ERIC Number: ED335017
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1991
Pages: 37
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
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EISSN: N/A
Instructional Design and Human Practice: What Can We Learn from Habermas' Theory of Technical and Practical Human Interests?
Streibel, Michael J.
This paper addresses the question of whether instruction is a product or a practice and the relationship of these two concepts to instructional design. The points of view presented are based on the framework articulated by Habermas for dealing with different types of relationships between theory and practice and Grundy's application of these ideas to curriculum as guides for dealing with instructional design, instruction, and learning. Grundy describes Habermas' three types of human interests as: (1) the technical human interest, which entails empirical/analytical ways of knowing and represents the world in terms of objects, processes, and laws which describe the transformation of objects and processes; (2) the practical human interest, which entails historical and hermeneutic ways of knowing that represent the physical, social, and cultural worlds as "texts" which have to be interpreted in order for meaning to emerge; and (3) the emancipatory human interest, which entails a critical way of knowing where critical theorems are gleaned through collective reflection on social and cultural practices and then used to restructure future actions. Detailed descriptions of these three interests are followed by discussions of the first two in the contexts of instruction as a product of instructional design, and instructional design and instruction as practice. It is concluded that the theory of practical human interests is a more adequate account of the work done by instructional designers, teachers, and learners than the theory of human interests, and suggestions are offered for ways for instructional designers to reorient their efforts to conform to this theory. (31 references) (BBM)
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A