Morwenna Griffiths | University of Edinburgh (original) (raw)

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Papers by Morwenna Griffiths

Women's Studies International Forum, 1988

Women are becoming absent from the world of computers. The reasons for this are related to the wa... more Women are becoming absent from the world of computers. The reasons for this are related to the way computers have become associated with technology. Technology and masculinity are also strongly associated. The lack of logic of these associations is examined, and their ...

Educational …, 2007

This paper explores the use of practical philosophy in action research. It describes what 'p... more This paper explores the use of practical philosophy in action research. It describes what 'practical philosophy' is and how it makes a connection between 'theory' and 'practice' while never losing hold of either. It begins from the understanding that philosophy is rooted in social ...

Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 09574049208578118, Jun 19, 2008

5. The Problem with Belonging: The Problem with Not Belonging MG 6. Notes on Politics and Identit... more 5. The Problem with Belonging: The Problem with Not Belonging MG 6. Notes on Politics and Identity AS/MG (1) Two Main Questions (2) Introduction: Brief Characterisation of Identity Politics (3.1) The Perceived Problems of Identity Politics (and Responses)(3.2) Comments ...

Ethics and Education

The planet seems to be heading into an ecological catastrophe, in which the earth will become uni... more The planet seems to be heading into an ecological catastrophe, in which the earth will become uninhabitable for many species, including human beings. At the same time we humans are beset by appalling injustices. The Rio Declaration which addressed both these sets of problems contains conceptual contradictions about 'development and 'nature'. This paper addresses the issue of whether it is logically possible to work for both global justice and ecological sustainability. The article (1) proposes a way of responding to the spirit of the Rio Declaration without reinstating its contradictions; (2) considers a posthuman perspective on the issue; and (3) proposes a phenomenological approach to ethics and justice which would include both the human and more-than-human parts of the world. In section (4) the implications for education are drawn out, in terms of 'learning to mind'. Finally, links are drawn to the Journal theme of translation.

Jon Nixon's article, 'Learning the Language of Deliberative Democracy' explored langu... more Jon Nixon's article, 'Learning the Language of Deliberative Democracy' explored languages of hope in relation to the discourses of deliberative democracy. Ours continues this theme of finding languages of hope. Like his article, ours makes people central. It explores a neglected area of epistemology: knowing people. It suggests that we take a critical perspective on the metaphors we live and

Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 030750700115993, Aug 25, 2010

ABSTRACT This article explores the nature of the criteria which would be appropriate for evaluati... more ABSTRACT This article explores the nature of the criteria which would be appropriate for evaluating a report on practice development submitted for a doctoral thesis-a significant issue in the various professional contexts where 'action research' or 'evaluation' is increasingly being adopted as a basis for PhD work. The practice-base of this article itself, and the urgency of the problems, are presented by means of reflections on the examination of particular cases of action research PhDs undertaken by practitioners, and reflections by one of the presenters, who was herself completing a PhD at the time of writing. Illuminative data have been collected from a questionnaire to PhD examiners from a wide range of disciplines in order to establish the scope of the problem by collecting a core vocabulary of terms. The key issue examined is the relationship between criteria derived from clearly 'academic' research and criteria which would be appropriate for the evaluation of practice.

important to guard against making the researcher the central figure in the research. This tendenc... more important to guard against making the researcher the central figure in the research. This tendency has sometimes been called 'vanity ethnography'. Articles arguing against this tendency include Patai (1994), Pillow (2003) Smith (2006) and Burman (2006). Beyond self-consciousness is explicit consciousness about the expectations that the readers will bring to the genre that the researcher has used.

Wiley Blackwell, Jul 5, 2006

ABSTRACT Different versions of feminism and post‐modernism are surveyed and briefly described. Th... more ABSTRACT Different versions of feminism and post‐modernism are surveyed and briefly described. The current debate about the relationship between feminism and post‐modernism is reviewed with particular regard to the challenges each set of theories offers to traditional epistemologies. The paper concludes with a section in which suggestions are made about the influence of feminism and post‐modernism on the methodology of educational research—including action research. The suggestions occur in the context of a reflection on the author's own recent research projects.

