Complexity and Education

Complexity and Education PDF

Author: Brent Davis

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-06-03

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 1134815786

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This book explores the contributions, actual and potential, of complexity thinking to educational research and practice. While its focus is on the theoretical premises and the methodology, not specific applications, the aim is pragmatic--to present complexity thinking as an important and appropriate attitude for educators and educational researchers. Part I is concerned with global issues around complexity thinking, as read through an educational lens. Part II cites a diversity of practices and studies that are either explicitly informed by or that might be aligned with complexity research, and offers focused and practiced advice for structuring projects in ways that are consistent with complexity thinking. Complexity thinking offers a powerful alternative to the linear, reductionist approaches to inquiry that have dominated the sciences for hundreds of years and educational research for more than a century. It has captured the attention of many researchers whose studies reach across traditional disciplinary boundaries to investigate phenomena such as: How does the brain work? What is consciousness? What is intelligence? What is the role of emergent technologies in shaping personalities and possibilities? How do social collectives work? What is knowledge? Complexity research posits that a deep similarity among these phenomena is that each points toward some sort of system that learns. The authors’ intent is not to offer a complete account of the relevance of complexity thinking to education, not to prescribe and delimit, but to challenge readers to examine their own assumptions and theoretical commitments--whether anchored by commonsense, classical thought or any of the posts (such as postmodernism, poststructuralism, postcolonialism, postpositivism, postformalism, postepistemology) that mark the edges of current discursive possibility. Complexity and Education is THE introduction to the emerging field of complexity thinking for the education community. It is specifically relevant for educational researchers, graduate students, and inquiry-oriented teacher practitioners.

Complexity Theory and the Philosophy of Education

Complexity Theory and the Philosophy of Education PDF

Author: Mark Mason

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2009-02-23

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1444307363

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

A collection of scholarly essays, Complexity Theory and thePhilosophy of Education provides an accessible theoreticalintroduction to the topic of complexity theory while consideringits broader implications for educational change. Explains the contributions of complexity theory to philosophyof education, curriculum, and educational research Brings together new research by an international team ofcontributors Debates issues ranging from the culture of curriculum, to theimplications of work of key philosophers such as Foucault and JohnDewey for educational change Demonstrates how social scientists and social and educationpolicy makers are drawing on complexity theory to answer questionssuch as: why is it that education decision-makers are so resistantto change; how does change in education happen; and what does ittake to make these changes sustainable? Considers changes in use of complexity theory; developedprincipally in the fields of physics, biology, chemistry, andeconomics, and now being applied more broadly to the socialsciences and to the study of education

Complexity Theory and the Politics of Education

Complexity Theory and the Politics of Education PDF

Author:

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2010-01-01

Total Pages: 179

ISBN-13: 9460912400

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Complexity theory has become a major influence in discussions about the theory and practice of education. This book focuses on a question which so far has received relatively little attention in such discussions, which is the question of the politics of complexity.

Complexity Thinking in Physical Education

Complexity Thinking in Physical Education PDF

Author: Alan Ovens

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 0415507219

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This title focuses on complexity thinking in the context of physical education, enabling fresh ways of thinking about research, teaching, curriculum and learning. Written by a team of leading international physical education scholars, the book highlights how the considerable theoretical promise of complexity can be reflected in the actual policies, pedagogies and practices of physical education.

School Leadership and Complexity Theory

School Leadership and Complexity Theory PDF

Author: Keith Morrison

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 230

ISBN-13: 1135140537

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Interest in complexity theory, a relation of chaos theory, has become well established in the business community in recent years. Complexity theory argues that systems are complex interactions of many parts which cannot be predicted by accepted linear equations. In this book, Keith Morrison introduces complexity theory to the world of education, drawing out its implications for school leadership. He suggests that schools are complex, nonlinear and unpredictable systems, and that this impacts significantly within them. As schools race to keep up with change and innovation, he suggests that it is possible to find order without control and to lead without coercion. Key areas: * schools and self-organisation * leadership for self-organisation * supporting emergence through the learning organisation * schools and their environments * communication * fitness landscapes This book will be of interest to headteachers and middle managers, and those on higher level courses in educational leadership and management.

Applied Chaos and Complexity Theory in Education

Applied Chaos and Complexity Theory in Education PDF

Author: Erçetin, ?efika ?ule

Publisher: IGI Global

Published: 2016-05-23

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 1522504613

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

As a field of mathematical study, chaos and complexity theory analyzes the state of dynamical systems by evaluating how they interact, evolve, and adapt. Though this theory impacts a variety of disciplines, it also has significant influence on educational systems and settings. Applied Chaos and Complexity Theory in Education examines the application of the theories of chaos and complexity in relation to educational systems and institutions. Featuring emergent research and perspectives on mathematical patterns in educational settings and instructional practices, this book is a comprehensive reference source for researchers, scholars, mathematicians, and graduate students.

