Veronica Shuford - The first chapter of Howard Becker’s book Writing for Social Scientists resonated with me in several ways. There are some overlaps in his discussion about writing and the discussions we have had in class. On page 11 of the book, Becker states that “the social organization of writing and reputation changes in graduate school.” When I read this sentence, I was reminded of the discussion we began last week about doctoral students becoming stewards in their fields and the tensions that exist between scholars and practitioners. The overlap that exists is that in earning a doctorate, individuals may face challenges and tensions with transitioning from a practitioner to an educational researcher and in the same way they may experience a similar transition in preparing for doctoral and scholarly writing.
This chapter resonated with me on two levels: 1) having a “magical charm/ritual” before beginning a writing project and 2) the fear of being judged based upon writing. Before I begin any lengthy writing project, I have to have an organized desk space. I seem to begin lengthy writing projects with a detailed outline (e.g., mind map, concept map). I have always been told that unclear thinking leads to unclear writing. Although the first article that I co-authored was several years ago, I am still fearful of having others read or edit my writing. I hoped fear would dissipate over time, but it is still an issue for me.
I agree with what Veronica said. Becker talks about how writing in a graduate program is very different from writing in an undergraduate program. Students in an undergraduate program get used to a certain format for writing and are very sensitive to having work reviewed (criticized) by others. Writing in graduate school involves multiple drafts and not being able to simply write the paper in your head before sitting down to type it. I see some overlap between this and the adjustments practitioners need to make when beginning the work of an educational researcher in graduate school. Both involve a shift in thinking and stepping outside of your comfort zone.
I really liked Becker’s idea of just writing without being concerned about making the rough draft perfect. This is my preferred method of writing – just getting words on paper and later going back and organizing and cleaning up what I wrote. However, I would have a hard time showing my original rough drafts to anyone. Like Veronica, I fear the judgment of others when they read my writing.
Similar to both Samantha and Veronica I also noticed the parallels between the transition from and undergraduate to graduate student writer and last weeks readings on altering your view from a practitioner to researcher. Labaree's "conflicting worldview thesis" ties in well as Becker describes a graduate writing process that includes a more analytical approach full of drafts, editing, and rewrites. He mentions a strategy of writing down a rough draft to see what you have already decided and in what theories your writing will be grounded. This helps you make sense of your writing so what you already think agrees with what you write. Becker talks about learning to use more causal statements and how writers often fear being "found out" this reminded me of the imposter syndrome we discussed last week that new graduate students often face. He openly discusses the fears in writing most people have and I think that ties in really well with the change from practitioner to expert becoming a more critical and theoretical writer in addition to the normative and personal aspects of the practitioner.
Allison: Thoughts on overlap, Being a steward (Richardson, 2006) and forwarding knowledge in one's field necessitates good academic writing One's writing should clearly and actively demonstrate a theoretical approach and "philosophical responsibility" (Becker, 2007, p. 9). Becker's (2007) description of the writing process from graduate student to academic writer is similar to Labaree's (2003) examination of an "educational practitioner" becoming an "educational scholar" (p. 13).
I agree with what everyone above has stated regarding making the transition from undergraduate to graduate students. The quote on p. 10 "...they had picked up many of their habits in high school and solidified them in college" is true, however now my writing style and way of thinking had to change again to be more "research" like. I also think the parts where Becker discusses the times where students shared their writing processes, editing and pointing out the many fears and "embarrassments" they have while writing--- are all of the fears we all experience. On p. 13 where the author discussed the student commenting on her own work, that was written badly but her classmates comments to help develop the idea has proven to me to be successful. Similar to Sam, I try to get my ideas out on paper first & then refine them and work through them to get to the final draft.
Lastly, the beginning of the chapter, on the very first page reminded me of the discussion we had regarding what makes an expert. Becker stated that "writing for almost thirty years gave me some claim to that knowledge" however, he also mentioned he was now going to be teaching a course whose subject he was no master of. I thought this was important to mention because he did it so much, it was assumed he knew how to teach writing & about writing, but can we really consider him to have that "claim to knowledge" or do we constantly work to improve our "expertise".
Lauren made a really good point about being an expert and I thought the same thing when I read what Becker said about having apprehensions about teaching the writing class. One would think that someone who writes professionally and quite often would consider his/herself an expert; at the very least they should feel comfortable teaching a class to undergraduates. I agree that expertise is something that one is always going after. I personally don't believe that you can every truly be an expert on a topic because there's always something out there that hasn't been discovered yet, even if you engross yourself in the topic and are constantly reading and researching the topic.
