Deparochializing educational research: Three critical, illustrative narratives

Abstract

We live and work today in globalized spaces and places and need to recognize this in our theorizing, pedagogies and educational research within the academy. This use of the term 'educational research' rather than 'education research' is significant: the former suggests a commitment through research to progressive improvements in educational policy and practices, necessarily within these globalized settings, while the latter simply names the focus or topic of research subject to the application of social science theories and methodologies (Lin and and Ga le 2010). Educational research involves the application of social science theories and methodologies, but with a commitment to improvement to both policy and practice. Implicit in this definition is the researcher's desire for what approximates universal knowledge, but applied to specific, contingent circumstances, which always mean rearticulation through teacher professional knowledge and reading of specific situations. Yet today, these specific contexts of practice are intimately interconnected and imbricated with global educational policy discourses.