Intellectuals or Technicians? The Urgent Role of Theory in Educational Studies

Abstract

Abstract This paper discusses some problems with the field of educational studies and considers the role of post‐structuralist theory in shifting the study of education away from a ‘technical rationalist’ approach (as evidenced in the case of much research on educational management and school effectiveness) towards an ‘intellectual intelligence’ stance that stresses contingency, disidentification and risk‐taking.