Gender, race, self-identity, joint
actions in public space, citizenship
Morwenna Griffiths, ‘Action research for/as/mindful
of social justice’ in Bridget Somekh and
Susan Noffke (eds.)
Handbook of Educational Action Research, Sage
(2009)
Morwenna Griffiths and Hamish Ross, ‘Public space,
participation and expressive arts’ in Bob Lingard, Jon Nixon and Stewart
Ransom (eds.) Transforming Learning, Continuum (in press)
Morwenna Griffiths, What kind of research evidence
should our leaders use? Scottish Educational Review, 40 (1) 2008
Morwenna Griffiths and Tony Cotton,
Action research, stories and practical philosophy, Educational Action Research,
15 (4) 2007 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 practices with
philosophy in educational practices rooted in educational practice. The
paper goes on to explore the use of stories as a way into the diversity of
significant particularities. Finally the links are made between practical
philosophy, stories and the notion of action research. The theme of social
justice permeates. It is an example of a theory-practice connection, and
also it provides the underlying rationale for the approach.
Morwenna Griffiths and Jean Barr, ‘The nature of
knowledge and lifelong learning' in David Aspin (ed.)
Philosophical Perspectives on Lifelong Learning, Springer Press
(2007)
This paper starts from the position that lifelong learning
is more than is assumed in current policy rhetoric. This rhetoric focuses
on training for a ‘knowledge economy’ in which all citizens play their
part. We argue that this rhetoric depends on a view of knowledge as
instrumental, individual and disembodied. Against this we propose a notion
of knowledge as social, embodied and reflexive about its own roots in time
and space. It is this notion that underpins the richer, more democratic
notion of lifelong learning which we explore in this essay using examples
drawn from various, diverse sites, especially museum and art education
‘from cradle to grave’.
Morwenna Griffiths, (with Judy Berry,
Anne Holt, John Naylor and Philippa Weekes)
‘Learning to be in public spaces: in from the margins with dancers, sculptors, painters and musicians' in Chris Gaine, Ghazala Bhatti, Yvonne Leeman and Francesca
Gobbo (eds.) Social Justice and Intercultural Education: an Open-Ended
Dialogue, Trentham
Morwenna Griffiths, Judy Berry,
Anne Holt. John Naylor and Philippa Weekes)
Learning to be in public spaces: in from the margins with dancers, sculptors, painters and musicians, British Journal of Educational Studies (Special Issue on
Social Justice) (54 (3) 2006
Morwenna Griffiths,
‘The feminization of teaching and the practice of teaching: threat or opportunity?’Educational Theory
56(4) Fall 2006 Morwenna Griffiths considers the effect of
feminization on the practices of education. She outlines a feminist theory
of practice that draws critically on theories of embodiment, diversity,
and structures of power to show that any practice is properly seen as
fluid, leaky, and viscous. Examining different and competing
understandings of "feminization"— referring either to the numbers of women
in teaching or to a culture associated with women — Griffith argues that
concerns about increasing number of women teachers are misplaced. She
complicates the cultural question, observing that masculine practices have
a hegemonic form while feminized practices have developed in resistance to
these, and she ultimately argues that hegemonic masculinity, not
feminization, is the problem because it drives out diversity. Griffiths
concludes that the leaky, viscous practices of teaching would benefit from
the increased diversity and decreased social stratification feminization
brings to the profession.
Morwenna Griffiths,Joseph Windle and Margaret Simms
‘“That’s what I am here for”:Images of working lives of academic and support staff’ in D. Tidwell and
L. Fitzgerald (eds.) Self-study and Diversity New York: Springer
2006
Morwenna Griffiths
and Dina Poursanidou,
‘A self-study of collaborations among teacher educators’ Studying Teacher Education 1 (2) 2005
This paper describes a self-study of two collaborations.
The first collaboration focused on an attempt to study the teaching of
social justice issues to pre-service student teachers. The second
collaboration was an attempt to understand why the first collaboration
was only partially successful. The study charts the process of
collaboration over two years. The methodology is highly reflective,
depending primarily on sources that were seen as being significant in
retrospect rather than collected with a sense of purpose. Data include
emails, conversations noted at the time or remembered, notes made of
discussions at conference presentations, and reflective journal entries.
Conclusions are drawn with significance beyond this self-study. They
include clarification of the nature of collaboration and the parts
played by the role and personality of the collaborators, factors to be
taken into account for success, reasons for collaboration, and the
importance of focusing on the self who is inviting or persuading others
to collaborate rather than on anyone else. Presented as a narrative in
dialogic form, the paper demonstrates the growth of understanding over
the period of the self-study and illustrates the development of one kind
of collaboration among congenial colleagues.
