence-based practice.

Author(s): Tone Kvernbekk
Series: Routledge Research in Education
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2016

Language: English
Pages: viii+194
Tags: Research Education Theory Schools Teaching Administration Counseling Curriculum Instruction Educational Philosophy Elementary History Secondary Special New Used Rental Textbooks Specialty Boutique

Acknowledgements viii
1 Introduction 1
2 Evidence 12
3 The indirect function of evidence 28
4 The instrumental character of evidence-based
practice 39
5 Interlude: on finding one’s way in the causal
landscape 55
6 The logic of intervention 74
7 Reproducibility 96
8 What does it take for an intervention to work? 117
9 The best laid schemes 149
10 Conclusion 174
Bibliography 182
Index 191