of reality as fragmented and existing as part of a linear order; as are currently dominant forms of educational theory. I am captivated by a view of life processes, of which educational processes and human consciousness are a part, as being in a constant state of unfolding, such an unfolding being a continual realisation of potential (Bohm, 1992); and this metaphor is, in my opinion, more appropriate in communicating the complex and problematic nature of human actions and relationships than dominant linear forms of educational theory. I want now to explore the idea of what educational theory would look like if seen as part of a generative transformational order (see McNiff, Whitehead, Laidlaw et al . (1992) for a fuller discussion. Please note also - some of the following draws on and refines parts of the text that appears in that monograph. A general tendency throughout the history of educational theory has been to regard it as existing as a subject mainly within the linear order. The task of educational research has been to accommodate new observations about the nature of educational practice within the general framework. Within the framework of the unchanging order, the notion of educational theory takes the form of discrete and often competing bodies of reified knowledge. Changes in theory often become sharply defined transition points, in which the significant features of one set of givens are radically different from those of another. The task of educational research is to account for the changes, and offer