Encyclopedia of Educational Theory and Philosophy

D. C. Phillips (PhD, University of Melbourne, Australia) is Professor Emeritus of Education, and by courtesy of Philosophy, at Stanford University, where he has also served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Interim Dean of the School of Education. He was a member of the Stanford Evaluation Consortium (directed by Lee J. Cronbach), and for several years he led its training program in evaluation of educational and social programs. A philosopher of education and philosopher of social science educated in Australia, he is the author, coauthor, or editor of 13 books, which between them have been translated into six languages—titles include Holistic Thought in Social Science; Visions of Childhood: Influential Models From Locke to Spock (with John Cleverley); Perspectives on Learning (five editions, with Jonas Soltis); Philosophy, Science and Social Inquiry: Contemporary Methodological Controversies in Social Science and Related Applied Fields of Research; Toward Reform of Program Evaluation (with Lee J. Cronbach et al.); Postpositivism and Educational Research (with Nicholas Burbules); The Expanded Social Scientist’s Bestiary; and Education, Culture, and Epistemological Diversity (with Claudia Ruitenberg). He was a member of the group that authored the National Research Council report in the United States: Scientific Research in Education. In addition, he is the author of more than 120 essays in books and refereed journals, including Educational Researcher, Harvard Educational Review, Educational Psychologist, Psychological Review, Educational Theory, Journal of Philosophy of Education, The Monist, and Journal of the History of Ideas. His most heavily cited article, first published in Educational Researcher, is “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Many Faces of Constructivism.” He is a member (emeritus) of the U.S. National Academy of Education and a fellow of the International Academy of Education and of the American Educational Research Association; he also has been a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, and Christensen Fellow at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford; and he has been an academic visitor or guest lecturer at numerous universities around the world. He was president of the Philosophy of Education Society during its 50th anniversary year of 1990–1991.