ARROWS IN TIME - THE MISAPPLICATION OF CHAOS THEORY TO EDUCATION

This paper analyzes the role of chaos theory in educational theory and research and asks whether or not the principles of the theory can inf orm education. We contend that the application of the theory to educat ion is misguided. The complexity of human behaviour is not adequately accounted for in the theory and the original assumptions governing cha os theory were not created to account for human behaviour. In the argu ment an analogy is used to suggest that the education chaoticists are committing an error similar to the behaviourists who use stimulus-resp onse principles in education. Behaviourism is a misapplication of posi tivistic philosophy and, likewise, educational chaoticists make an equ ivalent leap of logic from using chaos theory as a perspective to conc luding that chaos theory has all the answers for education. We argue t hat it is not necessary, nor is it useful, to introduce chaos theory t o understand education when we already have Whiteheadian process philo sophy and constructivism to account for teaching and learning.