A collection of scholarly essays, Complexity Theory and the Philosophy of Education provides an accessible theoretical introduction to the topic of complexity theory while considering its broader implications for educational change.
Explains the contributions of complexity theory to philosophy of education, curriculum, and educational research
Brings together new research by an international team of contributors
Debates issues ranging from the culture of curriculum, to the implications of work of key philosophers such as Foucault and John Dewey for educational change
Demonstrates how social scientists and social and education policy makers are drawing on complexity theory to answer questions such as: why is it that education decision-makers are so resistant to change; how does change in education happen; and what does it take to make these changes sustainable?
Considers changes in use of complexity theory; developed principally in the fields of physics, biology, chemistry, and economics, and now being applied more broadly to the social sciences and to the study of education
About the Author
Dr. Mark Mason is Associate Professor in Philosophy and Educational Studies in the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong, where he is also Director of the Comparative Education Research Centre (CERC). He has written and edited a variety of books in the field, most recently Changing Education: Leadership, Innovation and Development in a Globalizing Asia Pacific (2007).
Features
Explores the relevance of complexity theory – the web of interrelated and contingent factors that contribute to particular outcomes or phenomena – to the philosophy and theory of education, to the curriculum, and to educational research more broadly
Brings together new research by an international contributor team to debate issues ranging from the culture of curriculum, to the implications of work of key philosophers such as Foucault and John Dewey for educational change
Demonstrates how social scientists and social and education policy makers are drawing on complexity theory to answer questions on why education decision-makers are so resistant to change; how change in education happens; and what it takes to make these changes sustainable
