A narrative approach exploring schools of education in the contemporary university: the good, the bad, and everything in between.

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Title: A narrative approach exploring schools of education in the contemporary university: the good, the bad, and everything in between.
Authors: Stolz, Steven A.1 steven.stolz@adelaide.edu.au
Source: Educational Review. May2026, Vol. 78 Issue 4, p486-504. 19p.
Subject Terms: *Education, *Teachers, *Education research, *Bureaucracy, Public administration
Abstract: This article uses a narrative approach – in this case fictional dialogues – as a way of exploring schools of education within the contemporary university, with the aim of opening-up a serious debate about the alleged contribution schools of education make within the academy. In order to make sense of the alleged contribution schools of education make, I provide three short fictional dialogues that are intentionally meant to be thought-provoking and provocative, which are framed around the following broad themes: "the good", "the bad", and "everything in between". This is followed by a critical discussion and analysis of the fictional dialogues, where I intentionally draw from David Labaree's work as a valuable resource for understanding schools of education in the academy, the nature of teacher education, educational research, and other areas that are relevant to this article. I argue that educational departments do a thankless job of acting as a bridge between the differing worlds of the university and school (i.e. theme #1: the good). I then turn my attention to a notable trend in educational research, and the battle over what counts as educational research (i.e. theme #2: the bad). I conclude that schools of education cultivate a peculiar kind of profession and academic that is embodied by a bureaucratic-manager-type-of-academic that shares similarities with zombie academic leaders found within the contemporary university (i.e. theme #3: everything in between). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Database: Education Research Complete
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Abstract:This article uses a narrative approach – in this case fictional dialogues – as a way of exploring schools of education within the contemporary university, with the aim of opening-up a serious debate about the alleged contribution schools of education make within the academy. In order to make sense of the alleged contribution schools of education make, I provide three short fictional dialogues that are intentionally meant to be thought-provoking and provocative, which are framed around the following broad themes: "the good", "the bad", and "everything in between". This is followed by a critical discussion and analysis of the fictional dialogues, where I intentionally draw from David Labaree's work as a valuable resource for understanding schools of education in the academy, the nature of teacher education, educational research, and other areas that are relevant to this article. I argue that educational departments do a thankless job of acting as a bridge between the differing worlds of the university and school (i.e. theme #1: the good). I then turn my attention to a notable trend in educational research, and the battle over what counts as educational research (i.e. theme #2: the bad). I conclude that schools of education cultivate a peculiar kind of profession and academic that is embodied by a bureaucratic-manager-type-of-academic that shares similarities with zombie academic leaders found within the contemporary university (i.e. theme #3: everything in between). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:00131911
DOI:10.1080/00131911.2025.2512096