Anyone trying to make sense of policy research in education is likely to be struck by the numerous contractions and paradoxes that perplex the field. Even a brief consideration of these problems raises a number of important questions: What contributes to the frequency of contradictions and paradoxes in educational policy? To what extent can research resolve these matters? Where research cannot provide clear answers, what should be our response to these problems? This article begins by discussing a series of paradoxes and contractions in the field and concludes by addressing the three questions above.
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