What are the disciplines of education?

Answer 1

The short answer to the question is that there are three fundamental disciplines for research and inquiry about the educational process. They are the disciplines for verification of analytic statements, normative statements and empirical statements about the education educational process.

In relation to the three fundamental disciplines of education, the following distinctions are critical.

1. There is the educational process,
2. There is the activity of conducting research or inquiry about the educational processin order to produce knowledge about the educational process,
3. There is knowledge about the educational process which is produced by successful, disciplined research or inquiry about the educational process.
4. There are the rules of evidence and proof which must be followed to support the claims that the statements produced by the research or inquiry about the educational process are true or warranted.

Confusion is caused by people (academics in universities, researchers who conduct inquiry about the educational process, teachers, people in general) using the terms field, study and disciplineinterchangeably to name these four different things. They also use the term education to name these four things. So there is no wonder that the discourse about education is confusing and that there are seemingly no differences among field, study, discipline and education!

Confusion in discourse about the educational process can be dispelled if you sort out the four critical categories as follows.

1. Field of phenomena:A field of phenomena is a set of occurrences which happen or exist. In the field of phenomena which we name with the term education, there are teachers guiding students in their study, students following the guidance of their teachers in their study, some content being taught and studied, some learning goals being pursued, some methods of teaching and studying being used, some cultural, social and physical setting in which the teaching and studying takes place, etc. Research or inquiry can be conducted about the field or parts of the field of the educational process. Examples of parts of the educational process include early childhood education, primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, vocational education, special education, physical education, mathematics education, science education, education for social equity, education for women, etc.
2. Activity of conducting research or inquiry about the educational process. Various people (university academics, professional researchers) conduct research about the educational process. They do this by asking and answering questions about the educational process. They seek evidence to substantiate their answers so that the answers qualify as warranted assertions (or knowledge) about the educational process. Researchers intend to produce true statements about the educational process which can be shown to be true with the appropriate, necessary and sufficient evidence.
3. Fund of knowledge.Successful research or inquiry produces true statements or knowledge. The collection of true statements which can be made about the educational process makes up the total fund of knowledge about the educational process. A useful name for the total fund of knowledge about the educational process is the term educology. The use of the term educology avoids the confusion of mistaking the educational process (education) for knowledge about the educational process (educology). The total fund can be organized into smaller collections or subfunds of knowledge about the educational process. For example, there can be scientific knowledge about the educational process (i.e. knowledge about existing states of affairs in the educational process, or scientific educology). There can be praxiological knowledge about the educational process (i.e. knowledge about effective practices of teaching, studying, counseling, etc. in the educational process, or praxiological educology). There is historical knowledge about the educational process (i.e. knowledge about past states of affairs in the educational process, or historical educology). There can be normative philosophical knowledge about the educational process (i.e. knowledge about good and bad states of affairs in the educational process, or normative philosophical educology). There can be analytic philosophical knowledge about the educational process (i.e. knowledge about the meaning of terms and sentences used in discourse about the educational process, or analytic philosophical educology).
4. Discipline for conducting inquiry. The discipline followed by the researchers in their inquiry is the set of rules of proof and the methods of evidence gathering which they must follow in order to present warranted knowledge claims about the educational process. At least three broad rules of proof are used. They are the rules for verification of analytic, normative and empirical knowledge about the educational process. Analytic discipline, normative discipline and empirical discipline are the three fundamental disciplines used for producing knowledge about the educational process.

Analytic Discipline.Analytic discipline uses the principle of necessity reasoning. This discipline requires that a statement be judged true (i.e. warranted) when it is necessarily implied by a set of premises (i.e. a set of preceding statements). The principle of necessity reasoning is the same as the principle of deduction. Techniques of analytic inquiry include term isolation, definition, explication, model case, contrary case, borderline case, imaginary case, related concepts, unrelated concepts, practical consequences, language results, underlying anxieties, social context, term substitution and new terms techniques. Other analytic techniques include statistical analyses (analysis of variance, correlation, etc.) An example of an analytic statement about the educational process is the following:

"Students always learn from effective teaching."

