‘Permission to write’: Building a community of inter-disciplinary writers
Keywords:
academic writing programme; writing support; scholarly writing; feedback; community of practiceAbstract
Academic writing has been described as enjoyable, terrifying, and hard slog, with many reasons why academics struggle to write. Here, we describe the third iteration of a generic writing programme for academics who wanted to meet the imperative to publish. Using surveys, weekly feedback and our own journals we gathered evidence of the programme’s effectiveness. We developed a structured framework within a community of practice where academics could gain writing acumen and increase confidence, giving themselves permission to write amid conflicting requirements of teaching, research and service. Our data shows the different dimensions of the course that participants experienced as effective, enabling us to anatomise writing support with the precision that facilitators will find helpful. Significantly, we make the case that the social dimension enabled our academics to be productive.
References
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Aitchison, C., Kamler, B., & Lee, A. (2010). Publishing pedagogies for the doctorate and beyond. London: Routledge.
Aitchison, C., & Lee, A. (2006). Research writing: problems and pedagogies. Teaching in Higher Education, 11(3), 265-278. doi:10.1080/13562510600680574
Anson, C. M., & Forsberg, L. L. (1990). Moving beyond the Academic Community: Transitional Stages in Professional Writing. Written Communication, 7(2), 200-231.
Archer, L. (2008). Younger academics’ constructions of ‘authenticity’, ‘success’ and professional identity. Studies in Higher Education, 33(4), 385-403. doi:10.1080/03075070802211729
Austin, A. E. (2003). Creating a bridge to the future: Preparing new faculty to face changing expectations in a shifting context. The Review of Higher Education, 26(2), 119-144.
Bazerman, C. (2009). Genre and cognitive development: Beyond writing to learn. Pratiques. Linguistique, littérature, didactique(143-144), 127-138.
Bazerman, C., & Prior, P. (2003). What writing does and how it does it: An introduction to analyzing texts and textual practices: Routledge.
Belcher, W. L. (2009). Writing your journal article in 12 weeks : a guide to academic publishing success. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications.
Brown, L., & Watson, P. (2010). Understanding the experiences of female doctoral students. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 34(3), 385-404.
Cameron, J., Nairn, K., & Higgins, J. (2009). Demystifying Academic Writing: Reflections on Emotions, Know-How and Academic Identity. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 33(2), 269-284. doi:10.1080/03098260902734943
Carter, S., & Laurs, D. (2014). Developing generic support for doctoral students: Practice and pedagogy: Routledge.
Carter, S., & Laurs, D. (Eds.). (2017). Developing generic support for doctoral students: Practice and pedagogy. London and New York: Routledge.
Churchman, D. (2006). Institutional Commitments, Individual Compromises: Identity‐related responses to compromise in an Australian university. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 28(1), 3-15.
Cochran-Smith, M., & Donnell, K. (2006). Practitioner inquiry: Blurring the boundaries of research and practice. In J. Green, G. Camilli, & P. Elmore (Eds.), Handbook of complementary methods in education research (pp. 503-518). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Corbin, J. M., & Strauss, A. (1990). Grounded theory research: Procedures, canons, and evaluative criteria. Qualitative Sociology, 13(1), 3-21. doi:10.1007/bf00988593
Douglas, A. S. (2012). Advice from the professors in a university Social Sciences department on the teaching-research nexus. Teaching in Higher Education, 1-12. doi:10.1080/13562517.2012.752727
Driscoll, L. G., Parkes, K. A., Tilley-Lubbs, G. A., Brill, J. M., & Pitts Bannister, V. R. (2009). Navigating the lonely sea: peer mentoring and collaboration among aspiring women scholars. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 17(1), 5 - 21.
Elbow, P. (1998). Writing with power: Techniques for mastering the writing process: Oxford University Press.
Flaherty, A. (2005). The midnight disease: The drive to write, writer's block, and the creative brain. New York: Mariner Books.
Freire, P. (1972). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Gallego Castaño, L., Castelló Badia, M., & Badia Garganté, A. (2015). Faculty feelings as writers: relationship with writing genres, perceived competences, and values associated to writing. Higher Education, 71(5), 719-734. doi:10.1007/s10734-015-9933-3
Gopen, G. D., & Swan, J. A. (1990). The Science of Scientific Writing. American Scientist, 78(6), 550-558.
