account (as in hold to account): To convince someone that they are responsible for something and should explain their actions or decisions.

educational influence: The intentional learning that a professional practitioner has on the social formation in which they work, as a contribution to the flourishing of Humanity. The intentional learning is not the same as a causal effect such as, ‘If I do this, then that will be learnt’. An educational influence includes a conscious response of the learner to what is being done. 

educational practice: The practical effort made over time by a professional practitioner to bring about learning with values of human flourishing .

educational researchers: Professional practitioners who carry out research enquiries into educational practice; the research findings are intended to be educational and to improve the quality of educational practice.

epistemology: The characteristic theoretical and procedural structure of an LETR account that constitutes the researcher's living-educational-theory; it is defined by the unit of appraisal, the standard of judgment and the logic of the account.

ethics: Standards defined by groups and cultures as enduring, long-held beliefs intended to guide not just individuals, but a society as a whole. 

explanatory principles: The descriptions and explanations of values in action used by a Living Educational Theory Research account to form the basis and structure of the account. These principles provide the reasons that explain educational influence in learning.

flourishing of humanity:  When people experience positive emotions, positive psychological functioning and positive social functioning, living within an optimal range of human functioning; it includes aspects of equity, justice, and agency, together with  goodness, generativity, growth, and resilience. It is the opposite of living a life that feels hollow and empty.

knowledge-claim: An assertion to have generated new knowledge and understanding; knowledge claims are assessed for validity by subjecting them to standards of judgment.

Living Educational Theory: A lexical definition of meaning – in terms of epistemology and practice –  that distinguishes a unique field of educational research activity and underpins the claims to knowledge made by researchers in the field.

Living Educational Theory Research: (with upper case) is the procedure that a professional practitioner researcher engages in to create their own living-educational-theory (with lower case, hyphenated), as contributing to Living Educational Theory Research.

living-educational-theory:  A professional practitioner's descriptions of and explanations for their educational influence in their own learning, in the learning of others in learning of the social formation that is the context of their practice; the  explanatory principles in these explanations are informed by the researcher's values as ethical principles and standards of judgment that emerge over time through practice.

living logic: If "... logic is the mode of thought that is appropriate for comprehending the real as rational" (Marcuse) then a living logic structures an individual’s explanation of their educational influences in their own learning, in the learning of others and in the learning of the social formations in which they live, work and research. 

logic:  The means by which inferences from information may be used to create new knowledge; it is the mode of thought appropriate for rational comprehension; a  logic is constituted by the rules of reasoning appropriate to the formation of a given paradigm (in this case, Living Educational Theory Research). It forms the structure of an epistemology and allows for its analysis.

logic (dialectical): A form of logic based on the premise that contradictions are the nucleus and dialectics are at the heart of theories of change.

logic (formal, propositional): A form of logic based on the premise that contradictions in theories make the theories useless. 

morals: Objective descriptions of an individual's personal character that are developed within a culture's ethical code, reflecting their sense of right and wrong or what ought to be (moral perspective). 

practitioner-researcher: A professional educator engaged in an educational setting who researches their practice as a means of continually improving its quality.

professional educator: A professional practitioner working in the field of education; they carry out Living Educational Theory Research as an active part of their practice.

professional practice: The core activity of a professional practitioner who works to an ethical code; the quality of a professional practice may be continually assessed and improved as the practitioner generates and revises their living-educational-theory. 

professional practitioner: A person who conducts their work under the guidance of agreed ethical standards of performance that are appropriate to their field, usually overseen by professional associations.

professional responsibility: The obligation for a professional practitioner to hold themselves to account for their own professional learning and development; this obligation can be met by embedding continuing Living Educational Theory Research within the practice, to generate, share and test the validity of their living-educational-theory.

relatability: The 'use value' to a reader of a Living Educational Theory Research  account in developing their understanding of their own educational practice and to improving it – and to generating, sharing and testing the validity of their own living-educational-theory. 


social formation: The profile of a given human community in terms of its political, economic and cultural history; it can include the immediate working environment of a Living Educational Theory researcher and reach out to embrace the whole of Humanity.  

standards of judgment:  The criteria used to make judgments about the unit of appraisal to assess its validity.

standards of judgment (epistemological):  Values that emerge and are clarified in the course of an Living Educational Theory Research enquiry, used to evaluate the validity of a knowledge claim.

standards of judgment (practical): Values that emerge and are clarified in the course of an LETR enquiry, used to appraise the validity of a claim for improvement in the procedure or practical outcome of educational practice.

teacher educator: A professional practitioner who is engaged in a paedagogical setting to bring about improvement in knowledge, skills and understanding.

unit of appraisal: An element from a claim to knowledge that is being judged.

validity: The extent to which a claim to knowledge may be believed; it is assessed by applying standards of judgment to units of appraisal within the claim.

values:  The elements of an individual's principles, standards, or qualities that they identify as significant, worthwhile and desirable for guiding their intentional actions. 

values-laden: Activities, perspectives and judgements that are informed by and explained by the subjective moral standards of an individual or groups; within Living Educational Theory Research, these moral standards are subjected to rigorous scrutiny and evaluation.