J Curriculum Stud, 1988

There is increasing evidence that girls are turning away from computer studies in English seconda... more There is increasing evidence that girls are turning away from computer studies in English secondary schools. 1 The proportion of women entering universities to read computer science has actually fallen since 1978. 2 This evidence is particularly striking in view of ...

Women's Studies International Forum, 1988

Educational …, 2007

Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 09574049208578118, Jun 19, 2008

Ethics and Education

Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 030750700115993, Aug 25, 2010

Wiley Blackwell, Jul 5, 2006

J Curriculum Stud, 1988

Slides illustrating some dilemmas and strategies for feminist academics

Synopsis The usual account of social justice in formal education is too narrow. It should also c... more Synopsis
The usual account of social justice in formal education is too narrow. It should also concern itself with educational enjoyment as part of what makes a good life.

Background:
I use a philosophical and educational approach to thinking about social justice. I take social justice to be what makes us able to live a good life, individually and collectively: to live a life worth living. Education is part of that good life, not just instrumental for it. So we do an injustice to our students if they don’t experience the joys of learning things which are both difficult and worthwhile. Further, in society as a whole, some sectors of society (e.g. by class, ethnicity, ‘race’) are disproportionately less likely to have such experiences. This is an issue for policy makers and teachers – and teacher educators. I say more about this argument in my 2012 article in the Journal of Educational Policy, 27 (5) which is a special issue on ‘What would a socially just education system look like?’.

In the article I note that people find value in education for three linked but analytically separable reasons which I label: instrumental, inherent and integral. (The last two are often elided as ‘intrinsic’ goods of education.) Only the last of these, integral value, focuses on the value of education as part of what it is to live a good life. I compare and contrast this account of specifically educational goods in experiences of education, to recent research and policy on enjoyment and engagement in school education. The distinction between instrumental, inherent and integral values in education is something I continue to explore.

The paper presents an argument that the usual account of social justice in formal education is to... more The paper presents an argument that the usual account of social justice in formal education is too narrow. That account concerns itself only with the outcomes of education or only with general ethical precepts, such as ‘recognition'. I argue that it should also concern itself with living educational experiences as part of what makes a good life. I begin by noting that people find value in education for three linked but analytically separable reasons which I label: instrumental, inherent and integral. The last focuses on the value of education as part of what it is to live a good life. I point out how the usual accounts of social justice in education are seldom concerned with specifically educational experiences within formal education and that there is little clarity about the contribution of such experiences to living a good life. I offer a provisional account of specifically educational goods in experiences of education, and compare this to research and policy on enjoyment and engagement concluding that the significance of joy in education should be recognised within education policy.

The presentations addresses the question of the significance of love and social justice in educat... more The presentations addresses the question of the significance of love and social justice in education research and how such research might contribute to enabling people to live well in the world – when ‘the world’ is understood as including not only human beings but also the more-than-human. It focuses on practitioner research (inclusive of action research, self-study, reflective practice, action inquiry and more. It

The planet seems to be heading into an ecological catastrophe, as a result of which the earth wil... more The planet seems to be heading into an ecological catastrophe, as a result of which the earth will become uninhabitable for many species, including human beings. At the same time we humans are beset by appalling injustices, both locally and globally and across cultures. The Rio Declaration (UN 1992) addressed both these sets of problems. It proposed not only that ‘Human beings re entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature’, but also that ‘The right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations.’ In this article we discuss the issue of whether or not the Rio declaration is coherent; similarly for the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Global injustice is intricately related to issues such as global warming, availability of water, clean air and the oil economy, all of which affect everyone but which are disproportionately caused by the rich and suffered by the poor. They also affect the young more than the old. This paper addresses the issue of whether it is possible to work for global justice and also to avoid ecological collapse. The article begins by (1) proposing a way of responding to the Rio Declaration without reinstating its contradictions. It expands that by going on (2) to consider a posthuman perspective on the issue, and (3) to propose a phenomenological approach to ethics and justice which would include both the human and more-than-human parts of the world. In the final section we discuss the role of education, through what we term ‘minding’ and ‘learning to mind’. We ground the discussion by giving some examples from early years education, primary schooling, secondary schooling and higher education