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Accounts of Education Systems, Teachers and Learners

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Education Systems and Learners

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Abstract

The focus in this chapter is on how education systems, teachers and learners can be described. These descriptions are underpinned by a notion of ontological realism, that is, there is a world out there which is separate from any person’s knowledge of it, and it would function in all significant respects in the same way whether it was known or not, or whether it was being known or not. Critical realists, for example, suggest this and more, namely an epistemological relativism, whilst at the same time not giving up on the idea of being able to make true but fallible statements about that reality. It is therefore possible to argue that a meta-theory should have the following elements: ontological realism, epistemological relativism and judgemental rationality, and that this meta-theory is not internally incoherent. These are foundational and universal precepts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Education, University College London, London, United Kingdom

    David Scott

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  1. David Scott
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Scott, D. (2017). Accounts of Education Systems, Teachers and Learners. In: Education Systems and Learners. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59884-4_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59884-4_2

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-59883-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-59884-4

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