A Problem of Validity in Education Research

Abstract

All forms of capitalism involve economic accumulation for one small group of individuals at the expense of others in processes that are therefore completely antithetical to equity and solidarity. For a sense of fairness to be maintained under these circumstances, strange things must happen to what are termed as common life values. They must begin to operate instrumentally according to principles of the market, where monetary forms of value predominate and the cultural and economic character of everyday life is disguised. This knowledge is rarely included in interpretations of education processes and outcomes in education research within capitalist societies. The argument of the present article is in the interests of education research validity as it should be.