Writing Groups for Doctoral Education and Beyond

Innovations in practice and theory

Claire Aitchison, Cally Guerin

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781135049140
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Higher Education

Writing is the principal means by which doctoral candidature is monitored and measured; this, combined with the growing tendency to use publications as proxy measures of individual and institutional productivity, underlines the centrality of writing in academia. One of the central questions for scholars in higher education, therefore, is 'How do we make writing happen?', and it is this question which the book seeks to answer.

The book provides detailed illustrations of collaborative writing pedagogies which are powerfully enabling, and through theoretical and conceptual interrogation of these practices, the authors point the way for individuals as well as institutions to establish writing groups that are lively, responsive and context-specific.

Key topics include:

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• new pedagogical responses for increased writing productivity and the 'push to publish';

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• innovations for supporting academic writing quality, confidence and output;

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• scaffolding the thesis writing process;

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• new theoretical explorations of collaborative writing approaches;

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• writing group formulations and pedagogical approaches;

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• writing groups for non-native speakers of English;

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• writing as women in higher education.

A particular strength of this book is that it showcases the potential of writing groups for advanced academic writing by pulling together a unique mix of authors and scholarly approaches, representing a wide range of new theoretical and pedagogical frames from diverse countries.

Writing Groups for Doctoral Education and Beyond will be attractive to academics seeking new ways to advance their writing productivity, doctoral students, their supervisors and those who are tasked with the job of supporting them through the completion and dissemination of their research.

Part I Setting the scene

Chapter 1 Writing groups, pedagogy, theory and practice

An introduction

Claire Aitchison and Cally Guerin

DOI: 10.4324/9780203498811-1

Writing, doctoral research and scholarly life

Scholarly writing is a central component of academic life. And yet we continue to hear that it is a disputed site: a source of anxiety for many students and academics, a contentious space for both learners and teachers of academic writing; an area of disputed responsibility in research education, and higher education teaching and learning more generally. Many doctoral candidates and credentialized academics report ongoing challenges regarding scholarly writing, not the least of which is a desire for supportive environments within which writing will happen. This book is positioned by two key pressure points for writing in the academy, namely writing associated with the requirements of doctoral study, and scholarly publication more broadly. Here we showcase examples of how writing groups can respond in innovative ways to these imperatives.

For the university labour force—doctoral scholars, tenured academics, funded researchers and institutional administrators—writing for publication is a valueadding activity that reaps high returns. Publications are used as proxy measures of individual, institutional and national productivity and quality; reputation, and the funding that flows from it, is directly tied to global competitive ranking systems that are based largely on research outputs, impact and citation rankings (Sinclair et al. 2013). Because writing and publishing have implications for university funding and reputation, this in turn creates extra pressure on doctoral students for timely completion of their theses and the production of related publications (Murphy 1998; Lillis & Curry 2010). For both doctoral students and academics, a strong publication record is indispensable for securing certification, establishing an academic career, promotion, grants, awards and privileges. Despite rhetoric to the contrary, higher education institutions continue to reward academics who publish over those whose contribution may be in teaching, administration or service to the community. So, at all stages, the ability to write well and develop and maintain a strong publication output is a fundamental literacy for academic success (Bourdieu 1983, 1991).

For the overwhelming majority of doctoral students, written documentation of research, in whatever form, remains the means by which one is admitted into the academy. During candidature, written work is the principal measure by which researcher progress is monitored and measured, and is even more central in those systems in which there is no oral viva or defence. For doctoral students, writing a thesis or dissertation (be that the production of a traditional ‘big book’, a practical work plus exegesis, or portfolio of publications) is a hurdle that can stall, even derail, candidature (Aitchison & Paré 2012). Increasingly, too, doctoral students will not only produce the text(s) required for graduation, but also aim to develop a healthy publication record during the period of their candidature (Aitchison et al. 2010; Kamler & Thomson 2006; Lee & Aitchison 2011).

