Education Universities and Educology

James E. Christensen completed his BA in history at the University of California, Berkeley, 1963. He subsequently completed his California Secondary Teaching Credential and taught high school in Kenya from 1964 to 1966 as part of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Teachers for East Africa Project (TEA). He returned to the USA and taught at Fountain Valley High School in the Huntington Beach High School District in California from 1966 to 1969. During that time he also completed his MA in history at California State College (now California State University), Long Beach. In 1972, he completed his PhD in education (i.e. educology) at the University of California, Los Angeles, and took up his first university teaching appointment as an Assistant Professor at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, where he taught philosophy of education (i.e. philosophical educology) and comparative education (i.e. comparative educology, or the educology of societies and cultures). In 1974, he immigrated to Australia. From 1974 to 1989, he taught the educology of curriculum, instructional methods and assessment & evaluation at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, in the School of Education. While on sabbatical from CSU in 1979, he taught at Colgate University, Hamilton, New York (in comparative educology), and in 1991, he taught at Newcastle University, Australia (in the educology of society). In 1987, he founded the International Journal of Educology, and from 1987 to 2003, he served as co-editor (with James E. Fisher) of the IJE. In 1992, he left university teaching to work in private enterprise. His lifelong research interests have focused on the questions of whether knowledge about education is possible, if so, what kinds of knowledge are possible, how can that knowledge be formed and how can it be organized in ways which are useful and fruitful for those who want to understand the educational process and take constructive action in improving education. His most recent publications include Education, Knowledge and Educology and Education, Curriculum and Educology.