‘Good books’: is there a future for academic writing within the educational publishing industry?

This paper draws on questionnaire responses received (via e‐mail) during the period 2002–2003 from senior commissioning editors located within seven of the major UK publishing outlets. Drawing on the analytical framework of an earlier study by Nixon (1999 Nixon, J. (1999). Teachers, writers, professionals. Is there anybody out there. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 20(2): 207–221. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar]), it focuses on the mediation of educational studies by market forces operating within and upon the educational publishing industry. More specifically it explores issues relating to the construction of readership, authorship and editorship within that force field of market pressures. Central to the argument is the claim that, in its increasing exposure to market forces, the public space afforded by educational publishing is now highly restrictive. The paper concludes with a call for a sustained debate on the future of academic publishing in general, and educational publishing in particular.     

‘It’s not a hobby’: reconceptualizing the place of writing in academic work

The writing activities involved in research are not fully articulated in discussions of academic work. In this context, academics say they have to disengage from other tasks in order to write, which raises fundamental questions about the place of writing in academic work. A study designed to find out more about this disengagement showed that it involved acts of engagement with writing. Reconceptualizing disengagement from other tasks as engagement with writing repositions writing as part of academic work. This is critical for new and emerging researchers: it provides concepts to underpin practices that will enable them regularly to write. This article provides a model for physical, social and cognitive engagement with writing and explores how it can be put into practice. Implications for academics and those responsible for developing research capacity are discussed.     

‘The English is not the same’: challenges in thesis writing for second language speakers of English

In this article I describe my interaction as an English for academic purposes (EAP) practitioner with a supervisor and her two postgraduate international students, both of whom were second language speakers of English (L2). Because of linguistic and relationship issues the supervisory experience for the parties was challenging and frustrating. I discuss the implications of this research and suggest that while linguistic difficulties impact negatively on the supervisory relationship this is exacerbated by the differing assumptions and expectations of the stakeholders. I argue, however, that what is regarded as ‘acceptable’ English at our institutions has not been sufficiently interrogated and the belief that English as a native language (ENL) is the only acceptable variety of English needs further investigation. Such an investigation needs to take place in a forum where the less powerful voices of the EAP practitioners and the students will not be marginalised.     

‘When I meet them I talk to them’: the challenges of diversity for preservice teacher education

The homogeneity that once represented Irish society will soon be represented only in the annals of history. The influx of people of diverse nationalities, together with the increasing presence of children with physical and intellectual disabilities, and children coming from a range of non-traditional backgrounds will make our classrooms increasingly diverse over time. Together with the great opportunities that this diversity presents come a number of challenges. A major challenge lies in the preparation of our future teachers to meet the needs of and provide equitable learning opportunities for children in our classrooms. This study examines preservice teachers’ exposure to and beliefs about diversity. Two instruments were administered to 286 preservice teachers (the Prior Experiences Related to Diversity, and the Personal and Professional Beliefs about Diversity Scale). The findings indicate that preservice teachers’ exposure to diversity is very limited, in particular their exposure to members of the Travelling community, and refugees and asylum-seekers. High levels of tolerance and support were expressed toward religious, cultural, sexual and language diversity. Most evident was limited understanding of the roles played by gender in contributing to inequity in society and the importance of gender equitable practices in educational contexts. Another finding of concern was the contrasting ways in which ethnic disparities in academic achievement were attributed, with members of the Travelling community being viewed less positively than those from other ethnic groups.     

Peer feedback on academic writing: undergraduate students’ peer feedback role,peer feedback perceptions and essay performance

Within the higher education context, peer feedback is frequently applied as an instructional method. Research on the learning mechanisms involved in the peer feedback process has covered aspects of both providing and receiving feedback. However, a direct comparison of the impact that providing and receiving peer feedback has on students’ writing performance is still lacking. The current study compared the writing performance of undergraduate students (N = 83) who either provided or received anonymous written peer feedback in the context of an authentic academic writing task. In addition, we investigated whether students’ peer feedback perceptions were related to the nature of the peer feedback they received and to writing performance. Results showed that both providing and receiving feedback led to similar improvements of writing performance. The presence of explanatory comments positively related both to how adequate students perceived the peer feedback to be, as well as to students’ willingness to improve based upon it. However, no direct relation was found between these peer feedback perceptions and students’ writing performance increase.     