Normative Discipline. Normative discipline uses the principle of normative reasoning. This discipline requires that a statement be judged true when it is necessarily implied by a set of criteria (i.e. standards or rules or both). In addition, those criteria must be consistent with a set of values or norms to which all persons can reasonably adhere if they were in the same set of circumstances and they were free to make a rational choice. The principle of normative reasoning is the same as the principle of evaluative reasoning or the principle of evaluation. Techniques of normative inquiry include value clarification, value validation, value vindication and rational choice. An example of a normative statement about the educational process is the following.

"Plagiarism by students in their assignments should be condemned."

Empirical Discipline. Empirical discipline requires the use of the principle of observation. This discipline requires that a statement be judged true (i.e. an assertion be affirmed as warranted) if it is consistent with observable evidence of objects, actions, behaviors or states of affairs which occur or exist in the natural world. Empirical techniques of inquiry include survey, experimentation, quasi-experimentation, analogy, unobtrusive measures, case studies, participant observation, systematic observation, simulations, ethnographies, naturalistic studies. An example of an empirical statement is,

"Twenty-two percent of university students admit to having plagiarized on at least one assignment."

All three fundamental disciplines are needed to produce knowledge about the educational process.

Organization of Knowledge about the Educational Process (Organization of Educology). Once knowledge about the educational process has been produced through successful, disciplined inquiry, it can be organized into any number of funds of knowledge. The organization is usually done in relation to what the knowledge is describing or characterizing. For example, there can be

1. History of Education (or Historical Educology): the fund of knowledge about past states of affairs in the educational process;
2. Science of Education (or Scientific Educology): the fund of knowledge about existing states of affairs in the educational process;
3. Praxiology of Education (or Praxiological Educology): the fund of knowledge about effective practices in the educational process;
4. Normative Philosophy of Education (or Normative Philosophical Educology): the fund of knowledge about good and bad states of affairs in the educational process;
5. Analytic Philosophy of Education (or Analytic Philsophical Educology): the fund of knowledge about the meanings of terms and sentences used in discourse about the educational process.

The five funds listed above are not disciplines. They are collections of organized knowledge, not the rules for conducting inquiry to verified knowledge claims about the educational process.

Other organizations of knowledge into funds are, of course, possible and very common. For example, there is

1. The fund of knowledge about the education of women (the educology of women's education);
2. The fund of knowledge about physical education (the educology of physical education);
3. The fund of knowledge about teaching and studying mathematics (the educology of mathematics education);
4. The fund of knowledge about the uses of computers in education (the educology of computers as a teaching and learning resource);
5. The fund of knowledge about early childhood education (the educology of early childhood education), etc. (the list can go, does go in real life, on and on).

So, to keep your thinking about the educational process straight and clear, maintain these five basic critical distinctions:

1. The educational process is a field of phenomena about which research and inquiry can be conducted,
2. Conducting research about the educational process is the activity of asking questions, answering questions and substantiating the answers with the necessary and sufficient evidence to warrant the answers as being true, i.e. as being knowledge,
3. The discipline for conducting research is the set of rules of proof and the methods of evidence gathering which researchers must follow in order to present warranted knowledge claims about the educational process; there are three basic sets of rules, or disciplines: the disciplines for analytic, empirical and normative inquiry.
4. The fund of knowledge about the educational process is the collection of true statements about the educational process which are produced by sound, well disciplined research and inquiry, following the analytic, empirical and normative rules of proof and evidence gathering.
5. The general fund of knowledge about the educational process is educology. Parts of educology can be organized into smaller funds or collections of true statements about the educational process.

Answer 2

Some disciplines of education include psychology, sociology, philosophy, curriculum design, and pedagogy. These disciplines focus on understanding how individuals learn, the social and cultural contexts of education, the theories and strategies behind teaching and learning, and the development of educational programs and materials.

