敎育硏究의 歷史的 考察

The history of educational research

Educational research as disciplined inquiry with empirical basis was first known as “experimental pedagogy”. This article is primarily concerned with the scientific research movement which involves empirical research. The history of educational research could be divided into five periods. The first identifiable period(pre-1900) was marked the beginning of the scientific educational research movement with a positivist approach. Although progress was slow during 1880s the foundation was laid for research into related educational problems. The second period(1900-1930) was a heyday of empirical educational research focused on rational management of instruction, challenging the concept of training, psychology of school subjects, development of new curricula, psychological testing, administrative surveys, and normative achievement surveys. In the third period(1930- to the late 1950s), however, the strict scientific approach to education lost impetus to make room for the more philosophically oriented and innovative progressivism. Nevertheless, during this period in interest in cognitive development and language studies continued. Also, a new strand of inquiry was opened up in the sociology of education. In the fourth period(1960s-1970s) the knowledge “explosion” took place and its applications to technology really began. Educational research was soon influenced by this dynamic development. United States governmental and private agencies supported educational research to an unprecedented extent. During the 1960s the computer added a new dimension to educational research leading to sophistcated experimental design since data processing and data analysis was no longer limited. The 1960s were also marked by the beginning of an epistimological debate in the social sciences, a reaction to the strident empiricism. In the last period(1980s-) the positivistic versus anthropological or hermeneutic debate can be conceived as a new era in the social sciences. The answer of educational researchers of the 1980s is not either-or but both. The research community has come to realize that sound inquiry develops in a spiral way combining methods or approaches that some would have considered as incompatible: the scientific or hard data approach is seen to be complementary to the anthropological, historical, phenomenological, or soft data approach.