Educational Research and Undiscovered Public Knowledge

Autor/in	Barr, Jean
Titel	Educational Research and Undiscovered Public Knowledge
Quelle	In: Studies in the Education of Adults, 39 (2007) 1, S.22-37 (16 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0266-0830
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Universities; Educational Research; Adult Educators; Lifelong Learning; Adult Education; Educational History; College Faculty; Institutional Role; Higher Education; Organizations (Groups); United Kingdom + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; University; Universität; Bildungsforschung; Pädagogische Forschung; Adult education teacher; Adult education; Adult training; Teacher; Teachers; Adult educator; Erwachsenenbildner; Erwachsenenbildung; Lehrer; Lehrerin; Lehrende; Life-long learning; Lebenslanges Lernen; Adult; Adults; Education; Adult basic education; History of education; Bildungsgeschichte; Fakultät; Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen; Großbritannien
Abstract	Donald Swanson, a library scientist at the University of Chicago, has coined the phrase "undiscovered public knowledge". As a university-based adult educationalist I am particularly interested in the "undiscovered public knowledge" which lies in the spaces beyond the academy, especially in the many associations, groups and movements involved in civil society, some connected via the Internet, which are developing knowledge rooted in projects. Some of these, such as the World Social Forum (WSF) and the "Global Justice Movement", actively challenge the instrumentalist presuppositions which currently guide much university research. The focus of this paper is the fate of such "undiscovered public knowledge" in a context of "lifelong learning" and the marketisation of universities. Such independent sources of popular knowledge have been important in the history and practice of adult education, part of a tradition with roots in independent working-class education which reaches back to the Chartists, Owenites and Correspondence Societies of the nineteenth century. This tradition long precedes the idea of adult education as an "institutional" form, long before adult educators became professional agents of "lifelong learning". The paper suggests an agenda for (adult) educational research which does not pin its credibility on its ability to produce generalisations, but judges it in terms of its contribution to thoughtful practice and informed judgement. The central argument is that in the current context of adult and higher education internationally, solutions to problems of significant intellectual and social impact can be easily ignored because they do not relate to what academics are trained and rewarded to see. (Contains 8 notes.) (Author).
Anmerkungen	National Institute of Adult Continuing Education. Renaissance House, 20 Princess Road West, Leicester, LE1 6TP, UK. Tel: +44-1162-044200; Fax: +44-1162-044262; e-mail: enquiries@niace.org.uk; Web site: http://www.niace.org.uk/Publications/Periodicals/Default.htm
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10