Joffy Conolly

I am a doctoral researcher and teacher at the Faculty of Education, specialising in critical thinking and global education. With a background as a primary school principal, I am interested in understanding how thinking critically can be developed in practice in order to meet the global challenges of the 21st century and beyond.

Drawing on non-Western/indigenous knowledges & post-human/ecocentric theory, my doctoral work examines the colonial and human-centric assumptions inherent in critical thinking. Using action research, the aim is to collaborate with students to create an "organic" thinking course to teach people to think critically with others (human & non-human).

The goal of my research is to stimulate greater discussion within society about how we approach and think about global problems, particularly climate change (our global responsibility). The project also looks at how student agency is created and will deliver concrete tools to explain how to "think organically" to a wider audience.

My doctoral research forms part of GRASS (Global Responsibility to Act Sustainably as Students), a 4-year Eudaimonia-funded spearhead project which contributes to the university's Understanding Humans in Change focus area.