Unterhalter, ES;
(2016)
Negative Capability? Measuring the unmeasurable in education.
Comparative Education
, 53
(1)
pp. 1-16.
10.1080/03050068.2017.1254945.
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Abstract
This introductory article to the special issue of Comparative Education on measuring the unmeasurable in education considers measurement as reflecting facts and uncertainties. The notion of negative capability is used metaphorically to depict some limits of what is measurable, and portray aspects of the process of education, associated with uncertainty and public scrutiny of complexity. Four overarching questions – what, when, why and how – have guided the reflections of the authors who have contributed to the special issue. What are we measuring when we try to measure the unmeasurable in education and what are we not measuring? When have attempts been made to measure the unmeasurable in education, what metrics have been adopted in which contexts, and with what outcomes? Why have measures been adopted as indicators of the unmeasurable, such as human rights? How have particular historically located organisations approached the problem of measuring the apparently unmeasurable in education, with what epistemological, normative and conceptual resources, and consequences? The introductory article looks at measurement as a form of negative capability in some discussions of history of social statistics in education, the current debate over indicators for the Sustainable Development Goals, and how to measure gender equality in education.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Negative Capability? Measuring the unmeasurable in education |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1080/03050068.2017.1254945 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03050068.2017.1254945 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Keywords: | Education measurement, capability approach, SDGs, gender equality |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Education, Practice and Society |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1530180 |
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