Seminar and book launch: What is Education as a field of study?

4.15 pm to 7.00 pm, 11 July 2017, Room 642, UCL Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL

Presenters: John Furlong and Geoff Whitty

In their presentation, John Furlong and Geoff Whitty will draw on their new book, Knowledge and the Study of Education, to discuss different knowledge traditions in teaching and research in Education.  The book draws on a British Academy project that looked at how the study of Education is constituted in seven different jurisdictions – Australia, China, France, Germany, Latvia, the USA and the UK.  It identified twelve major knowledge traditions, and classified these as Academic Knowledge Traditions (such as Sciences de l’Éducation), Practical Knowledge Traditions (like that practised in Normal Colleges) and Integrated Knowledge Traditions (including the currently fashionable concept of Research-informed Clinical Practice).  In the lecture, John and Geoff will consider the nature of these different traditions using a Bernsteinian framework. Other contributors to the book will be present at the seminar.

The seminar will be followed by a book launch at 5.30pm; refreshments will be provided. Those unable to attend the seminar are welcome to join us for the book launch.  Copies of the book, G. Whitty and J. Furlong (eds) Knowledge and the Study of Education: an international exploration (Symposium Books, 2017), will be available at less than half price.

John Furlong is an Emeritus Professor and former Director of the Department of Education at the University of Oxford. He is currently adviser to the Welsh Government on Initial Teacher Education.  His research interests centre on both teacher education and educational research policy and the links between them.    

Geoff Whitty is Director Emeritus of the UCL Institute of Education in London. He currently holds a Research Professorship at Bath Spa University UK and a Global Innovation Chair at the University of Newcastle, Australia.  His current research interests are in education policy with reference to teacher education and widening participation in higher education.

Advance booking for the event is helpful; please contact  to book a place.