Philosophical Review of Pragmatism as a Basis for Learning by Developing Pedagogy

This article discusses the use of a pragmatic approach as the philosophical foundation of pedagogy in Finnish universities of applied sciences. It is presented that the mission of the universities of applied sciences falls into the interpretive paradigm of social sciences. This view is used as a starting point for a discussion about pragmatism in higher education. The Learning by Developing (LbD) action model is introduced, analyzed and compared to pragmatism. The paper concludes that, at least in practice‐oriented academic subjects, a pragmatic approach to pedagogy, as well as the LbD action model, is effective and could be considered in several universities as the basis of philosophy of pedagogy.

[1]  O. Kivinen,et al.  From Constructivism to a Pragmatist Conception of Learning , 2003 .

[2]  Carl Bereiter,et al.  Education and Mind in the Knowledge Age , 2002 .

[3]  Michael A. Peters,et al.  Kinds of Thinking, Styles of Reasoning , 2007, Wittgenstein, Anti-foundationalism, Technoscience and Philosophy of Education.

[4]  Y. Engeström,et al.  Expansive Learning at Work: Toward an activity theoretical reconceptualization , 2001 .

[5]  John Dewey,et al.  The Quest for Certainty: A Study of the Relation of Knowledge and Action , 1960 .

[6]  R. M. Wenley,et al.  Pragmatism, a New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking: Popular Lectures on Philosophy , 1907 .

[7]  Kavous Ardalan,et al.  The philosophical foundation of the lecture‐versus‐case controversy , 2006 .

[8]  S. Leclerc-Madlala.  On the virgin cleansing myth: gendered bodies, AIDS and ethnomedicine , 2002, African journal of AIDS research : AJAR.

[9]  S. J. Maxcy.  Educational leadership and management of knowing: the aesthetics of coherentism , 2001 .

[10]  C. Judd,et al.  Pragmatism. A new name for some old ways of thinking. , 1908 .

[11]  Charles S. Peirce,et al.  The Essential Peirce: Selected Philosophical Writings Vol. 1 , 1992 .

[12]  S. Haack.  The Pragmatist Theory of Truth , 1976, The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science.

[13]  S. Pratt.  Inquiry and social diversity : John Dewey's conception of philosophy , 1995 .

[14]  Päivi Tynjälä.  Työelämän asiantuntijuus ja korkeakoulupedagogiikka , 2008 .

[15]  Robert Sommer,et al.  Experience and Education. , 1974 .

[16]  Kavous Ardalan.  The philosophical foundation of the lecture‐versus‐case controversy: Its implications for course goals, objectives, and contents , 2008 .

[17]  R. Persaud.  Philosophy of science , 1992, The Lancet.

[18]  W. Parker.  Teaching Democracy: Unity and Diversity in Public Life (Multicultural Education Series) , 2002 .

[19]  Katariina Raij.  Toward a Profession : Clinical learning in a hospital environment as described by student nurses , 2000 .

[20]  John Dewey,et al.  Philosophy and Civilization , 1931 .

[21]  H V Fineberg,et al.  Education to prevent AIDS: prospects and obstacles. , 1988, Science.

[22]  M. Scardamalia,et al.  Surpassing Ourselves: An Inquiry into the Nature and Implications of Expertise , 1993 .

[23]  C. Kloesel,et al.  The essential Peirce : selected philosophical writings , 1992 .

[24]  Vincent M. Colapietro.  The Necessity of Pragmatism , 1989 .

[25]  R. Donovan.  The Necessity of Pragmatism: John Dewey’s Conception of Philosophy , 1988 .

[26]  Robert W. Jefferson,et al.  International Perspective: Preparing for Globalization—Do We Need Structural Change for Our Academic Programs+ , 2001 .

[27]  Wladimir M. Sachs,et al.  Producing and socializing relevant management knowledge: re‐turn to pragmatism , 2008 .

[28]  Anette Kolmos,et al.  Making a difference: a report on learning by developing – innovation in higher education at Laurea University of Applied Science , 2008 .

[29]  J. Dewey.  Logic, the theory of inquiry , 1938 .

[30]  Reijo Miettinen,et al.  Epistemology of Transformative Material Activity: John Dewey's Pragmatism and Cultural‐Historical Activity Theory , 2006 .

[31]  Rauno Pirinen,et al.  Learning by developing , 2007 .