thesisthoughts

Hay and White gave a paper at the 2006 AARE conference where they described  a workshop they ran for pre-service teachers embarking on research.

http://www.aare.edu.au/06pap/hay06317.pdf

They are concerned about the “rather haphazard process that leads students to select a research theme, and to match it with a research paradigm… students never seem to find their way clear to a means of matching their own ‘passion’ to a suitable discourse for conveying the story they have on their minds” (p. 5).

The paper looks at events and discourse in narrative and points out that events are only “part of a discourse, part of narrative, and ultimately part of narrative enquiry” (p. 2). Events are not necessarily the base of good narrative.

A comparison is made between traditional academic discourse and storytelling. Various writers are quoted about writing and discourse.

Henry Giroux (2003) wrote about the role of writing in his work and how writing enabled him to “break out of the academic microcosm, take sides, fight for a position, push against the grain, and say unsettling things…” (p.4)

This all takes me back to the things I was writing about yesterday. The articles and papers I find most interesting are those which use narrative and/or allow the reader to feel the author. I find the content more stimulating and the ideas easier to deal with when I can hear the researcher, meet the person behind the words.

One major question I need to ask is: what are the advantages and disadvantages of daring to use an unconventional discourse to convey my ideas and findings? The next question of course is do I dare to be unconventional in my research?

 The authors suggest three questions for use in research: (p. 5)

1. What are some important aspects of this topic?
2. Why does it matter to you as a researcher?
3. Why should it matter to your readers?

The third question reminds the researcher of his or her audience. Who is the thesis really written for? Beyond satisfying my examiners and getting my masters degree, do I really want to change educational practice? If so, how?

To look up: Laurel Richardson – cited both by Hay & White and by Kamler & Thomson.  

 Hay, T. & White, J. (2006). Afternoon tea in the valley: Events, discourse and the writing of qualitative research. AARE Conference, Adelaide, Australia.

This morning I read an article by Fanning and Schmidt from the latest edition of the English Journal. The article is relevant to my thesis in several ways:

• The article was written by teachers and describes a process they underwent through professional development and collaborative inquiry.
• The article contains the kind of reflective statements I expect to hear from teachers: “I trudged on, hoping that no one would catch on that I wasn’t sure of what I was doing when it came to assessment” (p. 31). “I have used point systems and rubrics and that cursed ‘gut feeling’ but often had the nagging sense that if anyone looked too closely at my system, the lack of system is what would be seen” (p. 31). Both comments show the confusion and the insecurity I believe are common in teachers of writing.
• The article deals with how teachers see themselves as professionals.
• The article stresses the importance of listening to teacher stories. Inquiry into these stories can lead to neaningful change in schools. Teachers are integral to educational reform.
• The authors propose that it is important for teachers to see themselves as writers. (When I was studying Graham Parr’s unit and was required to write a story I followed up this question for personal interest. There is no consensus on this issue. I will dig out those old articles. I wonder whether as soon as you are blogging you are actually a writer?)
• The authors recommend rubrics similar to those I use in the classroom.
• The authors stress the impact collaboration had on their professional development. This is important in the building of successful PD programs but also in the methodology of my thesis. If I go in the direction of blogging, I must emphasize the reading of other blogs and commenting on them.
• “We know how easy it is for any of us involved in education to fall into despair. The frustrations are plentiful and run deep. Yet, we must realize that for a multiplicity of problems facing educators there are also a multiplicity of answers, and the answers lie in each of us and in the collective wisdom that comes from the inside of education” (p. 35).

Fanning, M., & Schmidt, B. (2007). Viva la Revolucion: Transforming teaching and assessing student writing through collaborative inquiry. English Journal, 97(2), 29-35.

I just found some good reasons for continuing this blog which may help me stumble through the process of writing my thesis. 

 http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1340000334/post/560014056.html

This morning I’m returning to the paper written by Ward in order to jot down some points for later reference.

Online ethnography – Hine, 2000 ; Markham, 1998  – this is new term for me, will check it out. Ward says it is “ethnography you can do without leaving your desk” – suits me living on the other side of the world.

Ethnography means involving yourself in the life of a community. The question posed here is the validity of the online community. I dealt with similar issues when I wrote “Literacy bridges in wartime and peace-time: Computer based communications for a school community”. I will look up those references again.  

Ward chose to work with in a closed environment where participants could expose their blogs to outsiders by choice. She chose to work with students from Sydney University alone, giving the study a “physical place on earth”. I will need to look at the importance of this.

Ward also mentions the asynochronous nature of this kind of communication. This is one of the aspects that appeals to me, as did the email correspondence of Kamler and Thomson (2001)  in their AARE conference paper “Talking down ‘writing up’ or ten-emails make a conference paper.”

http://www.aare.au/01pap/kam01166.htm

Ward explains why she preferred blogging to email based exchanges.  

A written conversation is certainly very different to written communication…another issue which requires follow up. Ward raises questions about the belief that online communication is often unreliable in comparison to face-to-face communication which is thought to be honest and trustworthy. I tend to believe that there is no reason why professional communication online should be more questionable than on site interviews. In both cases participants make choices and tell you details they feel comfortable with.

Ward describes the blog as a means of gathering information in her study but also as a culture, at least for the duration of the research.

Questions – (A few of many…)

• How will I find suitable writing teachers who are willing to keep a blog and  comment on the blogs of others?
• Should I look for experienced teacher bloggers?

A pile of new articles awaits me…

This morning I read the ascilite conference paper that has been sitting on the desk for a few days now, “Thoughts on blogging as an ethnographic tool” by Mary-Helen Ward of Sydney Uni.

http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/sydney06/proceeding/pdf_papers/p164.pdf 

As I read the paper I felt as though finally there is some light at the end of the tunnel, maybe there is a way of conducting meaningful research in Australia while I am presently living in Israel. I am planning to research how literacy teachers see themselves in the role of teaching writing in order to understand how professional development programs can have an empowering influence on them.  

I’ve found the notion of blogging attractive for a while and have always put it off…too busy, I don’t have anything worthwhile to write…etc. Now, under the heading of study related experience, I’m going to give it a go. This way I can keep a tab on my reading and my thoughts relating to the thesis, clarify my understandings, develop them through writing, and maybe even get some worthwhile feedback from interested others.

If I eventually use teacher blogs as field texts, I should definately have some positive experience of my own before requesting it of others.

Sholem Asch wrote: “Writing comes more easily if you have something to say”. I’m hoping that I’ll have something to say, at least once a day until  I finally hand in my thesis and finish my Masters.