Answer 3

There are three basic disciplines which are used to guide research and inquiry about the educational process in order to establish knowledge about the process. They are the disciplines for verification of analytic statements, normative statements and empirical statements about the educational process.

In relation to the three basic disciplines of education, the following distinctions are critical.

1. There is the educational process,
2. There is the activity of conducting research or inquiry about the educational processin order to produce knowledge about the educational process,
3. There is knowledge about the educational process which is produced by successful, disciplined research or inquiry about the educational process.
4. There are the rules of evidence and proof which must be followed to support the claims that the statements produced by the research or inquiry about the educational process are true or warranted.

Confusion is caused by people (academics in universities, researchers who conduct inquiry about the educational process, teachers, people in general) using the terms field, study, discipline and education interchangeably to name these four different things. So there is little wonder in the fact that the discourse about education is confusing and that there are seemingly no differences among field, study, discipline and education.

Confusion in discourse about the educational process can be dispelled if you sort out the four critical categories as follows.

1. Field of phenomena:A field of phenomena is a set of occurrences which happen or exist. In the field of phenomena which we name with the term education, there are teachers undertaking activities to help and guide students in their studies and endeavors to learn some content (skills, values, attititudes) using some set of methods and styles, pursuing some set of learning outcomes within the context of some cultural, social and physical setting. Research or inquiry can be conducted about the field or parts of the field of the educational process. Examples of parts of the educational process include early childhood education, primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, vocational education, special education, physical education, mathematics education, science education, education for social equity, education for women, etc.
2. Activity of conducting research or inquiry about the educational process. Various people (university academics, professional researchers) conduct research about the educational process. They do this by asking and answering questions about the educational process. They seek evidence to substantiate their answers so that the answers qualify as warranted assertions (or knowledge) about the educational process. Researchers intend to produce true statements about the educational process which can be shown to be true with the appropriate, necessary and sufficient evidence.
3. Fund of knowledge.Successful research or inquiry produces true statements or knowledge. The collection of true statements which can be made about the educational process makes up the total fund of knowledge about the educational process. A useful name for the total fund of knowledge about the educational process is the term educology. The use of the term educology avoids the confusion of mistaking the educational process (education) for knowledge about the educational process (educology). The total fund can be organized into smaller collections or subfunds of knowledge about the educational process. For example, there can be scientific knowledge about the educational process (i.e. knowledge about existing states of affairs in the educational process, or scientific educology). There can be praxiological knowledge about the educational process (i.e. knowledge about effective practices of teaching, studying, counseling, etc. in the educational process, or praxiological educology). There is historical knowledge about the educational process (i.e. knowledge about past states of affairs in the educational process, or historical educology). There can be normative philosophical knowledge about the educational process (i.e. knowledge about good and bad states of affairs in the educational process, or normative philosophical educology). There can be analytic philosophical knowledge about the educational process (i.e. knowledge about the meaning of terms and sentences used in discourse about the educational process, or analytic philosophical educology).
4. Discipline for conducting inquiry. The discipline followed by the researchers in their inquiry is the set of rules of proof and the methods of evidence gathering which they must follow in order to present warranted knowledge claims about the educational process. At least three broad rules of proof are used. They are the rules for verification of analytic, normative and empirical knowledge about the educational process. Analytic discipline, normative discipline and empirical discipline are the three fundamental disciplines used for producing knowledge about the educational process.

Analytic Discipline.Analytic discipline uses the principle of necessity reasoning. This discipline requires that a statement be judged true (i.e. warranted) when it is necessarily implied by a set of premises (i.e. a set of preceding statements). The principle of necessity reasoning is the same as the principle of deduction. Techniques of analytic inquiry include term isolation, definition, explication, model case, contrary case, borderline case, imaginary case, related concepts, unrelated concepts, practical consequences, language results, underlying anxieties, social context, term substitution and new terms techniques. Other analytic techniques include statistical analyses (analysis of variance, correlation, etc.) An example of an analytic statement about the educational process is the following:

"Students always learn from effective teaching."