Grant, B. M. (2006). Writing in the company of other women: exceeding the boundaries. Studies in Higher Education, 31(4), 483-495.
Hathaway, J. (2015). Developing that voice: locating academic writing tuition in the mainstream of higher education. Teaching in Higher Education, 1-12. doi:10.1080/13562517.2015.1026891
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Hyland, K. (2012). Disciplinary identities: Individuality and community in academic discourse: Ernst Klett Sprachen.
Jawitz, J. (2009). Academic identities and communities of practice in a professional discipline. Teaching in Higher Education, 14(3), 241-251. doi:10.1080/13562510902898817
Jung, J. (2014). Research productivity by career stage among Korean academics. Tertiary Education and Management, 1-21. doi:10.1080/13583883.2014.889206
Kamler, B. (2001). Relocating the personal: A critical writing pedagogy: SUNY Press.
Kiley, M., & Wisker, G. (2009). Threshold concepts in research education and evidence of threshold crossing. Higher Education Research & Development, 28(4), 431-441.
Lafrance, M., & Stoppard, J. (2006). Restoring women’s depression: A material-discursive approach. In C. Brown & T. Augusta-Scott (Eds.), Narrative therapy: Making meaning, making lives (pp. 23-37). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated Learning. Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lea, M. R., & Stierer, B. (2011). Changing academic identities in changing academic workplaces: learning from academics’ everyday professional writing practices. Teaching in Higher Education, 16(6), 605-616. doi:10.1080/13562517.2011.560380
Lee, A., & Aitchison, C. (2009). Writing for the doctorate and beyond. In D. Boud & A. Lee (Eds.), Changing practices of doctoral education (pp. 87-99). Oxon: Routledge.
Lee, A., & Boud, D. (2003). Writing Groups, Change and Academic Identity: Research development as local practice. Studies in Higher Education, 28(2), 187-200. doi:10.1080/0307507032000058109
Linder, K., Cooper, F., McKenzie, E., Raesch, M., & Reeve, P. (2014). Intentional Teaching, Intentional Scholarship: Applying Backward Design Principles in a Faculty Writing Group. Innovative Higher Education, 39(3), 217-229. doi:10.1007/s10755-013-9273-0
McLean, K. C., & Pasupathi, M. (2012). Processes of Identity Development: Where I Am and How I Got There. Identity, 12(1), 8-28. doi:10.1080/15283488.2011.632363
Murray, R. (2013). Writing for academic journals: McGraw-Hill Education (UK).
Paltridge, B. (1997). Genre, frames and writing in research settings (Vol. 45): John Benjamins Publishing.
Paré, A. (2014). Writing together for many reasons: Theoretical and historical perspectives. In C. Aitchison & C. Guerin (Eds.), Writing groups for doctoral education and beyond: Innovations in practice and theory (pp. 18-29). New York: Routledge.
Rankin, E. (2001). The Work of Writing: Insights and Strategies for Academics and Professionals. The Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series: ERIC.
Roberts, A., & Weston, K. (2013). Releasing the hidden academic? Learning from teacher-educators’ responses to a writing support programme. Professional Development in Education, 40(5), 698-716. doi:10.1080/19415257.2013.835277
Swales, J. M., & Feak, C. A. (2000). English in today's research world: Univ. of Michigan Press.
Sword, H. (2012). Stylish academic writing: Harvard University Press.
Sword, H. (2015). The writer's diet: Auckland University Press.
Thesen, L. (2014). 'If they're not laughing, watch out!': Emotion and risk in postgraduate writing groups. In C. Aitchison & C. Guerin (Eds.), Writing groups for doctoral education and beyond: Innovations in practice and theory (pp. 172-176). New York: Routledge.
Turner, R., Brown, T., & Edwards-Jones, A. (2013). ‘Writing my first academic article feels like dancing around naked’: research development for higher education lecturers working in further education colleges. International Journal for Academic Development, 19(2), 87-98. doi:10.1080/1360144X.2013.792729
Warhurst, R. P. (2006). “We Really Felt Part of Something”: Participatory learning among peers within a university teaching‐development community of practice. International Journal for Academic Development, 11(2), 111-122. doi:10.1080/13601440600924462
Weaver, D., Robbie, D., & Radloff, A. (2013). Demystifying the publication process – a structured writing program to facilitate dissemination of teaching and learning scholarship. International Journal for Academic Development, 19(3), 212-225. doi:10.1080/1360144X.2013.805692
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Zinsser, W. (1994). On writing well: An informal guide to writing nonfiction (5th ed.). New York: Harper Perennial.
