“Offline Theorizing” in Understanding the Phenomenon of Education in its Theoretical Images
Viktoria Vikhman, Mark Romm
This article is aimed at finding the optimal strategy of abstract-speculative understanding of the phenomenon of education in the reflections of its real and potential theorizations in conditions of continuously transforming, stochastic social reality. Based on the above-mentioned framework conditions, the procedure of studying the phenomenon of education (we called it “offline theorization”) in the research “offline mode” is proposed by referring to the idea of fixing abstract “stop frames” of theoretical images of the education phenomenon. Educational reality in the social context is wisely drawn in the form of a “film” of the available theoretical context of the phenomenon of formation lasting and continuous, consisting of ideal “stop-frames” of theoretical images of the phenomenon of education. And as an abstract “stop-frame” of theoretical images of the phenomenon of education is a huge array of diverse, multi-disciplinary, methodologically loaded theorizations (theoretical images of the investigated phenomenon) recorded by the researcher in the available theoretical context.
In the process of understanding the phenomenon of education in a wide catalogue of its possible theorizations, it is proposed to take into account the analytical assumption of the existence of three interrelated, continuously developing and modifying flows: 1) social reality per se, 2) its social phenomena (in particular the phenomenon of education) and 3) theoretical images of the latter. Besides, this last flow not only exists as such, but it is also inextricably connected to the first and second flows on the basis of principles of direct and reverse connection. Analytically it is allowed to exist for the third - ideal - flow of theorizations, unequal in degree of analytical and methodological elaboration and adequacy of reality and facts, but in quite distinct authors’ conclusions reflecting a wide list of real and potential social mutations, deformations and foresight of development of the required future education as a social phenomenon. The authors’ concept of “theoretical-reflexive lag” is analyzed, reflecting the time distance between the procedure of analytical reflection of the phenomenon of education in its theoretical images and the objective state of the social reality itself at the moment of fixation of the “stop-frame” of theoretical images of the phenomenon of education.