Transformation and Integration Generated in Collaborative Research–The Fourth Argument on the Relationship Between Educational Theory and Educational Practice

The relationship between theory and practice is a fundamental methodological issue in educational research, and also an in-depth issue in the construction and development of pedagogy. This study discusses the relationship between theory and practice in educational research, and the approaches to achieving their transformation and integration at three levels. First, at the philosophical level, the author clarifies the essence, relationship and development of educational theory and educational practice based on the re-understanding of the representative figures in Western philosophy and their views that have deeply influenced our education academy. Secondly, the author expounds the re-understanding of the specificity of the relationship between theory and practice in educational research, the understanding of the bottom-line question of “what is education”, the specificity of the complexities of educational research, and the importance of the development of researchers and practitioners in promoting the development of educational theory and educational practice. Finally, taking the “New Basic Education” research as an example, which she has been chairing for more than 20 years, the author illustrates how educational theory and educational practice are transformed, integrated and interactively generated in cooperative research, and expounds the “soul-body integration” relationship between them.