This is the third of four essays discussing John Dewey's short essay, "Education as engineering", placing the essay into its historical context while also hinting at contemporary connections. This essay aims to show that one must not take the term "engineering" in a narrow, technical sense. Dewey was concerned with how the beliefs and values of unreflective, customary thinking about education not only controls and limits and serious educational reform, but also the patterns of educational research carryied out. Because all inquiry is theory and value-laden, "objectivity" in educational research depends on acknowledging the beliefs and values that are assumed in inquiry.