Abstract
How field members design research and from this develop data collection methods is located in particular knowledge claims. This article presents a typology of knowledge and knowing, and argues that the claims being made within particular research and publications are related to competing conceptualizations of the truth and how this is constructed. The article argues that research in the field needs to embrace and celebrate this pluralism and the dialogue that it generates. This does not undermine positions but legitimizes the dynamism of the field and makes it less vulnerable to hegemony and external interference. Such an approach is consistent with educational leadership, and if field members are to describe, understand and explain this then there is a need to use a multi-level framework that is technical (what is), illuminative (what does it mean), critical (why is it like that), practical (how might it be better) and positional (who says so and why?).
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