Theory in the History of Education

Abstract

How is theory used in history of education? This chapter begins by considering the relationship between theory as philosophy of history and theory as an interpretive frame. It then engages several of the many theoretical perspectives that animate and inform scholarship in history of education: Marxist political economy, human and social capital, the new institutionalism, feminist theory, critical theories of race, colonialism and empire, indigenous studies, and transnationalism. Throughout, the chapter raises methodological and political questions central to historical scholarship, engages classic and contemporary scholarship in history of education, and situates conversations about theory in history of education within broader theoretical conversations in the humanities and social sciences.