Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Virtuous mess and wicked clarity
T2 - struggle in higher education research
AU - McArthur, Jan
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - This article considers the value of clarity – of theory, method and purposes – in educational research. It draws upon the work of early critical theorist, Theodor Adorno, and particularly his notion of negative dialectics and his challenge to the traditional dichotomy of theory and practice. Using the notions of virtuous mess and wicked clarity, I argue that we need to accept the messy, contingent nature of the social world we research. I further suggest that it then follows that such research can and should influence and change that world. The researcher is necessarily part of the world she researches and, once one accepts that, it is hard to sustain ethical or political isolation; it is hard to ignore the struggle.
AB - This article considers the value of clarity – of theory, method and purposes – in educational research. It draws upon the work of early critical theorist, Theodor Adorno, and particularly his notion of negative dialectics and his challenge to the traditional dichotomy of theory and practice. Using the notions of virtuous mess and wicked clarity, I argue that we need to accept the messy, contingent nature of the social world we research. I further suggest that it then follows that such research can and should influence and change that world. The researcher is necessarily part of the world she researches and, once one accepts that, it is hard to sustain ethical or political isolation; it is hard to ignore the struggle.
KW - Adorno
KW - Negative Dialectics
KW - Non-identity
KW - Social Justice
KW - Research methods
U2 - 10.1080/07294360.2011.634380
DO - 10.1080/07294360.2011.634380
M3 - Journal article
VL - 31
SP - 419
EP - 430
JO - Higher Education Research and Development
JF - Higher Education Research and Development
SN - 0729-4360
IS - 3
ER -