ABSTRACT
I INthepreviouschapterwediscussedthedifferentwaysin whichtheword'theory'iscommonlyused.Wesawthatinthe strictestsenseoftheword,atheoryisanestablishedhypothesis or,moreusually,alogicallyconnectedsetofsuchhypotheses whosemainfunctionistoexplaintheirsubjectmatter.The objectofthisdiscussionwastofindoutwhatcanbesaidabout theoriesineducation.Fortheword'theory'isapttobeused thereveryfreelybutmorelooselythaninmostothercontexts. Itwillthereforebeworthwhilefindingout,ifwecan,boththe differentsensesinwhichthetermoccursthereandalsothe extenttowhichitisusedinitsprimarysenseofanexplanatory conceptualframeworkbasedonexperienceandwhenitisused onlyinsomederivativeandweakenedsense.Becauseofthe successofscientificmodesofexplanation,theword'theory'has cometobeaprestigeword.Likemostsuchwords,itisused moreoftenforitsprestigevaluethanforitsstrictdescriptive sense.Anexaminationofthiskindwilltelluswhenweareto taketheword'theory'seriouslyinaneducationalcontextand whenweneednotdoso.