I drink,therefore I’m man: gender discourses,alcohol and the construction of British undergraduate masculinities

This article provides insights into the discourses that legitimate and perpetuate male undergraduate drinking cultures and considers the role of alcohol in communicating hegemonic masculinity within one British university. Taking laddishness as a template of hegemonic masculinity, the article contends that male students’ heavy alcohol use is partially motivated by discourses that position drinking as a ‘normal’ part of studenthood, but also by discourses that reinforce drinking as a ‘laddish’ behaviour or a male preserve. While interviewees recognised the importance of drinking in constructing masculinity, running parallel to this were attempts to disassociate themselves from the extremities of alcohol-induced laddishness and considerations that male peers who drank too much were lesser men. However, in their resistance to these extremities, interviewees demonstrated complicity towards more general attributes of hegemonic masculinity, such as independence and the strength to say no. This highlights the complex and somewhat contradictory processes individuals go through in the construction of gender identities, yet also offers a means through which male undergraduates’ risky alcohol use might be challenged.     

‘I’m teaching,but I’m not really a teacher’. Teaching assistants and the construction of professional identities in Hong Kong schools

Background: In the past decade, educational settings worldwide have experienced a significant increase in the number of school-based teaching assistants (TAs). The deployment of these TAs has been accompanied by reports of confusion and uncertainty about their roles and responsibilities within schools. While the need to reframe the role and purpose of TAs is recognised, it remains unclear how this can be best achieved.

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to explore the ways in which one group of TAs deployed in Hong Kong schools construct their professional identities, to understand the constraints and enablements to these processes, and to consider how different stakeholders might be able to best support this identity work.

Sample: The primary participants in this study are nine English language teacher assistants employed at different schools across Hong Kong. Other participants include full-time English language teachers who have experience of working with one of these TAs, as well as students who attend English language classes in which these TAs participate.

Design and methods: A qualitative multiple case study approach is adopted. In-depth interviews with TAs, teachers and students are used to gain a contextualised interpretation of the primary participants’ experiences of constructing professional identities within schools. A multilevel, multidimensional theoretical framework, which considers identity construction as both a discursive and experiential accomplishment, is then used to understand the constraints and enablements TAs experience in constructing these identities.

Findings: Results indicate that TAs face challenges in constructing their professional identities at institutional, interpersonal and intrapersonal levels within Hong Kong schools. In addition, the TAs believe that exercising agency to contest their positionings within schools is often insufficient to place them on a trajectory towards become a teacher. The results also suggest that the identity conflicts TAs experience can lead some to question their decision to pursue a teaching career.

Conclusions: These results imply that in order to attract and retain TAs, educational authorities need to, first, problematise identity positions such as ‘TA’ and ‘teacher’ and then reconceptualise these identities in ways that allow for a multiplication of the identity positions potentially available to all stakeholders involved in teaching within Hong Kong schools.     

It’s something that I feel like writing,instead of writing because I’m being told to: elementary boys’ experiences writing and performing poetry

Poetry is one of the most feared and least understood literary genres in our public schools. Boys, in particular, are frequently perceived to be resistant to poetry instruction; a view that often stems from a limited vision of what poetry is and a misread of masculinity. Nevertheless, the study of poetry provides many benefits in the journey to becoming a competent and expressive writer. In this study, the writing practices of 20 fourth- and fifth-grade boys in a low socioeconomic US urban school were investigated as they engaged in the writing and performance of poetry across a 4-week poetic genre study. Audio-recordings of interview responses, video-recordings of poetry performances, drafts of participants’ original poems, and other relevant classroom artifacts were analysed using interpretive analytic methods to identify themes in and across data sources. Analyses revealed that it was possible to create an environment in which these elementary-aged boys were willing (and sometimes even eager) to engage with poetry. This engagement with and enjoyment of poetry appeared to originate from several sources. First, through the freedom and choice afforded by poetry, participants were able to give voice to those experiences, thoughts, and feelings that were important to them. Second, through the use of mentor texts and role models of visiting poets, participants appropriated and transformed the voices around them to create poems which arguably incorporated some sophisticated language and literary devices. Third, through poetry performance, participants found a space in which their voices could be heard and valued.     

