Education’s Relative Autonomy: A Closer Look at the Discipline’s Past, Present, and Future

Authors

  • Stefan T. Siegel University of St. Gallen, Switzerland
  • Eva Matthes University of Augsburg, Germany
DOI: https://doi.org/10.23865/nse.v42.3785

Abstract

The relative autonomy of Pädagogik (education) as an academic field has always been in jeopardy. Consequently, we take a closer look at its past, present, and future. We begin by retracing the historical development of this field of study in the German-speaking context. In the second part, we look at the current state of the discipline and spotlight current developments threatening education’s autonomy, first and foremost the steep rise and dominance of Empirische Bildungsforschung (empirical educational research). In the last part, we argue for education as an independent discipline and outline how educationalists can strengthen its autonomy and disciplinary identity.

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Published

2022-03-07

How to Cite

Siegel, S. T., & Matthes, E. (2022). Education’s Relative Autonomy: A Closer Look at the Discipline’s Past, Present, and Future. Nordic Studies in Education, 42(1), 13–29. https://doi.org/10.23865/nse.v42.3785

Keywords:

education, empirical educational research, relative autonomy, academic disciplines, educational theory