John Quay is an associate professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne, Australia.Jennifer Bleazby is a lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Monash University, Australia.Steven A. Stolz is a senior lecturer in the School of Education at La Trobe University, Australia.Maurizio Toscano is a lecturer in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne, Australia.R. Scott Webster is an associate professor in the Faculty of Education at Deakin University, Australia.

• Acknowledgements Notes on contributors Foreword David Beckett Chapter 1 – Locating theory in research: Opening a conversation Chapter 2 – Theory as research: Philosophical work in education Chapter 3 – Michael Apple on praxis, rhetoric and educational research: In dialogue with Jennifer Bleazby Chapter 4 – Gert Biesta on thinking philosophically about education; thinking educationally about philosophy in education and educational research: In dialogue with Steven Stolz Chapter 5 – Penny Enslin on liberal feminism, justice and education: In dialogue with Jennifer Bleazby Chapter 6 – John Hattie on interpretation, the story of research and the necessity of falsifiability: In dialogue with Maurizio Toscano Chapter 7 – Nel Noddings on care theory and caring practice: In dialogue with John Quay Chapter 8 – Michael Peters on science, genealogy and openness in educational research: In dialogue with Steven Stolz Chapter 9 – Richard Pring on making research educational research: In dialogue with Scott Webster Chapter 10 – Paul Smeyers and a perspective on educational research: In dialogue with Maurizio Toscano Chapter 11 – Becoming a good education researcher

This volume brings together a set of conversations between the editors and some of the world’s leading educational thinkers about issues that are not only philosophical but also practical. Each of these thinkers is challenged to clarify the ways in which they conceptualize the relationship between theory and research, the empirical and the normative, and theory and practice. What emerges from these conversations are insights that are perceptive, thoughtful and engaging, and also incredibly helpful to early career and established scholars alike.Fazal Rizvi, University of Melbourne, Australia, and University of Illinois, USATheory and Philosophy in Education Research: Methodological Dialogues is ideal reading for new education researchers - and those who are not so new. The dialogic structure provides an innovative scaffold into further reading about theory and research. Annette Woods, Queensland University of Technology, Australia, and President, Australian Association for Research in Education