‘I’m older but I can still do this job’: the experiences of mature women in an age-sensitive occupation

This paper explores how mature female flight attendants [FAs] use Selection, Optimization and Compensation [SOC] strategies to cope with age-related diminishing resources at work. The role of FAs is an age-sensitive occupation, and in some organizations, women are under constant pressure to look young and attractive. This Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis study aims to add depth and nuance to our understanding of SOC strategies qualitatively; most published studies are quantitative. A homogenous sample of 5 mature single Filipina FAs, foreign workers employed by Arabian Gulf-based airlines, were interviewed through a semi-structured protocol. Recruitment was through a snowball process. The study found that FAs use SOC strategies to compensate for age-related decline. Off-duty, their focus is directed to activities that help them to meet the organizations’ expectations of youthful appearance and productivity. To achieve this, resources from other life domains are diverted, which leads to negative outcomes from focusing SOC strategies on only one aspect of life. Despite negative personal implications and concerns about the future, the participants still felt attached to their work identities. This shows the importance of understanding the use of SOC strategies within and across life domains, as well as their implications for career sustainability and workability. The use of such strategies at work when detrimental to other life roles is unsustainable. The findings highlight the importance of conducting more qualitative studies on SOC behaviors of specific groups, so the experiences of aging at work can be explored in more depth, allowing areas of concern to be identified.     

On not becoming ‘a mere empirical existence’: exploring ‘who’ and ‘what’ narratives in pre-service English teachers’ writing

Standards-based reforms of education favour narrow forms of teacher professional learning tied to generic standards and pre-determined, measurable outcomes. In high-stakes accountability-driven environments, in schools and initial teacher education programs, educators are rarely encouraged to inquire into their work and professional identities through narrative writing. This article describes and analyses an assessment task in a pre-service teacher education course wherein students explore dialogic forms of critical autobiographical writing as part of an ongoing process of examining and clarifying their views and values about English teaching. Drawing on Cavarero, we argue that the writing these preservice teachers do provides a space for them to negotiate ‘what’ and ‘who’ narratives as they journey to become English teachers. Their writing productively grapples with generic ‘what’ stories such as what standards documents attempt to tell about English teaching, and the ‘unrepeatable uniqueness’ of ‘who’ stories developed out of their individual cultural, educational and linguistic difference.     

‘Tough love and tears’: learning doctoral writing in the sciences

Contemporary changes to the doctorate mean student researchers are likely to be expected to write differently, write more and more often, and yet, despite a growing interest in doctoral education, we still know relatively little about the teaching and learning practices of students and supervisors vis-a-vis doctoral writing. This paper draws from a research study into the writing experiences of higher degree students and their supervisors in one science, health and technology-based university Faculty. The study used surveys, interviews and focus groups to collect information from students and supervisors about their experiences of doctoral writing and their perceptions about its development. By attending to the writing-related pedagogical practices of supervisors, this article explores how doctoral writing can be the stage for the playing out of tensions over changing roles and identities aggravated by contemporary pressures on doctoral education.     

‘I'm a Geek I am’: academic achievement and the performance of a studious working-class masculinity

During the last few decades, the South Wales Valleys (UK) have undergone a considerable economic, social, cultural and political transformation, altering youth transitions from school to work. Drawing on a two and a half year ethnographic study, in the paper I concentrate on a group of academically successful young white working-class men aged 16–18 years who were dealing with these changes. I argue that these studious performances of young working-class masculinity offer a different way in which to view a disadvantaged community and explore working-class educational success. However, I argue that their future aspirations to attend university are still tempered by the classed and gender codes that underpin expectations of manhood in this deindustrial community and which can impact on successful transitions to adulthood.     

