‘Variation theory’ may be depicted as a theory about the pedagogical conditions
under which understandings of objects of learning are developed. Lo (2013,
302–303) has commented on commonalities she perceives between the theory and
practice of learning study and Stenhouse’s idea of ‘the teacher as researcher’. First,
the object of learning must be judged to be educationally worthwhile on the grounds
that it is of enduring human interest because of its importance to the human situation.
Second, the object of learning is dynamic. Knowledge of it is always provisional
and open to question. Its critical features cannot be predetermined in advance
but are dependent on the students’ ways of seeing, and what is judged to be critical
for advancing their existing understanding in greater depth. In this respect,
Stenhouse’s ‘process model’ of lesson design strongly resonates with ‘variation theory’.
Third, knowledge cannot be taught if it is abstracted from the research process
by which it is created. Such abstraction distorts the nature of knowledge. Therefore
all teaching should be research or inquiry based. Fourth, theories of learning about
the relationship between the learner, the object of learning, and the teacher – such as