Educational Research - the Ethics and Aesthetics of Statistics
Educational Research - the Ethics and Aesthetics of Statistics
Educational Research - the Ethics and Aesthetics of Statistics
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94 D. Bridges<br />
6.9 Historical/Biographical Note<br />
In a volume which celebrates <strong>the</strong> contributions <strong>of</strong> history as well as philosophy to<br />
educational enquiry, perhaps I may be allowed a short historical note on <strong>the</strong> sources<br />
which are especially prominent in this chapter.<br />
This chapter is in a sense a homage to a community <strong>of</strong> people who contributed<br />
substantially to <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>ory <strong>and</strong> practice <strong>of</strong> case study in a very creative period which<br />
began in <strong>the</strong> early 1970s, nearly all <strong>of</strong> whom had an affiliation <strong>of</strong> some kind with<br />
<strong>the</strong> Centre for Applied <strong>Research</strong> in Education at <strong>the</strong> University <strong>of</strong> East Anglia.<br />
Lawrence Stenhouse was its founder <strong>and</strong> Barry MacDonald, John Elliott <strong>and</strong> Rob<br />
Walker, among <strong>the</strong> founding or early members, were all subsequently its directors.<br />
Clem Adelman, David Jenkins, Helen Simons, Stephen Kemmis, Harry Torrance<br />
<strong>and</strong> Malcom Parlett all had periods <strong>of</strong> employment with or attachment to CARE,<br />
<strong>and</strong> Bob Stake <strong>and</strong> Lou Smith were among <strong>the</strong> regular international visitors <strong>and</strong><br />
collaborators.<br />
The group found common causes (as well as strongly voiced differences <strong>of</strong> opinion)<br />
at <strong>the</strong> conferences which were convened from time to time in Cambridge <strong>and</strong><br />
which from <strong>the</strong> beginning were reported in papers published by <strong>the</strong> Cambridge<br />
Journal <strong>of</strong> Education in 1976, 1981, 1986, 1995 <strong>and</strong>, most recently, 2007. This last<br />
conference issued in <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> an archive <strong>of</strong> material relating to <strong>the</strong> use<br />
<strong>of</strong> case study in educational evaluation developed by this network <strong>of</strong> scholars which<br />
can be found at www.ensemble.ac.uk/projects.edeval (accessed 7 February 2010).<br />
I was editor <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Cambridge Journal <strong>of</strong> Education between its foundation in<br />
1971 <strong>and</strong> 1982 <strong>and</strong> served my apprenticeship in case study research under John<br />
Elliott <strong>and</strong> later Barry MacDonald even before joining UEA in 1990, <strong>and</strong> I attended<br />
all but <strong>the</strong> first <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Cambridge conferences, hosting <strong>the</strong> most recent one at St<br />
Edmund’s College.<br />
It is de rigeur in some academic circles to cite only <strong>the</strong> most contemporary references.<br />
I hope to have illustrated <strong>the</strong> rich insights that are still to be mined from what<br />
are by now almost historical sources.<br />
Notes<br />
1. The Laura Spence affair in 2000 enraged Gordon Brown (who was <strong>the</strong>n UK Chancellor <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> Exchequer). The fact that Laura, <strong>of</strong> Monkseaton Community High School, was rejected<br />
by Oxford’s Magdalen College despite her straight-A predictions, seemed so deeply unfair<br />
to Mr Brown that he resolved to make Oxbridge mend its elitist ways <strong>and</strong> admit more state<br />
school pupils. A White Paper presented to Parliament in January 2003 accordingly proposed<br />
<strong>the</strong> “rapid expansion” <strong>of</strong> measures intended to “widen access”, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> government<br />
has kept up <strong>the</strong> pressure on both Oxford <strong>and</strong> Cambridge ever since (see Boss, 2006 in <strong>the</strong><br />
Spectator).<br />
2. I am grateful to Harvey Goldstein for <strong>the</strong> argument in this paragraph which he <strong>of</strong>fered in<br />
response to an earlier draft <strong>of</strong> this chapter.<br />
3. I am very grateful to Lynn Fendler for drawing this work to my attention.