ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author wants to substantiate the general claim by providing a highly compressed historical outline of the evolution of educational theory in the twentieth century. In the period immediately following the second world war, educational theories of an applied science form proliferated and affected all areas of educational practice. Fundamental philosophical questions about the purpose of education and its relationship to society could no longer find adequate theoretical expression, and educational theory. Within the philosophical approach common sense is regarded as too unreflective and uncritical to provide an adequate basis for educational theory. It therefore offers a form of theorizing designed to enable practitioners to extend and enrich their common-sense thinking by relating it to a philosophical understanding of the true meaning and purpose of education.
