Notas sobre as possibilidades de construção de uma teoria da educação

Abstract

This article is organized around the following main questions that arise by the expression “theory of education”, namely: Of what does one talk about when mentioning theories of education? Is there any meaning in talking about theory of education in a post-modernist era? Which paths and possibilities are open to the construction of a theory of education? The author - who doesn’t identify herself with post-modernist positions - concludes that the philosophy and the ideologies remain the privileged paths towards the construction of theories of education, with the scientifi c path being increasingly more diffi cult to pursue. Given the ontological, ideological and subjectivist detour brought about by the epistemology of the social and human sciences and therefore of the sciences of education, the construction of a new epistemology is needed. This epistemology should be based on the critical analysis of the concrete work carried out by the scientists and on the critical analysis of the developed knowledge that can lead to an urgent redefi nition of the scientific criteria.