Poststructuralism and Educational Research - (Philosophy, Theory, and Educational Research) by Michael A Peters & Nicholas C Burbules (Paperback)

About the Book

What does poststructuralism mean for authors such as Foucault, Lyotard, Cixous, Derrida, and Haraway, to name a few, and what significance does it have for educational inquiry? This book takes on these central questions and explores the impact of postructuralism in language th...

Book Synopsis

Poststructuralism, and its implications for something called 'postmodernism, ' is a major topic of discussion in social theory and research generally, including educational research. The works of the major authors in this tradition (Foucault, Lyotard, Cixous, Derrida, Haraway, to name a few) are challenging and difficult. Yet more and more theorists and researchers in educational scholarship use this term to describe their work. What does poststructuralism mean for these authors, and what significance does it have for educational inquiry? This book takes on these central questions and explores the impact of poststructuralism in language that makes the basic issues at stake accessible for a broad readership. Michael Peters and Nicholas C. Burbules highlight the implications of a poststructuralist stance for the conception of the research subject and examine its standards of validity and methods of investigation. They also lay out the distinguishing characteristics of this approach to educational inquiry, using as examples the particular ways in which writers (including Giroux, McLaren, Lather, and Ball) have tried to incorporate the poststructuralist perspective into their investigations of educational issues. The emphasis throughout this book will be on making these complex theoretical issues tangible and salient for the educational researcher.

Review Quotes

Poststructuralism and Educational Research makes an important contribution to the field of educational research. Michael A. Peters and Nicholas C. Burbules are accomplished scholars who are well-positioned to offer not only clarification but also prognostication concerning how post-structuralism will impact the nature of educational research. Their efforts will prove to be of value to anyone who is interested in the differences between intellectual movements such as modernism and postmodernism obviously along with structuralism and poststructuralism. Those who take the time to read Peters' and Burbules' important work will find themselves among those individuals who can anticipate the impending sense of change wrought by poststructuralism-regardless whether their intention is to embrace such a change or to resist it.

About the Author

Michael A. Peters is research professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Glasgow. He has written extensively on the subject of poststructuralism and education including the recent book, Poststructuralism, Politics, and Education (Greenwood, 1996).

Nicholas C. Burbules is professor of educational policy studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, editor of the journal Educational Theory, author of Dialogue in Teaching (TC Press, 1993) and co-editor of Teaching and its Predicaments (Westview, 1997).