Investigating theory in schooling is challenging. This is because contemporary school researchers are rarely explicit about their philosophy of science.

This makes it imperative to reconstruct the de facto theories that organise school conduct and discourse.

To get at this, I take a historical approach which draws on three traditions:

1. French historical epistemology,
2. Anglo-American history and philosophy of science, and
3. German historical critical philosophy.

My historical approach treats theory as the continual reorganising of practice over time.

The approach is built on four commitments:

1. Theorising revises the history of practice
   Theory reorganises past, present, and future practice.
   It selects which practices we carry forward from the past, which practices are available options, and which practices hold the most promise.
2. Theorising reformulates subjects and objects of practice
   Theory outlines ‘who’ performs practices (administrators, organisers, managers, leaders).
   It also outlines ‘what’ practices count (maintaining a system, anticipating situations or interpersonal feedback, or influencing stakeholder impressions).
3. Theorising recalibrates the modes for evidencing practice
   Theory specifies the standards and procedures for evidence. These standards and procedures change over time, as theories do.
4. Theorising redistributes knowledge production
   Theory is reflected in trends of producing, disseminating, and utilising knowledge.

Overall, this approach helps identify the moments when practice is reorganised.

On the one hand, it shows how present modes of organisation differ from previous ones, so we do not use old labels for new developments.
On the other hand, it indicates times in the past when alternative lines of inquiry were displaced.