Research in and on higher education: are scholars and scholarship utterly dispensable? - Paul Smeyers

This article starts with characterizing the climate in which institutions of higher education operate nowadays. It sketches briefly how this is different from the modern university as conceptualized by Von Humboldt. Following attention is given to those positions which have been critical of the recent developments. It is then asked whether there is something that researchers working in the area of education can do. It is argued that besides philosophy of education, a reflection on educational research itself may be helpful to put the task of higher education in perspective. Philosophy of educational research will help to see the different aspects that are involved in doing research. This is consistent with, though much more limited than, the position Ricken developed, that is, to reformulate the idea of the university from the perspective of knowledge. Finally it is argued that this may presuppose a partial return to the idea of scholars and scholarship and to reappriase the importance of concepts and theories in doing research.
From: SAJHE 21 (5) 2007