Aitchison, C., & Guerin, C. (2014). Writing groups, pedagogy, theory and practice: an introduction. In C. Aitchison & C. Guerin (Eds.), Writing groups for doctoral education and beyond: Innovations in practice and theory (pp. 4). New York: Routledge.
Aitchison, C., Kamler, B., & Lee, A. (2010). Publishing pedagogies for the doctorate and beyond. London: Routledge.
Aitchison, C., & Lee, A. (2006). Research writing: problems and pedagogies. Teaching in Higher Education, 11(3), 265-278. doi:10.1080/13562510600680574
Anson, C. M., & Forsberg, L. L. (1990). Moving beyond the Academic Community: Transitional Stages in Professional Writing. Written Communication, 7(2), 200-231.
Archer, L. (2008). Younger academics’ constructions of ‘authenticity’, ‘success’ and professional identity. Studies in Higher Education, 33(4), 385-403. doi:10.1080/03075070802211729
Austin, A. E. (2003). Creating a bridge to the future: Preparing new faculty to face changing expectations in a shifting context. The Review of Higher Education, 26(2), 119-144.
Bazerman, C. (2009). Genre and cognitive development: Beyond writing to learn. Pratiques. Linguistique, littérature, didactique(143-144), 127-138.
Bazerman, C., & Prior, P. (2003). What writing does and how it does it: An introduction to analyzing texts and textual practices: Routledge.
Belcher, W. L. (2009). Writing your journal article in 12 weeks : a guide to academic publishing success. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications.
Brown, L., & Watson, P. (2010). Understanding the experiences of female doctoral students. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 34(3), 385-404.
Cameron, J., Nairn, K., & Higgins, J. (2009). Demystifying Academic Writing: Reflections on Emotions, Know-How and Academic Identity. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 33(2), 269-284. doi:10.1080/03098260902734943
Carter, S., & Laurs, D. (2014). Developing generic support for doctoral students: Practice and pedagogy: Routledge.
Carter, S., & Laurs, D. (Eds.). (2017). Developing generic support for doctoral students: Practice and pedagogy. London and New York: Routledge.
Churchman, D. (2006). Institutional Commitments, Individual Compromises: Identity‐related responses to compromise in an Australian university. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 28(1), 3-15.
Cochran-Smith, M., & Donnell, K. (2006). Practitioner inquiry: Blurring the boundaries of research and practice. In J. Green, G. Camilli, & P. Elmore (Eds.), Handbook of complementary methods in education research (pp. 503-518). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Corbin, J. M., & Strauss, A. (1990). Grounded theory research: Procedures, canons, and evaluative criteria. Qualitative Sociology, 13(1), 3-21. doi:10.1007/bf00988593
Douglas, A. S. (2012). Advice from the professors in a university Social Sciences department on the teaching-research nexus. Teaching in Higher Education, 1-12. doi:10.1080/13562517.2012.752727
Driscoll, L. G., Parkes, K. A., Tilley-Lubbs, G. A., Brill, J. M., & Pitts Bannister, V. R. (2009). Navigating the lonely sea: peer mentoring and collaboration among aspiring women scholars. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 17(1), 5 - 21.
Elbow, P. (1998). Writing with power: Techniques for mastering the writing process: Oxford University Press.
Flaherty, A. (2005). The midnight disease: The drive to write, writer's block, and the creative brain. New York: Mariner Books.
Freire, P. (1972). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Gallego Castaño, L., Castelló Badia, M., & Badia Garganté, A. (2015). Faculty feelings as writers: relationship with writing genres, perceived competences, and values associated to writing. Higher Education, 71(5), 719-734. doi:10.1007/s10734-015-9933-3
Gopen, G. D., & Swan, J. A. (1990). The Science of Scientific Writing. American Scientist, 78(6), 550-558.
Grant, B. M. (2006). Writing in the company of other women: exceeding the boundaries. Studies in Higher Education, 31(4), 483-495.
Hathaway, J. (2015). Developing that voice: locating academic writing tuition in the mainstream of higher education. Teaching in Higher Education, 1-12. doi:10.1080/13562517.2015.1026891
Hawkins, K. A. (2015). The complexities of participatory action research and the problems of power, identity and influence. Educational Action Research, 23(4), 464-478. doi:10.1080/09650792.2015.1013046
Hyland, K. (2012). Disciplinary identities: Individuality and community in academic discourse: Ernst Klett Sprachen.
