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William Molnar
Week 2 Assignment
By
William Molnar
The social science that I have selected is education. Science is facts, concepts,
principles, laws, theories, and models that can be acquired in many ways. Steven D.
Schafersman (1994) states science is discovering facts about them, formulating laws and
principles through systemic observation. In its broadest sense, science refers to any
systematic knowledge or practice on its more usual restricted sense; science refers to a
dealing with a body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of
general laws. It is the systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through
In the field of scientific knowledge, Peter Anthony Glick (2007) states that scientific
knowledge is developed by a living system and is a mix of experience, values and insights.
Sayer (1992) states “knowledge is primarily gained through activity both in attempting to
change our environment through labor or work and through interaction with other people ,
especially his comments on systematic observation being a natural event and conditions in
order to discover facts about them. In the field of education, students observe through visual,
tactile, and aural senses and discover facts through these senses. Education is experience and
information, values, and insights that provide a framework for gaining new experiences and
information. It
would be difficult to document why someone might believe that education is not a science
because all of Sayer’s points can prove that it is. One could argue assessments are based on
subjective criteria and makes it difficult for results to be reproduced. What works for one
teacher does not work for another due to the individual dynamics. The human element can
never be fully reproduced during the implementation process, which further blurs the line
between that which is science and that which is an art. I do not accept this argument.
material already known. Sayer states “to develop ‘knowledge’ we need raw materials and
tools on which and with which we can work… in trying to understand the world, we use
existing knowledge and skills, drawn from whatever cultural resources are available, to
work” (p 16). In his discussion on the relationship between subject and object, the subject
side of his example is an example of the student and the object side, the thing being studied is
the knowledge being discovered by the student. Sayer’s model of subject and object can be
applied to the field of education. Sayer states that subjects such as academics are in a double
relationship to their object and to other subjects. In relation to education, Sayer’s point on
social phenomena can be applied. These ideas, beliefs, etc. are held by the educator and are
transferred to the observer, the student. In conclusion, Sayer states that “Knowledge-whether
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William Molnar
adequate or not-never develops in a vacuum but is always embedded in social practices and
we can more fully understand the former if we know the latter” (p 43). I believe the message
Sayer is trying to convey is that knowledge is never developed within an empty space and we
Knowledge can be better understood if we understand the social practice we are involved in
such as education.