Morwenna Griffiths and Tony Cotton, ‘Action research, stories and practical philosophy’ Practioner Research Action
Research /Collaborative Action Research Network Joint Annual International
Conference, Utrecht, November, 2005
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
practices with philosophy in educational practices rooted in educational
practice. The paper goes on to explore the use of stories as a way into
the diversity of significant particularities. Finally the links are made
between practical philosophy, stories and the notion of action research.
The theme of social justice permeates. It is an example of a
theory-practice connection, and also it provides the underlying rationale
for the approach.
Morwenna Griffiths, ‘A feminist perspective on communities of practice’ Socio-cultural Theory in Educational Research
and Practice, Manchester, September, 2005
Morwenna Griffiths, in dialogue with Lis Bass,
Marilyn Johnston and Victoria Perselli ‘Knowledge, social justice, and
self-study’ in J. Loughran, M.L. Hamilton, V. LaBoskey and T. Russell
(eds.) International Handbook of Self-Study of Teaching and Teacher
Education Practices New York: Kluwer 2004 This
chapter addresses the issue of professional knowledge and social justice.
It is presented in dialogic form, as a conversation in four voices. The
conversation is nterspersed with four case studies, each one written by
one of the authors. The case studies illuminate, exemplify and resist the
arguments within the conversation about self-study, social justice, and
epistemology. The paper is divided into four broad sections. The first,
“Social Justice and Self-Study,” looks directly at the links between
social justice and self-study. It begins by considering the resistances
and difficulties inherent in addressing social justice issues, and
continues by seeking a definition for social justice. The second, “What
Kind of Knowledge?”, looks directly at the nature of knowledge that is
gained in self-study that is rooted in a concern for social justice. From
a starting point of knowing ourselves as tellers of stories, it goes on to
address ways of telling and listening to stories across divisive social
boundaries and hierarchies. The third section, “Professional Knowledge”
introduces the idea of "little stories and grand narrative,” exploring
ways in which professional knowledge might be understood as "little
stories” countering, disrupting, critical of and contributing to "grand
narratives” of educational knowledge. The fourth section addresses the
urgent and difficult question, "Why is There so Little Self-Study on
Social Justice Issues?”
Morwenna Griffiths and Dina Poursanidou,
‘Collaboration and self-study in relation to teaching social justice issues to beginning teachers’ Fifth International Conference of the
Self-study of Teacher Education Practices at Herstmonceux Castle,
Sussex, July 2004
Morwenna Griffiths, Joseph Windle and Margaret
Simms ‘Academic and support staff: Images of three working lives in
teacher education’ Fifth International Conference of the Self-study of
Teacher Education Practices at Herstmonceux Castle, Sussex, July 2004
Morwenna Griffiths and Felicity Woolf, Report on
Creative Partnerships Nottingham Action Research for Creative
Partnerships Nottingham
Published 2004
Morwenna Griffiths, Action for Social Justice in
Education: Fairly Different Buckingham: Open University Press 2003
Social justice is a verb. This
book puts forward a view of social justice as action orientated rather
than as a static theory. Complex discussions of difference, equality,
recognition, and redistribution are made accessible and relevant to issues
of class, race, gender, sexuality and disability. Interwoven with the
discussion are compelling individual accounts of the pleasures and pains,
the pitfalls and glittering prizes to be found in education - told by
individuals coming from a diversity of social, economic, and ethnic
backgrounds. The second part of the book includes examples of successful
interventions in real situations, related to self-esteem, empowerment,
partnership, and the initiation of individual and joint action to improve
social justice in education. The discussion is kept open through
'answering back' sections by educators committed to social justice:
Deborah Chetcuti, Max Biddulph, Ghazala Bhatti, Roy Corden, Melanie
Walker, Jon Nixon and Kenneth Dunkwu.
Morwenna Griffiths and Jean Barr, ‘Training the
imagination to “go visiting”‘ in M. Walker and J. Nixon (eds.)
Reclaiming Universities from a Runaway World Buckingham, Open
University Press2003
Morwenna Griffiths, ‘“Nothing grand”: small tales and working for social justice’ in J. Loughran and T. Russell (eds.)