The challenges of academic development as a first graduate job: ‘am I doing it right?’

ABSTRACT

This article explores the experience of 10 graduate interns employed in an academic development team at a modern British university. The interns came from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds with no previous experience of academic development. We worked intensively with them to build their research and professional capabilities. They learnt to design questionnaires, lead focus groups, interview academics, and write ethnographic field-notes. The public-facing and visible achievements of the graduate interns told a brilliant story; behind the scenes they wrestled with the challenges of being and becoming. Here, we analyse a series of reflections charting their journeys as new professionals.     

Characterisation of teachers’ use of computers and Internet inside and outside the classroom: The need to focus on the quality

Teachers’ use of ICT has mainly focused on their use in classroom context and few studies have focused on their use elsewhere. Attempting to fill this gap, this paper presents a case study of 12 secondary teachers characterising their use of ICT in and out-of-the-classroom. Results show that teachers use these tools inside the classroom for presentations and support some instructional strategies and outside the classroom for lesson preparation, administration and communication, and design of students’ assignments with ICT. However, the analysis of the specific characteristics of these activities shows that beyond these apparently good purposes of ICT use, the quality of the characteristics of the activities is heterogeneous, which can have implications in the effectiveness of the use of ICT in teaching and learning. Based on this, we suggest that in order to take full advantage of the teaching and learning opportunities associated to use of digital tools in education, there is a need to develop teachers’ and students’ digital skills, specifically those associated to searching and selecting information available in the Internet, and developing and presenting information products.     

‘I’m good,but not that good’: digitally-skilled young people’s identity in computing

Computers and information technology are fast becoming a part of young people’s everyday life. However, there remains a difference between the majority who can use computers and the minority who are computer scientists or professionals. Drawing on 32 semi-structured interviews with digitally skilled young people (aged 13–19), we explore their views and aspirations in computing, with a focus on the identities and discourses that these youngsters articulate in relation to this field. Our findings suggest that, even among digitally skilled young people, traditional identities of computing as people who are clever but antisocial still prevail, which can be unattractive for youths, especially girls. Digitally skilled youths identify with computing in different ways and for different reasons. Most enjoy doing computing but few aspired to being a computer person. Implications of our findings for computing education are discussed especially the continued need to broaden identities in computing, even for the digitally skilled.     

‘I’m just a numbers person’: the complexity,nature and effects of the quantification of education

This paper draws upon the sociology of numbers, particularly work by Theodore Porter, to reveal the multifarious ways in which numbers actively constitute practices in schools. Drawing upon a case study of one low-performing school in a low-performing region in the state of Queensland, Australia, and theorising into the sociology of numbers, the research explores the complex ways in which numbers came to constitute and dominate the practices in this school site under a broader national, state and regional policy context demanding rapid improvements in various forms of standardised tests and associated practices. Specifically, the research reveals a strong and simultaneous focus by teachers upon a variety of numeric data collected at national, regional and local levels, and intricate relations between these data; multiple visualisation, triangulation and comparison approaches towards such data in virtual and physical formats; and the enumerative nominalisation of both students and their reading attainment in relation to specific, concretised levels of achievement and various types of scale scores. The research cautions against the sheer volume of such enumerative practices, which, while productive of teachers’ understandings of student capacity against standardised measures of achievement, may also lead to a more reductive view of education, dominated by concerns about achievement in standardised tests (and associated practices) alone.     

‘I can write my name,I can’: The importance of the writing of own name

Young children demonstrate an interest in the writing of their own name. Very often it is the first word written by the child. The importance of that writing and the learning about letters, sequencing and space is explored. A number of activities that support children in their recognition and writing of own name are noted. Those activities include many which were observed during visits to early years settings.