Morwenna Griffiths

Using Reflective Practice to Link Personal and Public Theories.

Abstract Ways of improving the efficacy of present methods of relating theory and practice in the education of teachers are considered. It is argued that: (1) insufficient attention has been paid to the methods of uncovering personal theories; (2) personal theories are often expressed in images and metaphors; and (3) the interlocking of personal and public theory can usefully be understood as the interaction of different levels of reflection. Five levels of reflection are identified and are then used to argue, further, that: (4) different language is appropriate to different levels of reflection; and (5) each practitioner should be able to work at each level.

Feminisms and the Self : The Web of Identity

What does the politics of the self mean for a politics of liberation? Morwenna Griffiths argues that mainstream philosophy, particularly the anglo-analytic tradition, needs to tackle the issues of the self, identity, autonomy and self creation. Although identity has been a central concern of feminist thought it has in the main been excluded from philosophical analysis. Feminisms and the Self is both a critique and a construction of feminist philosophy. After the powerful challenges that postmodernism and poststructuralism posed to liberation movements like feminism, Griffiths book is an original and timely contribution to current debate surrounding the notion of identity and subjectivity.

Collaboration and partnership in question: knowledge, politics and practice

The paper provides a framework from which to critique orthodox assumptions about the processes of collaboration, especially in relation to the concepts of public space and power. Key issues are the private-public distinction and the metaphor of ‘public space’. The critique is rooted in alternatives to orthodox, Liberal humanist political perspectives in philosophy and draws on real examples of collaboration. Some of these are from my own experiences of a number of small-scale, policy-oriented, research projects and evaluations, both commissioned and university-originated. Suggestions are made about implications for the genesis of a politics of connection leading to collective actions.

Learning to learn: action research from an equal opportunities perspective in a junior school

Abstract The project described is action research into pupils’ learning in a (years 5 and 6) class of a primary school, which was carried out by the class teacher and an eduction lecturer, in partnership. While the focus of the research was on the processes of pupils’ learning, the overriding research question was the possibility of improving equality of opportunity for pupils in a socially and racially mixed classroom. The resulting innovative, participative methodology is discussed. It is argued that the pupils were empowered by their involvement in the setting up of the research and in drawing conclusions from it. This process is described, and the effects on the childrens ability to learn and reflect on their own learning needs are reported. Finally, the question of how far research of this kind should be extended to an explicit focus on race, class or gender is raised.

Making a Difference: Feminism, Post-Modernism, and the Methodology of Educational Research.

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 regar...

The Discourses of Social Justice in Schools.

In this article I argue that it is possible to use and then build on contemporary theoretical and practical discourses surrounding issues of social justice in order to improve matters in schools. The research method is based in philosophical educational research: developing and generating theory in an iterative process of theorising in relation to specific practical circumstances and their problems. The argument shows that theoretical underpinnings of social justice need not be liberal-humanist, just as practical strategies need not be couched in the language of 1980s-style equal opportunities. It describes a method of formulating, in collaboration with practitioners, a set of theoretically informed social justice principles for managing schools. It then shows how these draw on, and contribute to, a set of discursive constructions related to social justice and its improvement.

Autobiography, feminism and the practice of action research

Abstract This paper is a contribution to the development of the view that action research should be both personal and political. It is shown that the personal and particular, as expressed in autobiographical research methods, can also be political and critical. This claim is dependent on (1) the view that, to be epistemologically sound, a method needs to be critical and political and (2) the view that to be epistemologically sound, a method needs to be personal, and also to be revisable over time. Arguments are given for these two views, using feminist epistemology. It is recognised that the claim would be hollow if it were not possible to convert abstract requirements into actual methods. This possibility is demonstrated by (3) considering the method of autobiography in general, and ‘critical autobiography’ in particular, and (4) examining my own autobiographical writing in journals made during an action research project, using the criteria developed in (1) and (2).

Why Joy in Education Is an Issue for Socially Just Policies.

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 of these 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.

Action research, stories and practical philosophy

This collaborative piece written by a philosopher/action researcher and an action researcher/philosopher explores the use of practical philosophy as a tool in action research. The paper explores the connection to be made between what we refer to, roughly, as ‘theory’ and ‘practice’ (while never losing hold of either). The connection is made around ideas of ‘practical philosophy’ and social justice. The authors suggest that ‘practical philosophy’ might develop as a ‘philosophy in human practices’. It begins from the understanding that philosophy is rooted in social practice, with philosophy in educational practices being rooted in educational practice. The paper goes on to explore the use of ‘little stories’ as a way into the diversity of significant particularities. Finally the links are drawn with action research. It is argued that the process of reconceptualisation is itself an action that will make a difference as part of a series of action research cycles.

Self‐identity and Self‐esteem: achieving equality in education

Abstract Psychological and educational theories about self‐esteem in education emphasise its dependence on achievement and/or self‐actualisation. Government recommendations follow their lead. In this paper an alternative theory of self‐esteem is developed, drawing on feminist explorations of the politics of identity. Experiences of ‘belonging’ and ‘not belonging’ are central to the theory. The theory of the self is compared with Liberal and Romantic theories, which underpin the achievement‐oriented understanding of self‐esteem. Conclusions are drawn about the relationship between the development of self‐esteem of children in schools, and educational policies of social justice. It is argued that improvement of the self‐esteem of minority or oppressed groups would result in their empowerment and is, therefore, a political, not a psychological, issue.