Communities of peer practitioners. Experiences from an Academic Writing Group
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5324/njsts.v5i1.2243Keywords:
academic writing, peer writing group, sociomaterial learning, community of practice, PhD writing groupsAbstract
Learning academic writing is important for communicating research and participating in scholarly debates. This learning is traditionally conceptualized through a hierarchical teacher-student relation or individual accomplishment. However, in this paper we ask how we might understand the development of academic writing skills as a collective practice within a writing community. We draw on experiences from our own departmental writing group of PhD candidates and highlight our specific peer community as a tool and the draft texts we deliver as boundary objects through which we develop and broaden our academic skills.
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References
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Aitchison and C. Guerin, 110–27. New York, NY: Routledge.
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MacLeod, I., Steckley, L., and Murray, R. 2012. Time is not enough: Promoting strategic engagement with writing for publication. Studies in Higher Education 37 (6): 641–54.
Orlikowski, W. J. 2002. Knowing in practice: Enacting a collective capability in distributed organizing. Organization Science 13 (3): 249–73.
Page-Adams, D., Cheng, L.-C., Gogineni, A., and Shen, C.-Y. 1995. Establishing a group to encourage writing for publication among doctoral students. Journal of Social Work Education 31: 402–7.
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Aitchison, C. 2009. Writing groups for doctoral education. Studies in Higher Education 34: 905–16.
Aitchison, C. and Guerin, C. 2014. Writing groups for doctoral education and beyond: Innovations in practice and theory. New York, NY: Routledge.
Badley, G. 2006. Using writing groups to transform university teachers into scholarwriters. Unpublished manuscript.
Becker, H. S. 1986. How to start and finish your thesis, book, or article. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Caffarella, R. S. and Barnett, B. G. 2000. Teaching doctoral students to become scholarly writers: The importance of giving and receiving critiques. Studies in Higher Education 25: 39–52.
Dwyer, A., Lewis, B., McDonald, F., and Burns, M. 2012. It’s always a pleasure: Exploring productivity and pleasure in a writing group for early career academics. Studies in Continuing Education 34: 129–44.
Ferguson, T. 2009. The ‘write’ skills and more: A thesis writing group for doctoral students. Journal of Geography in Higher Education 33: 285–97.
Gherardi, S. 2000. Practice-based theorizing on learning and knowing in organizations: An introduction. Organization 7 (2): 211–23.
Gherardi, S. and Perrotta, M. 2014. Becoming a practitioner: Professional learning as a social practice. In International handbook of research in professional practice-based learning, edited by S. Billett, C. Harteis, and H.
Gruber, 139–62. Dordrech: Springer International.
Guerin, C. 2014. The gift of writing groups: Critique, community and confidence. In Writing
groups for doctoral education and beyond: Innovations in practice and theory, edited by C. Aitchison and C. Guerin, 128–43. New York, NY: Routledge.
Hadjioannou, X., Shelton, N. R., Fu, D., and Dhanarattigannon, J. 2007. The road to a doctoral degree: Co-travelers through a perilous passage. College Student Journal 41: 160.
Haas, S. 2014. Pick-n-Mix: A typology of writers’ groups in use. In Writing groups for doctoral education and beyond: Innovations in practice and theory, edited by C. Aitchison and C. Guerin, 30–49. New York, NY: Routledge.
Johnson, E. 2004. Situating simulators: The integration of simulations in medical practice. Lund: Arkiv förlag.
Knowles, S. and Grant, B. 2014. Walking the labyrinth: The holding embrace of academic writing retreats. In Writing groups for doctoral education and beyond: Innovations in practice and theory, edited by C.
Aitchison and C. Guerin, 110–27. New York, NY: Routledge.
Lave, J. and Wenger, E. 1991. Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
MacLeod, I., Steckley, L., and Murray, R. 2012. Time is not enough: Promoting strategic engagement with writing for publication. Studies in Higher Education 37 (6): 641–54.
Orlikowski, W. J. 2002. Knowing in practice: Enacting a collective capability in distributed organizing. Organization Science 13 (3): 249–73.
Page-Adams, D., Cheng, L.-C., Gogineni, A., and Shen, C.-Y. 1995. Establishing a group to encourage writing for publication among doctoral students. Journal of Social Work Education 31: 402–7.
Schatzki, T. R., Knorr Cetina, K., and von Savigny, E. 2001. The practice turn in contemporary theory. London: Routledge.
Silvia, P. J. 2007. How to write a lot: A practical guide to productive academic writing. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Sørensen, K. H., Gansmo, H. J., Lagesen, V. A., and Amdahl, E. 2008. Vitenskap som dialog – kunnskap i bevegelse. Tverrfaglighet og kunnskapskulturer i forskning. Trondheim: Tapir akademiske forlag.
Wenger, E. 1998. Communities of practice: Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Published
2017-08-10
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