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in order to make intervention by taking into account the appropriate internal and
external means in each circumstance and school grade.
For me, ‘field of education or education field’ is the result of the
educational assesment of the cultural area of experience that we use to
educate and that is why “field of education” includes the meaning of education,
the intervention processes, the dimensions of intervention, the cultural area of
experience and the forms of expression in every technical sense of cultural area
as field of education, , as it is reflected in Chart 6:

Chart 6: The triple technical meaning of cultural area as a field of education

TRIPLE TECHNICAL MEANING OF CULTURAL AREA AS A

FIELD OF EDUCATION

Area understood in the
sense of general field
of education, that is,
an instrument to
develop values related
to the character and
sense of the meaning
of Education
Common education
Area understood in the
sense of field of
general education,
that is, instrument to
develop values related
to the conceptual sense
of each area of
experience in all
educates
Specific education
Area understood in the sense of
vocational and professional field,
that is, instrument to develop in all
educates, values related to the
theoretical, technological and
practical mastery of the area as a
creative expression which can be
known, taught, researched and
performed
Specialised education

Source: Touriñán, 2014a, p. 659.

In the first two meanings, and by means of the cultural area, we perform
the purposes of education in general, related to the meaning of “education” and
the purposes of general education identifiable from the conceptual sense of
cultural area. The third meaning covers the sense of education itself from the
cultural area as professional and vocational orientation for a certain area. In the
first two meanings, we give content to the expression “education through the
cultural area”. In the third meaning we give content to the expression “education
for a cultural area”.
For us, the cultural area, seen from the perspective of field of education
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is not only education “for” a cultural area (vocational development and career),
preferably focused on the area as a theoretical knowledge, field of research
and creative activity, whose technical mastering and practical execution can be
taught. The cultural area is also education “through” the cultural area (general
field of education and field of general education). General field of education which
permits focusing the pedagogical intervention on the cultural area so as to develop
the character and sense which is typical of education, -as it should be done with
mathematics, language, geography or any basic curricular discipline of general
education- and field of general education in which we acquire competences for
the use and construction of valuable experience about the conceptual sense of
the area, assumable as common heritage for all educates as part of their integral
development. We can know a cultural area, we can teach an area and we can
educate “with” that cultural area, whether to develop the character and sense
inherent in the meaning of education in educatees, to develop the conceptual
sense of the area within each educatee’s general education; or to contribute to
form specialists in the cultural area from a vocational or professional perspective
(Touriñán, 2015).
Thus, we can strictly speak about education “for” a specific cultural
area (that of my vocation or my profession), but we can also talk about general
education “through” the cultural area. In addition to being a field of vocational
training and professional development, cultural area education is a general field
of education, but it is also a field of general education, that is why it can be
taught to educates as common education and as general and basic education.
As a general field of education, cultural area education fulfils the conditions of the
general fields of education: they are adjusted to values derived from the criteria
of meaning of ‘education’. For this reason, the three possible meanings of the
arts as a problem of education should not be mistaken, since they give meaning
to the “cultural area-education” relationship as common educational experience,
as specific educational experience and as specialised educational experience
(Touriñán, 2016):
• The cultural area as a general field of education which provide
common educational values related to the particular character
and sense of education as well as any other educational subject
(common education).
• The cultural area as a field of general education which provides
specific educational values related to the conceptual sense typical
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of the area of experience, that is to say, as a field that is part of the

students’ general and basic education (specific education).
• The cultural area as a field of professional and vocational
development which provides specialised educational values
through the theoretical, technological and practical knowledge of
the area (specialised education).
Those proposals allow identifying arts education better and better: firstly
as common education (general field of education); secondly as specific education
(field of general education) and thirdly, as education specialised (professional
and vocational field), as we reflect in Chart 7.
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Chart 7: Components of field of education

(education through, for and With)

