Researches in Education

Researches in Education

Why research in anything, particularly in education? I think there are several reasons for doing so. Foremost is the idea that we are not alone in this vast universe. No particular instant is ever so unique. I think the Preacher mentioned something like this. Wherefore, it is useless and stupid to assume that yours is a unique situation, or worse, you want to start from scratch, without referring to results of other researchers. The latter is just a sort of excuse. First, they maintained that the research situation in their school is different. Theirs is a different race, culture, gender, age group, country, wealth level, economic status. Their students and teachers have different attitudes, aptitudes, personalities, and motivation. The parameters are different. We can raise an infinite reason for not believing research. But all these boil down to the single reason of self-denial - to the fact that one simply don't get the value of statistical probability and decision making. It is like Hume debating Kant all over again. When you say that research situation is different in your school, you are speaking the truth. Indeed, Carl Jung once said that "The individual is an exception to the rule". But does that make us shun the results of research? By far no.

Research is what makes us stand on the shoulders of giants. We must grow from the findings of the past, checking and re-checking, improving and furthering, applying and misapplying past concepts to new situations.

We cannot start from scratch every time. Else, we will always need to reprove that water = H2O or that Pluto is a planet. I know that perhaps, in the future there will be a lot of improvements on those two statements. But those improvements will not make the statements here less correct. It is using the knowledge that we have at present - the science of our times.

I don't know why some people say they believe in science and yet won't apply the results of research. I think it has to do with confusion (they don't know which to apply, there seems to be millions - sometimes conflicting results), laziness (there are too many of them for me to just even read one), lack of time on the part of the educational leader, and finally, the general goal and direction of survival (they just want to survive the day, the quarter, the school year - minus the lawsuits of course).