It avoids the seduction of proposing some singular or universal approach to education. Thirdly, like a nautical chart or geographic information system, it provides the traveler with landmarks in what can be a hostile academic world. As well, it enables researchers to locate themselves and get an aerial view of those in close proximity or on the other side of the ontological or power relations divide. If a traveler is not happy with their current location, this map shows the way to alternative destinations. Before analyzing how each world view frames research, it is important to point out this map is neither neutral or benign.
Functionalism is the epistemological servant of globalisation and global competitiveness.
In the late twentieth-century academics are strongly encouraged to produce practical answers to pressing problems. A functionalist world view prevails. There is also a fair degree of sceptism and deep resistance to change in many educational settings. Our task is to visit the four corners of the map, explore assumptions that lay beneath the surface of the map and finally, point to B.C.-based research informed by each part of the model. There is no shortage of B.C. research nested in a functionalist perspective.