Character of education which Sense of education which qualifies

determines meaning and is applicable to meaning and is applicable to every area
every area of experience: of experience: glocal, permanent, of
axiological, personal, patrimonial, integral, cultural diversity and of general,
gnoseological and spiritual professional or vocational formation

Meaning of education Forms of expression

General permanent-changeable which can be
dimensions of Being-becoming mastered to educate
intervention in Essence-existence with every area of
each area through Structure-function experience:
processes of self Intrinsic aims- extrinsic aims Plastic expression,
and hetero Temporal formative orientation dynamic expression
education to (mimic, non-verbal,
achieve basic Derived guiding values: principles of gestural and
habits of education and principles of intervention rhythmical), linguistic
development expression (verbal:
oral, written and of
signs), mathematical
Creativity expression, musical
expression, audio-
visual expression,
Proyectivity digital expression,
media expression
Operativity (press, radio,
television), graphic,
tactile, olfactory and
Will gustative expression,
mixed or complex
Possible fields of education
Affectivity derived from the concrete area
expression, etc.
of experience (Education
WITH a cultural area)
Intelligence

Areas of cultural experience which delimit the fields of education: Aesthetic-

artistic, psycho-social, physical-natural, historical, philosophic-transcendental,
scientific- technological, geographical-environmental, literary, virtual, economic,
ethical, civic-political, bio-sanitary, anthropological-cultural, etc.

Area understood in the Area understood in the sense of

Area understood in the sense
sense of general field of vocational and professional field,
of field of general
education, that is, that is, instrument to develop in all
education, that is, instrument
instrument to develop educatees, values related to the
to develop values related to
values related to the theoretical, technological and practical
the conceptual sense of each
typical character and mastery of the area as a creative
area of experience in all
sense of the meaning of expression which can be known,
educatees
Education taught, researched and performed
Specific education
Common education Specialised education

Education THROUGH the arts (cultural area Education FOR an art (cultural area
understood as a general field of education and as a understood as a vocational and
field of general education) professional field)

Source: Touriñán, 2014a, p. 665.

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Pedagogy forms the criterion about education fields in the generic

sense of understanding each cultural area as a field of education. This is an aim
which can only be solved from the perspective of Pedagogy, since each cultural
area has to integrate the traits of character and sense which are typical of the
meaning of education. For this purpose, the area of cultural experience has to
be built as a field of education, whether it is a general field of education, a field
of general education or a field of vocational and professional education. This is
feasible if we interpret and understand the cultural area from the perspective of
the knowledge of education which Mesoaxiological Pedagogy provides, since
Pedagogy has to value each cultural area as education and build it as a “field of
education”. As we know, Pedagogy is necessarily specified as mesoaxiological
pedagogy because its aim is to transform information into knowledge and
knowledge into education by building fields of education from diverse cultural
areas. Every cultural area is an area of cognisable, teachable, researchable and
attainable cultural experience which can become an object and goal of education:
becoming a field of education. We are able to go from the general pedagogy to
the applied pedagogies, in order to build fields of education.
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CAPÍTULO
2

ÍNIDICE ESPECÍFICO

CAPÍTULO 2.- LA SIGNIFICACIÓN DEL CONOCIMIENTO DE LA

EDUCACIÓN Y SU CAPACIDAD DE RESOLUCIÓN DE PROBLEMAS:
FUNDAMENTOS DESDE EL CONOCIMIENTO PEDAGÓGICO

1. Introducción
2. Diversidad de paradigmas y homogeneidad de criterios
3. El conocimiento de la educación
4. Modelos de evolución del conocimiento de la educación
4.1 Modelos bibliométricos y lingüísticos
4.2. Modelo tradicional de evolución del conocimiento de la educación
4.3. Modelo de crecimiento del conocimiento de la educación
5. Corrientes del conocimiento de la educación
6. Conocimiento de la educación y conocimiento pedagógico
6.1. Teorías Filosóficas de la educación
6.2. Teorías Interpretativas de la educación
6.3. Teorías Prácticas de la educación
6.4. Teorías Sustantivas de la educación
7. Consideraciones finales: intervención pedagógica y significación del
conocimiento de la educación en cada corriente
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CAPÍTULO
2

