title: The "postmodern" heresy in special education: a sociological analysis.
abstract: The special education profession has witnessed a recent struggle between researchers who defend a positivistic approach to knowledge and practice and "postmodern" special educators who challenge that approach. In this analysis I utilize a sociological theory of heresy to examine the conflict between postmodern heresy and positivist orthodoxy. I also investigate the cultural model of the special education profession, a discursive definition of ideology and heresy, characteristics of heresy in an organization, and the presence of deep contradiction within agreement between orthodoxy and heresy. I conclude with an examination of the limitations of heresy theory and the democratic challenge facing the multiparadigmatic field of special education.
authors.affiliation: College of Education, University of Missouri-St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63121, USA. scot@umsl.edu
authors.forename: Scot
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Danforth
mesh_terms: D004519:Education, Special / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D012961:Sociology / Q000379:methods*