A hermeneutic exploration of the relevance of method to research task arising from an inquiry in teacher training

Abstract

In this study I have made a philosophical examination of the role of explanatory notions commonly used in educational research, and of the relation of these notions to research method. I have also given an account of specific performances of women student teachers, which, as far as I am aware, have not been reported elsewhere.
The study comprises four inter—related elements. The first is a description of an inquiry, in the empirical science tradition, into the performances of women student teachers on tasks related to Piagetian notions of intellectual development.
The second is an account of events affecting the course of the inquiry, I offer this description because consideration of the personal involvement of the inquirer, an existential commitment, reveals the genesis of the later argument.
The third element is the tracing and examination of assumptions which gave direction to the inquiry. This process led to the belief that certain features of the explanatory notions involved were open to criticism, and reasons are given as to why I came to regard them as unsatisfactory.
The fourth element is a consideration of the nature of explanation in educational research as it is commonly practised. This discussion leads to an assertion of belief in the inevitably personal condition of inquiry in education, with implications for research into human action as distinct from the causes of behaviour.
The study is an interpretation of the experience of exploring a topic and being compelled to reconsider fundamental beliefs.

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