Educational space. Selected theoretical and practical approaches

Abstract

Scientific theory, understood as a set of general, ordered laws and theorems, is the most important area of any scientific discipline. Scientific theorydescribes and explains the conditions and effects of pedagogical processes. It can be used and applied to practice by solving problems that occur in the educational reality. It should be noted that pedagogy is not an isolated discipline, and therefore it uses the theoretical achievements of the humanities and social sciences – it is precisely such a complementary and multifaceted approach that results in a coherent knowledge about people functioning in the socio-cultural reality(Palka, 1989, p. 32). Thus, theoretical pedagogical knowledge concerns the collected general statements about upbringing, education, self-education and lifelong learning. Pedagogical scientists believe that it is both theoretically and practically oriented science. On the one hand, theoretical constructs,assumptions and hypotheses are verified in practice, and on the other hand, a thorough and reliable analysis of practice provides grounds for building a theory. The practical dimension of pedagogy relates to the improvement, refinement and optimization of educational activities (Palka, 2003; Hejnicka-Bezwińska, 2008). The quoted, important, although only selected, views and scientific statements of pedagogical authorities make people aware of the need to refer to the theoretical foundations when designing and implementing fragmentary pedagogical research that allows to diagnose narrow and wider issues related to education. Complementary to qualitative and quantitative research and the use of triangulation of approaches and a variety of methods open up new fields of research interest. These two research approaches are useful in pedagogical research, they allow us for a more complete understanding the subjects of education in the context of developmental age and the expectations and challenges of contemporary education. Their results are of cognitive, theoretical, practical and methodological importance (Palka, 2020, pp. 107-108).