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Raising Critical Consciousness in Engineering Education: A Critical Exploration of Transformative Possibilities in Engineering Education and Research / Gabrielle Orbaek White
Swansea University Author: Gabrielle Orbaek White
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PDF | E-Thesis – open access
Copyright: The Author, Gabrielle D. Orbaek White, 2023. Distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
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DOI (Published version): 10.23889/SUthesis.63685
Abstract
This thesis represents a critical exploration of the opportunities, challenges, and barriers to enacting social justice via the engineering curriculum. Through an ethnographic case study of a British engineering for sustainable development course, I illuminate tensions and contradictions of attempts...
| Published: |
Swansea, Wales, UK
2023
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| Institution: | Swansea University |
| Degree level: | Doctoral |
| Degree name: | Ph.D |
| Supervisor: | Xavier, Patricia A., Forde, Elaine M. N., Groves, Catherine J. and Holness, R. James |
| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa63685 |
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| Abstract: |
This thesis represents a critical exploration of the opportunities, challenges, and barriers to enacting social justice via the engineering curriculum. Through an ethnographic case study of a British engineering for sustainable development course, I illuminate tensions and contradictions of attempts to “do good” while “doing engineering” in a higher education setting. This work is couched within critical and anti-colonial theoretical frames. Through critical and reflexive analysis, I illustrate attempts of participants to innovate in engineering education toward a counter-hegemonic engineering practice, and highlight transformative possibilities, as well as barriers. This case illustrates how the structures that formed modern engineering continue to shape engineering higher education, restraining attempts to transform engineering training for social good.A central question that has driven this work has been: Is it possible to cultivate a more socially just form of engineering practice through engineering higher education? The function of asking this question has been to interrogate a core assumption in engineering education research – that with the right blend of educational interventions, we can make strides towards social justice. My intent in interrogating this assumption is not to be nihilistic per se. I believe it is entirely possible that engineering could potentially be wielded for just cause and consequence. However, if we do not critically examine our core assumptions around this issue, we may also miss out on the possibility that socially just engineering is not achievable, at least in the way we are currently approaching it or in the current context within which it exists.An examination of this topic is already underway in the US context. However, it is under-explored in a British context. Given the different historical trajectories of engineering and engineering in higher education between these two contexts, a closer look at the British context is warranted. |
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| Item Description: |
A selection of third party content is redacted or is partially redacted from this thesis due to copyright restrictions. Author ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4408-9513. Author also known as Gabrielle Novello. |
| Keywords: |
Engineering Education, Critical Pedagogy, Decolonising Higher Education |
| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |