Reclaiming philosophy for educational research

The paper notes the decline in philosophy of education in educational studies from its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s. The explanation is manifold, but includes the more utilitarian and managerial concerns which find less room for the questioning of assumptions distinctive of philosophical enquiry. The paper then uses the Nuffield Review of 14-19 Education and Training to demonstrate the central importance of philosophical thinking if one is to pass from the 'disguised nonsense' to the 'patent nonsense' in much educational research, policy and practice.