Educational Theory

Educational scholars concur that research preparation courses should engage doctoral students with methodological differences and epistemological controversies. Mary Metz and Nancy Lesko recently published articles describing how courses guided by this aim engender self‐doubt for students. Neither scholar is entirely convinced that self‐doubt is educationally productive. Drawing on Hans‐Georg Gadamer's notion of Bildung, Deborah Kerdeman reframes the view of self‐doubt that Metz and Lesko assume and shows why self‐doubt can be transformative. Gadamer's argument regarding self‐doubt challenges constructivist views of agency and also demonstrates that engaging with difference is necessary for new understanding to emerge through conversation. Kerdeman concludes by considering why engaging in Bildung helps doctoral students become good educational researchers and why cultivating Bildung should therefore be an aim of research preparation courses that engage students with methodological differences and epistemological controversies.