Expertise is also related to the fear that Becker discussed in the chapter. He stated that his students did not feel confident in their writing and that Sociologist in general write using terms such as " tendency" and "seem" as to not make bold claims. I would think that an expert would be more confident in their work and thus more direct and able to make such claims.
The whole chapter reminded me of the recent discussion about grad students, even faculty, who all fear they'll be found out to be a fraud. So many of the writing habits stemmed not from seeking to create more writing, but perfect writing, to appease not the writer, but an unknown third party.
I think much of what he discusses also speaks to a person's need to have a strong village. If a person feels they can trust their village to edit their work and assist in the development process, it may give people more confidence to begin writing instead of being held up on idea of perfection in order to not be judged.
Moving from one-draft papers in undergrad, to multi-stage, multi-draft papers in grad school is a solid point that I hadn't been able to isolate before. Encouraging rounds of drafts is a significant change from writing before, and not a sign of incompetence, which it seems to be associated with. Hopefully more doc students hear that at the beginning, and save on beating themselves up over their work in their first year.
Like all of the comments above, as I was reading the Becker chapter, I couldn't help but think of the similarities among the competing identities of the researcher and practitioner and the undergraduate and graduate writer. Becker notes undergraduate students take more courses than graduate students and therefore have less time to focus on the editing process. Following directions and getting a good grade takes priority over growing as a writer. On the other hand, graduate students focus more on the editing process and professional discourse. I think practitioners resemble undergraduate students. Practitioners have many deadlines and are more focused on efficiency than researchers and graduate students.
This chapter allowed me the opportunity to reflect on my own writing process and how it has changed over the years. As a perfectionist (most of the time), the editing process has always been an important element of the writing process for me. However, this past year has helped me become more comfortable with others viewing and critiquing my "drafts". It is nothing personal, it it just part of the writing process. I am now less focused on the grades and more concerned with producing a quality product.
Fatemah: I agree with all the comments. Yes, There is an overlap, specially between Richardson’s, and Becker’s articles. The main common points between them are: 1. As doctoral students We should write so clearly 2. Write drafts to edit it and revise by others 3. Seek criticism
Veronica Shuford - The first chapter of Howard Becker’s book Writing for Social Scientists resonated with me in several ways. There are some overlaps in his discussion about writing and the discussions we have had in class. On page 11 of the book, Becker states that “the social organization of writing and reputation changes in graduate school.” When I read this sentence, I was reminded of the discussion we began last week about doctoral students becoming stewards in their fields and the tensions that exist between scholars and practitioners. The overlap that exists is that in earning a doctorate, individuals may face challenges and tensions with transitioning from a practitioner to an educational researcher and in the same way they may experience a similar transition in preparing for doctoral and scholarly writing.
ReplyDeleteThis chapter resonated with me on two levels: 1) having a “magical charm/ritual” before beginning a writing project and 2) the fear of being judged based upon writing. Before I begin any lengthy writing project, I have to have an organized desk space. I seem to begin lengthy writing projects with a detailed outline (e.g., mind map, concept map). I have always been told that unclear thinking leads to unclear writing. Although the first article that I co-authored was several years ago, I am still fearful of having others read or edit my writing. I hoped fear would dissipate over time, but it is still an issue for me.
I agree with what Veronica said. Becker talks about how writing in a graduate program is very different from writing in an undergraduate program. Students in an undergraduate program get used to a certain format for writing and are very sensitive to having work reviewed (criticized) by others. Writing in graduate school involves multiple drafts and not being able to simply write the paper in your head before sitting down to type it. I see some overlap between this and the adjustments practitioners need to make when beginning the work of an educational researcher in graduate school. Both involve a shift in thinking and stepping outside of your comfort zone.
ReplyDeleteI really liked Becker’s idea of just writing without being concerned about making the rough draft perfect. This is my preferred method of writing – just getting words on paper and later going back and organizing and cleaning up what I wrote. However, I would have a hard time showing my original rough drafts to anyone. Like Veronica, I fear the judgment of others when they read my writing.
Similar to both Samantha and Veronica I also noticed the parallels between the transition from and undergraduate to graduate student writer and last weeks readings on altering your view from a practitioner to researcher. Labaree's "conflicting worldview thesis" ties in well as Becker describes a graduate writing process that includes a more analytical approach full of drafts, editing, and rewrites. He mentions a strategy of writing down a rough draft to see what you have already decided and in what theories your writing will be grounded. This helps you make sense of your writing so what you already think agrees with what you write. Becker talks about learning to use more causal statements and how writers often fear being "found out" this reminded me of the imposter syndrome we discussed last week that new graduate students often face. He openly discusses the fears in writing most people have and I think that ties in really well with the change from practitioner to expert becoming a more critical and theoretical writer in addition to the normative and personal aspects of the practitioner.
