Category Archives: books

Non-standard research – A dedication

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I have just come across an interesting book:

Kouritzin, S. G., Piquemal, N. A., & Norman, R. (Eds.). (2008). Qualitative research challenging the orthodoxies in standard academic discourse(s). New York: Routledge.

On opening the first pages I met a thoughtful and  inspiring dedication:

“This book is dedicated to all the graduate students and academics who, by choosing to engage in non-standard research, have chosen a path that might generate uncertainty, vulnerability, tension and ambiguity as much as it might generate positive personal, academic and social change”.

At this stage of my academic journey I can certainly relate to the “uncertainty, vulnerability, tension and ambiguity” as I struggle with those feelings daily. I can report that I have already experienced personal change but I will have to wait and see whether I am able to have any kind of real academic or social influence. I certainly hope so!

Private readings in public : schooling the literary imagination by Dennis Sumara

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One of the books GP introduced me to while I was in Melbourne was:

Private readings in public : schooling the literary imagination by Dennis Sumara.

Sumara

I want to start with some short quotes in which Sumara describes the research process. I found this first chapter of the book very reassuring – I will attempt to explore the reasons why.

“This is also what it means to include research into one’s life. Like the reading of literary fictions, inquiry into lived experiences means deciding that the research will not simply be reduced to a series of “data gathering” tasks. Rather, it means that the researcher will dedicate her or his life to “learning to see” differently… the researcher must live a life that allows for this shift in perception, a life that includes a particular “focal practice”… (p. 9).

I believe that my decision to continue on with my study journey, beyond my Masters degree is strongly connected to this change in focus described by Sumara. I have honestly begun to learn to see the world in general and my work as an educator, in particular, differently.  I admit that this learning will probably be life long and that reflection and inquiry  will  be be developed slowly over time. I feel that every professional conversation, every text read and every new project which arises is somehow new material to be explored.

“During the course of my investigations into the schooling of shared reading there were many times when I felt a bit lost, unsure, confused and wished for the “good old” pre-determined research plan. In retrospect, I am pleased that I chose to put up with the ambiguity of it all, for although many deliberate decicisions were made that changed the course of the research path, as many unanticipated things occured that dramatically altered the course of my own understanding” (p. 11-12).

Each time I read another researcher openly admitting to the insecurities encounted on the road to success, I am relieved and grateful for their honesty. I imagine that my path will be crowded with questions, problems, dilemmas, dissatisfaction and doubt. The more I am convinced that this is natural and normal, the easier it will be to cope.

When I finished my Masters thesis and reflected on the process, I, like Sumara, was “pleased that I chose to put up with the ambiguity of it all”. I would never have reached my goal without it. Even now, I have no idea how the parts of the puzzle fit together, it certainly wasn’t planned ahead.

“I describe my inquiries as “post modern” because I am not claiming (or aiming) to present a unified, fixed or complete theory of reading or of shared reading in schools. I acknowledge that my inquiries evolved from a particular set of historical, cultural, and political situations that shaped not only my research method but my interpretations of the data that was gathered and the life that I lived around those inquiries and interpretations” (p. 12).

This quotation is brilliant and it seems I should read it aloud to myself at each intersection in my work. One of my goals is to look at how my interpretations are developing and how my life experience and my particular cultural context are influencing my work.

“There is a deep understanding that there is no word, no phrase, no theory, no narrative, that can ever capture the fullness of human thought and experience” (p. 14).

Another sentence that should be hung up above the desk. Experience and narrative are not the same thing. I should be exploring the relationship between them more.

Some of the Books I Read While in Melbourne

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1. Opening the Classroom Door: Teacher, Researcher, Learner. John Loughran & Jeff Northfield. 1996. The Falmer Press, London. I should reread: Chapter 11: Implications for Teaching and Learning, p. 121-132 and chapter 12: Some Final Relflections,  p. 133-140.

2. Teachers who Teach Teachers: Reflections on Teacher Education. Tom Russell & Fred Korthagen (Eds.). 1995. The Falmer Press, London. Copied part 3, chapter 5: Teacher Educators Reflecting on Writing in Practice. J. Gary Knowles & Ardra L. Cole.

Worthwhile: Part 1, chapter 2: Still Learning to Teach: D. Jean Clandinin

3. The Thought of Mikhail Bakhtin: From Word to Culture. David K. Danow. 1991. St Martin’s Press,, New York.

4. The Bakhtin Reader: Selected Writings of Bakhtin, Medvedev, Voloshinov. Pam Morris, (Ed.).1994. Edward Arnold, London. Reread: Section 1, chapter 3: Language as Dialogic Interaction; p. 48-61. and Section 1, chapter 5: Social Heteroglossia ; p. 73-80.

5. Private Readings in Public: Schooling the Literary Imagination. Dennis J. Sumara. 1996. Peter Lang Publishing, New York.

Light holiday reading!!

An Inspiring Book – Relevant and Easy to read; Long roads, short distances: Teaching writing and writing teachers

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I have just finished reading one of the second hand books I bought from Better World Books.

15 minutes free writing:

I was surprised to find this book in the catalogue and even more surprised when I began reading it. This narrative was written ten years ago but very much reflects the type of work I am doing and the type of texts I am producing. 

Miller Power works (worked?) with students learning to be teachers and writing teachers and taught them methodology through writing. Her course was based on the students reflecting and writing narratives and on the author responding at length to the stories which appeared in journals and assignments.

I quickly connected to Miller Power’s style and chose to read this book without pencil in hand, something I rarely do. There was something about the name of the book and the opening texts which signalled to me that this short book would be read and reread by me.

There are a variety of texts in the book, many written by students.

Some of the important messages for me at this stage are:

  • Somebody else wrote of her experiences teaching writing teachers to write. There are many more texts out there waiting for me to discover them.
  • It is extremely interesting to read narratives of someone else’s work, somewhere else in a different context. Many details are different but many of the dilemmas, difficulties and triumphs are similar.
  • Jumping to conclusions about students or teachers is a terrible mistake. listening is the only real way to avoid it. (It relates to my conclusion that I must spend much more time and effort getting to know the teachers and for them to gain trust in each other, early on in the course).
  • Very often personal narratives which seem unrelated at first glance, turn out to be very relevant to teaching writing.
  • The view that writing is a born trait is more common than I thought it was.
  • A short course, CAN make a difference, though not always.
  • Our own experiences can and should be utilized in our teaching.

I promise there will be more…

 

Miller Power, B. (1997). Long roads, short distances: Teaching writing and writing teachers.Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.