LA SIGNIFICACIÓN DEL CONOCIMIENTO

DE LA EDUCACIÓN Y SU CAPACIDAD DE
RESOLUCIÓN DE PROBLEMAS:
FUNDAMENTOS DESDE EL CONOCIMIENTO PEDAGÓGICO

José Manuel TOURIÑÁN LÓPEZ

Catedrático de Teoría de la Educación
Universidad de Santiago de Compostela.
http://dondestalaeducacion.com/

INTRODUCCIÓN

La educación es un ámbito de realidad susceptible de ser conocido.

En el conocimiento de la educación se utilizan actualmente, teorías filosóficas,
teorías prácticas, investigaciones aplicadas y se han generado ya términos
propios con significación intrínseca a la educación.
El conocimiento de la educación ha crecido a través del tiempo. Se
ha convertido en un conocimiento especializado. En este trabajo se aborda la
distinción entre los conocimientos especializados de cada área cultural que se
enseña y el conocimiento específico del estudio de la educación como objeto
de conocimiento. Además, se estudian diversos modelos de evolución del
conocimiento de la educación, enfatizando el interés y utilidad del modelo de
crecimiento.
El trabajo insiste en la importancia del estudio de la relación teoría-
práctica para obtener el conocimiento especializado y específico de la educación:
el conocimiento pedagógico.
Por último se establece una relación entre significación y conocimiento
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de la educación por medio de la capacidad de resolución de problemas para la

intervención, y se debate su estructura y utilidad para la intervención a través de
la relación teoría-práctica en cada corriente del conocimiento de la educación
(marginal, subalternada y autónoma).
En Pedagogía, como disciplina de conocimiento de la educación,
podemos hablar con propiedad de significado del término ‘educación’ y
podemos hablar de significado del conocimiento de la educación. Pero además,
podemos hablar de significación como principio de investigación pedagógica. La
significación como principio de investigación apunta a la validez y a la fiabilidad
del significado, al valor metodológico del significado.
La significación como principio de investigación pedagógica
(signification, meaningness, sense of) no se confunde con la significatividad
(significativity, relevance, significance, significant), ni con el significado (meaning,
concept, definition) de ‘educación’. La significación, como tal principio, se asocia
a la validez del conocimiento de la educación y se define como la capacidad
de resolución de problemas (capacity of solving problems) que se le atribuye
al conocimiento de la educación en cada corriente desde la perspectiva de la
relación teoría-practica para la actividad educativa.
La significación como principio de metodología, no es un problema
de Pedagogía cognitiva focalizado en la teoría de resolución de problemas
(Problem Solving Theory) que la Psicología ha fundamentado para explicar el
razonamiento humano. Es verdad que la teoría de la psicología cognitiva de
resolución de problemas ha hecho posible la construcción de teorías prácticas
de la educación usadas para mejorar el modo de conocer de cada alumno.
Ahora bien, cuando hablamos de la significación como principio de metodología,
estamos hablando de un problema de epistemología del conocimiento de la
educación, cuyo estudio corresponde a la Pedagogía general como disciplina que
estudia los fundamentos de la metodología en educación, entre otros problemas.
La significación como principio de metodología es un problema derivado de cómo
se entiende la relación teoría-práctica en cada corriente del conocimiento de la
educación para justificar el conocimiento válido. Y esto es lo que se analiza en
este capítulo sobre el conocimiento de la educación.

DIVERSIDAD DE PARADIGMAS Y HOMOGENEIDAD DE CRITERIOS

En el año 1982 Peters y Ceci dieron a conocer los resultados de su

investigación acerca de la fiabilidad de los criterios que utilizan los editores de