ReplyDeleteAllison: Thoughts on overlap, Being a steward (Richardson, 2006) and forwarding knowledge in one's field necessitates good academic writing One's writing should clearly and actively demonstrate a theoretical approach and "philosophical responsibility" (Becker, 2007, p. 9). Becker's (2007) description of the writing process from graduate student to academic writer is similar to Labaree's (2003) examination of an "educational practitioner" becoming an "educational scholar" (p. 13).
ReplyDeleteI agree with what everyone above has stated regarding making the transition from undergraduate to graduate students. The quote on p. 10 "...they had picked up many of their habits in high school and solidified them in college" is true, however now my writing style and way of thinking had to change again to be more "research" like.
ReplyDeleteI also think the parts where Becker discusses the times where students shared their writing processes, editing and pointing out the many fears and "embarrassments" they have while writing--- are all of the fears we all experience.
On p. 13 where the author discussed the student commenting on her own work, that was written badly but her classmates comments to help develop the idea has proven to me to be successful. Similar to Sam, I try to get my ideas out on paper first & then refine them and work through them to get to the final draft.
Lastly, the beginning of the chapter, on the very first page reminded me of the discussion we had regarding what makes an expert. Becker stated that "writing for almost thirty years gave me some claim to that knowledge" however, he also mentioned he was now going to be teaching a course whose subject he was no master of. I thought this was important to mention because he did it so much, it was assumed he knew how to teach writing & about writing, but can we really consider him to have that "claim to knowledge" or do we constantly work to improve our "expertise".
Lauren made a really good point about being an expert and I thought the same thing when I read what Becker said about having apprehensions about teaching the writing class. One would think that someone who writes professionally and quite often would consider his/herself an expert; at the very least they should feel comfortable teaching a class to undergraduates. I agree that expertise is something that one is always going after. I personally don't believe that you can every truly be an expert on a topic because there's always something out there that hasn't been discovered yet, even if you engross yourself in the topic and are constantly reading and researching the topic.
ReplyDeleteExpertise is also related to the fear that Becker discussed in the chapter. He stated that his students did not feel confident in their writing and that Sociologist in general write using terms such as " tendency" and "seem" as to not make bold claims. I would think that an expert would be more confident in their work and thus more direct and able to make such claims.
The whole chapter reminded me of the recent discussion about grad students, even faculty, who all fear they'll be found out to be a fraud. So many of the writing habits stemmed not from seeking to create more writing, but perfect writing, to appease not the writer, but an unknown third party.
ReplyDeleteI think much of what he discusses also speaks to a person's need to have a strong village. If a person feels they can trust their village to edit their work and assist in the development process, it may give people more confidence to begin writing instead of being held up on idea of perfection in order to not be judged.
Moving from one-draft papers in undergrad, to multi-stage, multi-draft papers in grad school is a solid point that I hadn't been able to isolate before. Encouraging rounds of drafts is a significant change from writing before, and not a sign of incompetence, which it seems to be associated with. Hopefully more doc students hear that at the beginning, and save on beating themselves up over their work in their first year.
Like all of the comments above, as I was reading the Becker chapter, I couldn't help but think of the similarities among the competing identities of the researcher and practitioner and the undergraduate and graduate writer. Becker notes undergraduate students take more courses than graduate students and therefore have less time to focus on the editing process. Following directions and getting a good grade takes priority over growing as a writer. On the other hand, graduate students focus more on the editing process and professional discourse. I think practitioners resemble undergraduate students. Practitioners have many deadlines and are more focused on efficiency than researchers and graduate students.
ReplyDeleteThis chapter allowed me the opportunity to reflect on my own writing process and how it has changed over the years. As a perfectionist (most of the time), the editing process has always been an important element of the writing process for me. However, this past year has helped me become more comfortable with others viewing and critiquing my "drafts". It is nothing personal, it it just part of the writing process. I am now less focused on the grades and more concerned with producing a quality product.
Fatemah: I agree with all the comments. Yes, There is an overlap, specially between Richardson’s, and Becker’s articles. The main common points between them are:
ReplyDelete1. As doctoral students We should write so clearly
2. Write drafts to edit it and revise by others
3. Seek criticism