Research in schools and the lure of the transcendent

This chapter explores how the dominant discourse in mainstream schools in industrialised societies demands a ‘quest for certainty’ that involves pre-determined, measurable outcomes. This mirrors a market-logic where the individual is encouraged to compete for success and a pedagogy of efficiency is reified. In this chapter we examine teachers’ preconceptions of ‘research’ and analyse how they feel they exist in a state of stasis, welded to the status quo. Our analysis is based on data from a project funded by the Welsh Government that involved interviewing teachers about their engagement with research. The teachers’ responses reveal that a domineering mono-culture of positivism in schools seemingly renders mystery, wonder and uncertainty as enemies of efficiency, and condemns attention given to these concepts as frivolous or merely the entry points before real work begins. Drawing on van Manen’s concept of ‘pathic knowledge’ and Huebner’s vision of education as ‘the lure of the transcendent’ we show how there may be alternatives to this pervasive factory model of schooling.