Normative Discipline. Normative discipline uses the principle of normative reasoning. This discipline requires that a statement be judged true when it is necessarily implied by a set of criteria (i.e. standards or rules or both). In addition, those criteria must be consistent with a set of values or norms to which all persons can reasonably adhere if they were in the same set of circumstances and they were free to make a rational choice. The principle of normative reasoning is the same as the principle of evaluative reasoning or the principle of evaluation. Techniques of normative inquiry include value clarification, value validation, value vindication and rational choice. An example of a normative statement about the educational process is the following.

"Plagiarism by students in their assignments should be condemned."

Empirical Discipline. Empirical discipline requires the use of the principle of observation. This discipline requires that a statement be judged true (i.e. an assertion be affirmed as warranted) if it is consistent with observable evidence of objects, actions, behaviors or states of affairs which occur or exist in the natural world. Empirical techniques of inquiry include survey, experimentation, quasi-experimentation, analogy, unobtrusive measures, case studies, participant observation, systematic observation, simulations, ethnographies, naturalistic studies. An example of an empirical statement is,

"Twenty-two percent of university students admit to having plagiarized on at least one assignment."

All three fundamental disciplines are needed to produce knowledge about the educational process.

Organization of Knowledge about the Educational Process (Organization of Educology). Once knowledge about the educational process has been produced through successful, disciplined inquiry, it can be organized into any number of funds of knowledge. The organization is usually done in relation to what the knowledge is describing or characterizing. For example, there can be

1. History of Education (or Historical Educology): the fund of knowledge about past states of affairs in the educational process;
2. Science of Education (or Scientific Educology): the fund of knowledge about existing states of affairs in the educational process;
3. Praxiology of Education (or Praxiological Educology): the fund of knowledge about effective practices in the educational process;
4. Normative Philosophy of Education (or Normative Philosophical Educology): the fund of knowledge about good and bad states of affairs in the educational process;
5. Analytic Philosophy of Education (or Analytic Philosophical Educology): the fund of knowledge about the meanings of terms and sentences used in discourse about the educational process.

The five funds listed above are not disciplines. They are collections of organized knowledge, not the rules for conducting inquiry to verified knowledge claims about the educational process.

Other organizations of knowledge into funds are, of course, possible and very common. For example, there is

1. The fund of knowledge about the education of women (the educology of women's education);
2. The fund of knowledge about physical education (the educology of physical education);
3. The fund of knowledge about teaching and studying mathematics (the educology of mathematics education);
4. The fund of knowledge about the uses of computers in education (the educology of computers as a teaching and learning resource);
5. The fund of knowledge about early childhood education (the educology of early childhood education), etc. (the list can go, does go in real life, on and on).

Again, this list of five funds of educology are not disciplines. They are organizations of selections of knowledge about the educational process. The disciplines used to form the knowledge within these funds are the rules and methods used for conducting analytic, normative and empirical research and inquiry.

So, to keep your thinking about the educational process straight and clear, maintain these five basic critical distinctions:

1. The educational process is a field of phenomena about which research and inquiry can be conducted,
2. Conducting research about the educational process is the activity of asking questions, answering questions and substantiating the answers with the necessary and sufficient evidence to warrant the answers as being true, i.e. as being knowledge,
3. The discipline for conducting research is the set of rules of proof and the methods of evidence gathering which researchers must follow in order to present warranted knowledge claims about the educational process; there are three basic sets of rules, or disciplines: the disciplines for analytic, empirical and normative inquiry.
4. The fund of knowledge about the educational process is the collection of true statements about the educational process which are produced by sound, well disciplined research and inquiry, following the analytic, empirical and normative rules of proof and evidence gathering.
5. The general fund of knowledge about the educational process is educology. Parts of educology can be organized into smaller funds or collections of true statements about the educational process.