Popular instructional approaches in Early Childhood Education for Sustainability (ECEfS) are co-construction learning, transformative learning and ecological learning. These rely on constructivism that could challenge human-nature relationships of ECEfS. In this study, we aim to discover and reshape human-nature relationships embedded in the…

This paper questions the idea that there are two opposing paradigms of educational research, often called positivist versus interpretivist. It argues that the 'paradigm' term has been used to avoid philosophical discussions about the nature of educational research. This has been done by understanding 'paradigms' to reflect metaphysical positions…

Paradigms serve as metaphysical frameworks that guide researchers in the identification and clarification of their beliefs with regard to ethics, reality, knowledge, and methodology. The transformative paradigm is explained and illustrated as a framework for researchers who place a priority on social justice and the furtherance of human rights.…

The need for a new literacy that will allow for meaningful participation in the rapidly evolving field of nanotechnology is very critical to national development. This need is important for nanotechnology to achieve its full potential. This paper describes and analyzes some contemporary philosophical interpretations of the concept of technological…

Informed by the Afrocentric learning paradigm, this conceptual piece argues that Mezirow's version of the theory of transformative learning is useful, but it would be more so if applied to be culturally sensitive. Using Botswana cultural learning values as an example, the article demonstrates how the theory can be made culturally sensitive to an…

What is it to learn in the modern world? We can identify four "learning epochs" through which our understanding of learning has passed: a metaphysical view; an empirical view; an experiential view; and, currently, a "learning-amid-contestation" view. In this last and current view, learning has its place in a world in which, the more one learns,…

This article examines several methodological issues associated with combining qualitative and quantitative methods by comparing the increasing interest in this topic with the earlier renewal of interest in qualitative research during the 1980s. The first section argues for the value of Kuhn's concept of paradigm shifts as a tool for examining…

One could argue that postmodernism is the wave of the future. To fully gain a comprehensive understanding of the function of postmodernisn one must first obtain a comprehensive understanding of the structured component of postmodernism. The Epistemological aspect of the postmodernisn leadership paradigm model provides the foundation we as…

Despite the rigorous and robust evaluation of learning styles theories, models and inventories, little objective evidence in support of their effectiveness has been found. The lack of unambiguous evidence in support of these models and practices leaves the continued popularity of these models and instruments as a puzzle. Two related accounts of…

This article challenges the largely Western, functionalist and unitary notion of the self which underlies contemporary international approaches to educational leadership preparation. It locates an alternative concept of the self as simultaneously singular and multiple in deep-rooted and persisting mythic, religious and metaphysical thinking. The…

Presents excerpts from the scientific writings of Boyle and Newton to demonstrate their use of metaphysical models. (CP)

The relationships among the three dominant means of education in American society and the development of utopian thought are examined. The author defines the three forms of education as the scientific, the entropic, and the metaphysical. The scientific form pursues knowledge through rigorous empirical verification, while the metaphysical form…

Engelhard draws out the similarities and differences in Guttman's, Rasch's, and Mokken's perspectives on invariance in measurement. He provides a valuable model in evaluating the extent to which different measurement theories and methods serve as a basis for achieving the fundamental goals of quantification. The full extent of this point will…

Arguing that most writing on library and information service is empirical or devoted to reporting what happened, this paper attempts to promote conversation between the empiricists and the idealists or metaphysicians of library and information studies. The paper includes the following sections: (1) Professor Peter Kien and the Metaphysical Course…

Contemporary rhetorician Richard M. Weaver believes that values are inseparable from rhetoric. For him, to be a rhetorician is to direct toward good or evil and to be a rhetorical critic is to determine whether that direction is the "right one" and/or judge whether the rhetorician "is a master of his art." To determine if the…