Reframing Teacher Education Practices: Exploring meaning through self-study Falmer
Press 2002
Deborah Chetcuti and Morwenna Griffiths,
‘The implications for student self-esteem of ordinary differences in different schools: the cases of Malta and England’ British Educational Research
Journal 28 (4) 2002
This article explores self-esteem and its relationship
with achievement and difference. It is written as an ongoing narrative
between the two authors, who through their autobiographical
conversations try to come to terms with the effects of ordinary (i.e.
unexceptional, non-deviant) differences on self-esteem. Through a
critical analysis of their own experiences as students, teachers,
researchers and academics, the authors try to explore how differences
are discursively constructed and how they might be reconstructed. The
article is in three parts. It starts with an analytic enquiry of the
construction of individual self-esteem. The authors argue that current
orthodoxy about self-esteem is oversimplified because it focuses on an
individual's response to personal achievement and to face-to-face social
relationships. It is argued that the story must be much more complex and
include issues of social justice. The second part uses qualitative data
from Malta and England and autobiographical data in order to explore the
relationship between self-esteem and the achievements and aspirations of
students. The third and final part uses these results to construct a
concept of 'ordinary difference' which celebrates individual and
socio-political differences rather than tries to standardise them.
Morwenna Griffiths, ‘Ten principles of social
justice in educational research:two cases of contract research’ Review
Journal of Philosophy and the Social Sciences 27 (2) 2002
Morwenna Griffiths and Maxine Greene,
‘Feminism, philosophy and education: imagining public spaces’ in N. Blake, P. Smeyers,
R. Smith and P. Standish (eds.)
The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Education Oxford: Basil Blackwell 2002 We begin
by explaining ourselves, if we can. This chapter is not “philosophy-asusual,”
as ordinarily conceived. Perhaps it would be strange if it were, since, as
we mean to show, feminism is precisely a way of rethinking the “usual.” We
need to explain ourselves, however, because our individual voices,
perspectives, positions, locations, and social relationships – our
situations – are irreducibly part of the ways we do feminist philosophy of
education. We are fully aware that there is no one “feminism”; there are
multiple points of view described as “feminist.” Feminist theories, or
clusters of theories, are not united by some overarching principle of
“essence,” still less by any single set of beliefs, but rather by the way
they generate or infuse actions in the world. As someone in pursuit of a
project, each individual actor originates her own undertakings, launches
her own beginnings, and articulates her own perceptions, ideas, and
purposes. Striving to actualize the givenness of her being as a woman, to
“make articulate and call into full existence what otherwise they would
have to suffer passively anyhow” (Arendt, 1958, p. 208), each of us feel
ourselves to be not only women but distinctive beings, whose uniqueness
must be taken into account by any theory that is made or story that is
told. The form of the chapter reflects this. Much of it is in dialogue;
and the whole arose
Morwenna Griffiths and Mitja Sardoc, The School
Field: Special Issue on Justice in/and Education 2001/2
Morwenna Griffiths and Kenneth Dunkwu,
Approaching Social Justice in Education: Theoretical Frameworks for
Practical Purposes BERA (Review of Research) 2001
Morwenna Griffiths,
‘Social justice for education: what kind of theory is needed?’ The School Field (Special Issue:
Justice in/and Education) XII (1/2) 2001 What is
needed from a theory of social justice for education? In order to answer
this question, two subsidiary questions will be addressed: (a) What might
a useful theory (or theories) look like (For instance is a set of
principles the answer? Or perhaps a series of little stories? Or
definitions?) (b) How should such theory be generated? The two subsidiary
questions have been framed as if the focus is all on the nature of theory.
But this may be misleading. The nature of social justice itself is
implicated in the possible answers to these questions, and the justice of
the purposes served by theorising about it. The paper begins with a
discussion of relevance and method and goes on to outline some answers to
the main questions to be found in the philosophical literature. A method
for the production of useful answers to contemporary educational issues of
social justice is suggested, and some (preliminary) results presented in
the form of a set of answers to what is needed from a theory of social
justice. A critical reflection follows which focuses on what is new, and
what the implications might be for different theories of social justice,
including my own (Griffiths 1998a, 1998b).
Morwenna Griffiths,
‘Collaboration and partnership in question: knowledge, politics and practice’ Journal of Education
Policy (Special Issue: Philosophical Perspectives on Education Policy)
15 (4) 2000 Provides a framework for critiquing assumptions
about the collaboration process, highlighting concepts of public space and
power. Key issues are the private-public distinction and the "public
space" metaphor. Collective spaces are made by groups (formal institutions
or persons), who can debate with each other and act. (Contains 42
references.)