Jawitz, J. (2009). Academic identities and communities of practice in a professional discipline. Teaching in Higher Education, 14(3), 241-251. doi:10.1080/13562510902898817
Jung, J. (2014). Research productivity by career stage among Korean academics. Tertiary Education and Management, 1-21. doi:10.1080/13583883.2014.889206
Kamler, B. (2001). Relocating the personal: A critical writing pedagogy: SUNY Press.
Kiley, M., & Wisker, G. (2009). Threshold concepts in research education and evidence of threshold crossing. Higher Education Research & Development, 28(4), 431-441.
Lafrance, M., & Stoppard, J. (2006). Restoring women’s depression: A material-discursive approach. In C. Brown & T. Augusta-Scott (Eds.), Narrative therapy: Making meaning, making lives (pp. 23-37). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated Learning. Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lea, M. R., & Stierer, B. (2011). Changing academic identities in changing academic workplaces: learning from academics’ everyday professional writing practices. Teaching in Higher Education, 16(6), 605-616. doi:10.1080/13562517.2011.560380
Lee, A., & Aitchison, C. (2009). Writing for the doctorate and beyond. In D. Boud & A. Lee (Eds.), Changing practices of doctoral education (pp. 87-99). Oxon: Routledge.
Lee, A., & Boud, D. (2003). Writing Groups, Change and Academic Identity: Research development as local practice. Studies in Higher Education, 28(2), 187-200. doi:10.1080/0307507032000058109
Linder, K., Cooper, F., McKenzie, E., Raesch, M., & Reeve, P. (2014). Intentional Teaching, Intentional Scholarship: Applying Backward Design Principles in a Faculty Writing Group. Innovative Higher Education, 39(3), 217-229. doi:10.1007/s10755-013-9273-0
McLean, K. C., & Pasupathi, M. (2012). Processes of Identity Development: Where I Am and How I Got There. Identity, 12(1), 8-28. doi:10.1080/15283488.2011.632363
Murray, R. (2013). Writing for academic journals: McGraw-Hill Education (UK).
Paltridge, B. (1997). Genre, frames and writing in research settings (Vol. 45): John Benjamins Publishing.
Paré, A. (2014). Writing together for many reasons: Theoretical and historical perspectives. In C. Aitchison & C. Guerin (Eds.), Writing groups for doctoral education and beyond: Innovations in practice and theory (pp. 18-29). New York: Routledge.
Rankin, E. (2001). The Work of Writing: Insights and Strategies for Academics and Professionals. The Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series: ERIC.
Roberts, A., & Weston, K. (2013). Releasing the hidden academic? Learning from teacher-educators’ responses to a writing support programme. Professional Development in Education, 40(5), 698-716. doi:10.1080/19415257.2013.835277
Swales, J. M., & Feak, C. A. (2000). English in today's research world: Univ. of Michigan Press.
Sword, H. (2012). Stylish academic writing: Harvard University Press.
Sword, H. (2015). The writer's diet: Auckland University Press.
Thesen, L. (2014). 'If they're not laughing, watch out!': Emotion and risk in postgraduate writing groups. In C. Aitchison & C. Guerin (Eds.), Writing groups for doctoral education and beyond: Innovations in practice and theory (pp. 172-176). New York: Routledge.
Turner, R., Brown, T., & Edwards-Jones, A. (2013). ‘Writing my first academic article feels like dancing around naked’: research development for higher education lecturers working in further education colleges. International Journal for Academic Development, 19(2), 87-98. doi:10.1080/1360144X.2013.792729
Warhurst, R. P. (2006). “We Really Felt Part of Something”: Participatory learning among peers within a university teaching‐development community of practice. International Journal for Academic Development, 11(2), 111-122. doi:10.1080/13601440600924462
Weaver, D., Robbie, D., & Radloff, A. (2013). Demystifying the publication process – a structured writing program to facilitate dissemination of teaching and learning scholarship. International Journal for Academic Development, 19(3), 212-225. doi:10.1080/1360144X.2013.805692
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Zinsser, W. (1994). On writing well: An informal guide to writing nonfiction (5th ed.). New York: Harper Perennial.
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