The End of the War of Pedagogical Research Paradigms

Sekulić-Majurec, Ana. (2007). The End of the War of Pedagogical Research Paradigms. Pedagogijska istraživanja, 4(2). pp. 203-215. ISSN 1334-7888

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Abstract

When it comes to the methodology of research in education, the end of the last century was marked by a phenomenon referred to in literature as the war of paradigms. The paper discusses a possible outcome of that war and its effect on the development of pedagogy in the 21 st century. In order to answer all possible questions on the direction that the development of pedagogy and its methodology might take in the 21 st century, it is essential to start with a brief presentation of pedagogy as a subject and the role of methodology in ascertaining its scientific bases. The paper then proceeds to elaborate on the difference between the opposed paradigms of scientific and humanistic, mostly by contrasting their basic approaches to research (the quantitative and the qualitative approach), and warns about the inconsistent use of both paradigms in pedagogical research. The way to reconcile the opposed paradigms is to recognise their complementary qualities and unite them in a single paradigm characterised primarily by the use of the most appropriate methodological approach to research, depending on the research and the problem researched. In other words, the approach to research should be chosen in view of the area of research. The author then lists possible ways to unite the opposed paradigms. The conclusion brings the author’s reflections on whether the role of methodology in pedagogical research will be that of Prometheus or of The Little Match Girl.

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