Morwenna Griffiths, ‘Theorising social justice for
education’ Annual Conference of the Philosophy of Education Society of
Great Britain Oxford April 2000
Morwenna Griffiths, ‘ “Nothing Grand”: Small tales
and working for social justice’ Third International Conference of the
Self-study of Teacher Education Practices at Herstmonceux Castle,
Sussex August 2000
Morwenna Griffiths,
‘Aiming for a fair education: what use is philosophy?’ in R. Marples (ed.) Aims of Education
London and New York: Routledge 1999
Morwenna Griffiths,
‘Principles of social justice in educational research: the case of contract research’ The School
Field X (1/2) (1999) Delineates small-scale
contract-research principles predicated on an understanding of social
justice and of research purposes, epistemological issues, and
possibilities for ethical and political action. Principles embrace
improvement, knowledge and learning, changed belief systems, collaboration
and consultation, openness to other communities, reflexivity, and
responsibility. Two cases are profiled. (24 references)
Morwenna Griffiths,
Educational Research for Social Justice: Getting off the Fence Buckingham: Open University
Press 1998 This is a book for
all researchers in educational settings whose research is motivated by
considerations of justice, fairness and equity. It addresses questions
such researchers have to face. Will a prior political or ethical
commitment bias the research? How far can the ideas of empowerment or
'giving a voice' be realised? How can researchers who research communities
to which they belong deal with the ethical issues of being both insider
and outsider?
The book provides a set of principles for doing educational research for
social justice. These are rooted in considerations of methodology,
epistemology and power relations, and provide a framework for dealing with
the practical issues of collaboration, ethics, bias, empowerment, voice,
uncertain knowledge and reflexivity, at all stages of research from
getting started to dissemination and taking responsibility as members of
the wider community of educational researchers.
Theoretical arguments and the realities of practical research are brought
together and interwoven. Thus the book will be helpful to all researchers,
whether they are just beginning their first project, or whether they are
already highly experienced. It will be of great value to research students
in designing and writing up their theses and dissertations.
Morwenna Griffiths,
‘Towards a theoretical framework for understanding social justice in educational practice’
Educational Philosophy and Theory 30 (2) 1998
Morwenna Griffiths, ‘Self-determination and
learning to be cruel: gender, race and the construction of self in
relation to bullying and harassment’ European Journal of Women’s
Studies 98 (2) 1998
Morwenna Griffiths,
‘The discourses of social justice in schools’ British Educational Research Journal 24 (3)
1998 Argues that it is possible to use and build on
contemporary theoretical and practical discourses surrounding issues of
social justice to improve schools. Describes a method of formulating, in
conjunction with practitioners, a set of theoretically-informed
social-justice principles for managing schools.
Morwenna Griffiths and Carol Davies, ‘Insults and
injuries: bullying and harassment in primary schools’ Current Research
in Early Childhood 79 (Spring) 1996
Morwenna Griffiths and Barry Troyna,
Anti-racism, Culture and Social Justice in Education Stoke: Trentham
1995
Morwenna Griffiths and Carol Davies,
In Fairness to Children: Working for Social Justice in the Primary School London:
David Fulton 1995 How can one best work for justice
and empowerment in the ever-changing, real-life messy world of primary
school classrooms? Written by a full-time teacher and an
action-researcher, this book points out opportunities to work for fairness
for all children and teachers.
Morwenna Griffiths,
Feminisms and the Self: The Web of Identity London and New York: Routledge 1995
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.
Morwenna Griffiths and Marie Parker-Jenkins,
‘Methodological and ethical dilemmas in international research: school attendance and gender in Ghana’ Oxford Review of Education 20 (4)
1994
Morwenna Griffiths, Christian Akwesi, and Marie
Parker-Jenkins ‘International consultancy about action research: questions
of methodology and ethics’ in P. Lomax and J. Whitehead (eds.)
Accounting for Ourselves: Action learning, Action Research and Process
Management University of Bath 1994
Morwenna Griffiths,
‘Self-identity and self-esteem: achieving equality in education’ Oxford Review of Education 19 (3)
1993
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.
Morwenna Griffiths and Carol Davies,
‘Learning to learn: action research from an equal opportunities perspective in a junior school’ British Educational Research Journal 19 (1) 1993
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
children's 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.
Morwenna Griffiths and Anne Seller,
‘The politics of identity, the politics of the self’ Women: A Cultural Review
(Special Issue: Gendering philosophy) 3 (2) 1992 Morwenna Griffiths, Self-identity,
Self-esteem, and Social Justice Nottingham: University of Nottingham
1992
Morwenna Griffiths,
‘Action research: grassroots practice or management tool?’ in P. Lomax (ed.) Managing Staff
Development in Schools Clevedon: Multilingual Matters 1990
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