On one hand then, getting writing done is an essential component of scholarly life, and yet much research shows that it continues to be marginalized and squeezed out of the everyday practices of researchers and academics (Hemmings & Kay 2010; Murray, Steckley & MacLeod 2011). There is a direct relationship between writing output and academic status and occupation. Unsurprisingly, senior tenured academics are responsible for a significant proportion of institutional publications, particularly when these writers are located in research centres, carry reduced teaching loads, and have well-resourced opportunities and time to write (Hemmings & Kay 2010). Doctoral scholars also account for a significant proportion of institutional output. However, in our experience at least, they, along with untenured academics and early career researchers, form a kind of underclass of ‘writing labourers’, often producing publications on top of normal workloads and outside of paid working hours. This unequal situation contributes to the growing levels of frustration and stress reported by academics worldwide.

Further complicating the situation, many academics report lacking the confidence and skills to support the writing development of their research students (Catterall et al. 2011; Paré 2011). And when those students are also struggling to write in a foreign language, or across traditional methodological or disciplinary boundaries, the challenges are even greater (Guerin et al. 2013). In many cases, supervisory practices for doctoral students continue to undervalue, even neglect, writing development (Aitchison & Paré 2012). We note here Bill Green's observations about the general absence of education in so much talk of doctoral studies (Green & Lee 1995; Green 2010). It is our intention that the present publication, with its explicit focus on pedagogy, contributes to redressing this omission.

By contrast, however, the market has not been slow to recognize the urgent need for help with writing, and there has been an extraordinary growth in noninstitutional writing support for scholars. Doctoral students, their supervisors and academics seeking guidance and support for their writing are increasingly taking up the services offered by private consultants, web-based communities and the plethora self-help books (Thomson & Kamler 2013; Aitchison & Mowbray 2014).

It is in this context of rising pressure on doctoral students and academics for greater writing productivity that this book is located.

New approaches for changing contexts

We operate in an increasingly global system of higher education within which doctoral education holds a special place—being both buffeted by global and national policy changes, and at the same time resisting and reinterpreting its place within this complex context. There have now been a number of important accounts of change and innovation in doctoral education (see, for example, Golde & Walker 2006; Lovitts 2007; Parry 2007; Bitusikova 2009; Boud & Lee 2009; Walker & Thomson 2010; Devos & Manathunga 2012; Lee & Danby 2012; Group of Eight 2013). Much has also been written about the pressures on doctoral students and academics for greater writing productivity as measured in publication outputs (McGrail et al. 2006; Rocco & Hatcher 2011; Lee & Danby 2012; Murray 2012; Thomson & Kamler 2013).

Changed pedagogical practices in research education have altered for a number of reasons. Increased workloads of supervisors, the growth of interdisciplinary, multi-method research and cross-institutional studies mean that the previously tight fit between student and supervisor is increasingly less likely. The sheer volume of students entering higher research degree programs mitigates against the capacity of institutions to provide the older style, intimate supervisor-student formulations characteristic of former eras. In addition, there is greater cultural and linguistic diversity within the research student and supervisor population, which brings greater variation of experience and expectation about the form and function of research education, and the place of writing within it.

The doctorate itself and its functions have changed considerably in the last two decades. The desire for greater transparency, transferability and standardization that fuelled the Bologna Process has influenced systems beyond Europe (Group of Eight 2013). The expansion in professional and practice-based doctorates has been particularly marked in Australia and the UK, reflecting the growing requirement for doctoral programs to respond to the needs of industry and governments as they compete in the global knowledge economy (Danby & Lee 2012).

These factors, along with the pressure for fast throughput and timely completions, a more competitive job market for doctoral graduates and the recent impact of the global financial crisis on higher education more generally, have created a dynamic, even volatile, context for doctoral research education globally. In turn, these changes are forcing new pedagogical responses in doctoral education—and specifically for research writing. As the primacy of the supervisor-student dyad is disrupted, suites of other opportunities are being made available to doctoral students, including workshops, seminars, disciplinary and institutional conferences, masterclasses, coursework programs and so on. But still, much innovation remains due to individual initiative, often small-scale and local (Aitchison et al. 2010). Similarly, there is a keenness amongst early career researchers and academi...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of illustrations
• Notes on contributors
• Acknowledgements
• PART I Setting the scene
• PART II Theory and reflection
• PART III Pedagogy in practice
• Index