Relevance of critical theory for educational research: the case of research in Educational Administration and Non-Formal Educational Administration.

Abstract

The article is positioned as a critical reflection on the question: What is the relevance of critical theory for research in education, specifically in the field of Educational Administration and Administration of Non-Formal Education? To answer this question, a theoretical review is made in relation to Critical Theory in education, which allows identifying critical thinking within educational theory, and from research in education with a critical approach, which also includes aspects of decolonial thinking. The study is descriptive, based on the documentary analysis of research reports, through which it was sought to find aspects that could be circumscribed within the positionings of Critical Theory applied to research in Educational Administration and Non-Formal Education Administration. Six aspects that could be considered within the approaches of this type of research are identified, based on the five aspects raised by Morales (2014), through the analysis an additional element is proposed and, the possibility of generating transforming research within the specific disciplines is concluded.