Introduction: Beyond impotent criticality in education research?

The words critical and criticality are increasingly omnipresent in educational institutions around the world (curricula, course objectives-outcomes, assessment criteria, etc.). They have also become part of decision-makers’ daily bread and butter. However, what these words mean in education, but also in research on education, is very unstable, polysemic, and, sometimes, empty. We all claim to be doing criticality, but we are not always sure what we mean by it—and if we mean the same. In this introduction to the volume I map some of the theoretical and conceptual difficulties of researching about criticality in education. As a way forward, I problematize criticality from an ontological perspective in an attempt to overcome potential vacuums and pitfalls when researching about criticality within education.