Complexity in Education

Complexity in Education PDF

Author: Cok Bakker

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-01-12

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13: 9463007644

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

"This volume, the result of four years of work performed by the combined research groups of Utrecht University (Faculty of Humanities) and the HU Utrecht University of Applied Sciences (Faculty of Education), focuses on the central theme of ‘Normative Professionalization’. Drawing on a wide variety of scholars including Hannah Arendt, Gert Biesta, Harry Kunneman, Donald Schön and Chris Argyris, and engaging with professionalism, ethics, virtue and morality, this book builds the argument that learning to deal with complexity supports not only education but the personal development of teachers and the improvement of society and democracy as well. This volume presents research on a broad range of topics such as worldview education, co-teaching, moral authorship, traditional-reform perspectives on education, the discourse on citizenship, teacher education, and the question how to link religion and education. The research chapters explain the theoretical lenses and methodological approaches which have been employed to get a grip on complexity. The results have been interpreted in light of the concepts of horror complexitatis, amor complexitatis and dolor complexitatis. Guided by detailed research accounts of worldview descriptions provided by students and teachers, this framework has been enriched with the notion of a passio complexitatis. In the concluding chapters, the book advocates for an improved balance between the normative and instrumental professionalization of teachers, in order to create space for the improvement of pedagogical relations and processes and to reintroduce the moral dimensions of education. The claim throughout this book is that allowing for complexity in education – even going so far as to embrace it – is vital for the improvement of education, and a prerequisite for more authentic relationships (on the micro level) and the maintenance of a well-functioning democracy and a balanced society (on the macro level). This book is of interest to researchers and educators who are interested in normative professionalization, to qualitative and practice oriented researchers, to teachers and managers in primary, secondary and professional education, and to the wider public which is concerned with the significance of education for the development of a stable and sustainable society."

Education and Conflict

Education and Conflict PDF

Author: Lynn Davies

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2003-12-16

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 1134408978

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

First-place winner of the Society for Education Studies' 2005 book prize, Education and Conflict is a critical review of education in an international context. Based on the author's extensive research and experience of education in several areas afflicted by conflict, the book explores the relationship between schooling and social conflict and looks at conflict internal to schools. It posits a direct link between the ethos of a school and the attitudes of future citizens towards 'others'. It also looks at the nature and purpose of peace education and war education, and addresses the role of gender and masculinity. In five lucid, vigorously argued sections, the author brings this thought-provoking and original piece of work to life by: * Setting out the terms of the debate, defining conflict and peace and outlining the relevant aspects of complexity theory for education * Exploring the sources of conflict and their relations to schooling in terms of gender/masculinity, pluralism, nationalism and identity * Focusing on the direct education/war interface * Examining educational responses to conflict * Highlighting conflict resolution within the school itself. This is the first time that so many aspects of conflict and education have been brought together in one sustained argument. With its crucial exposure of the currently culpable role of formal schooling in maintaining conflict, this book will be a powerful and essential read for educational policy makers, managers, teachers and researchers dealing with conflict in their own contexts.

Time and the Rhythms of Emancipatory Education

Time and the Rhythms of Emancipatory Education PDF

Author: Michel Alhadeff-Jones

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2016-10-26

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 1317541294

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Time and the Rhythms of Emancipatory Education argues that by rethinking the way we relate to time, we can fundamentally rethink the way we conceive education. Beyond the contemporary rhetoric of acceleration, speed, urgency or slowness, this book provides an epistemological, historical and theoretical framework that will serve as a comprehensive resource for critical reflection on the relationship between the experience of time and emancipatory education. Drawing upon time and rhythm studies, complexity theories and educational research, Alhadeff-Jones reflects upon the temporal and rhythmic dimensions of education in order to (re)theorize and address current societal and educational challenges. The book is divided into three parts. The first begins by discussing the specificities inherent to the study of time in educational sciences. The second contextualizes the evolution of temporal constraints that determine the ways education is institutionalized, organized, and experienced. The third and final part questions the meanings of emancipatory education in a context of temporal alienation. This is the first book to provide a broad overview of European and North-American theories that inform both the ideas of time and rhythm in educational sciences, from school instruction, curriculum design and arts education, to vocational training, lifelong learning and educational policies. It will be of key interest to academics, researchers and postgraduate students in the fields of philosophy of education, sociology of education, history of education, psychology, curriculum and learning theory, and adult education.

The Complexity of Identity and Interaction in Language Education

The Complexity of Identity and Interaction in Language Education PDF

Author: Nathanael Rudolph

Publisher: Multilingual Matters

Published: 2020-08-07

Total Pages: 408

ISBN-13: 1788927443

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This book addresses two critical calls pertaining to language education. Firstly, for attention to be paid to the transdisciplinary nature and complexity of learner identity and interaction in the classroom and secondly, for the need to attend to conceptualizations of and approaches to manifestations of (in)equity in the sociohistorical contexts in which they occur. Collectively, the chapters envision classrooms and educational institutions as sites both shaping and shaped by larger (trans)communal negotiations of being and belonging, in which individuals affirm and/or problematize essentialized and idealized nativeness and community membership. The volume, comprised of chapters contributed by a diverse array of researcher-practitioners living, working and/or studying around the globe, is intended to inform, empower and inspire stakeholders in language education to explore, potentially reimagine, and ultimately critically and practically transform, the communities in which they live, work and/or study.