Author Archives: Lindsay Jordan

Pathic Writing: What is it? What is it for? How do I do it?

Van Manen, M. (2007) Phenomenology and Practice. Phenomenology & Practice, 1, 1. pp. 11-30. N.B. all other references in here are secondary ones for the purpose of signposting myself to other good stuff. Here’s what I got from Max Van Manen’s … Continue reading

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A lovely day in Oxford…

I had such a nice time today at our fourth Saturday workshop. Not only was the sun shining, and I’d had a smooth trip up from London on the Oxford Tube (all the trains being screwed with the floods and … Continue reading

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Tony Becher and his disciplinary differences

Becher, T. (1994) The significance of disciplinary differences. Studies in Higher Education, Vol. 19 Issue 2, pp151-162 Phew… it’s taken me a few days to get through this one – at first I blamed Tony Becher for writing what I … Continue reading

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Art & Science – epistemological & linguistic differences

North, S. (2005) Different values, different skills? A comparison of essay writing by students from art and science backgrounds. Studies for Higher Education, 30 (5), 517-533 So… the History of Science OU course sounds interesting…! This is quite a sensitively-written … Continue reading

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The empathy and dynamism of non-academic discourse

Looking back, I appear to have enjoyed the first chapter of Hyland’s Academic Discourse very much (honeymood period of the EdD?) I enjoyed chewing over what Hyland’s ideas meant for my own academic practice – in particular, the way I … Continue reading

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First assignment in, getting back down to it…

My RRW1 assignment is done and dusted, and Brendan has escaped to the other side of the world for over three weeks. It is summer there. It is still winter here and I am alone except for two bored-looking cats. But … Continue reading

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Bend it like Bhaskar

Bhaskar, R. & Danermark, B. (2006). Metatheory, interdisciplinarity and disability research – A critical realist perspective. Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research, 8, 278-297. In this paper, Bhaskar and Danermark argue that historically dominant models of disability are reductionist. Reductionism has … Continue reading

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Motivation and momentum

We’ve had three face-to-face sessions now on the EdD (in addition to the induction day), and I’m finding that I lose motivation for a few days afterwards… which is weird! I assumed I would get enthused by seeing the rest … Continue reading

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Disability, curriculum and social justice

Last week I attended a half day course on Disability Awareness, which was interesting because it connected with a lot of the ideas we’re reading and talking about on the EdD. During the session, the course facilitator presented the social … Continue reading

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Lees 2007: Embracing complexity for social justice

In this, the second of the readings we were given with the title ‘Beyond Positivism’, Patrick Lees argues for ‘hybrid spaces’ where different ways of thinking about education and research exist for mutual benefit, and an acceptance that standardised educational … Continue reading

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WrAP Portfolio planning: a ‘significant’ journal

In advance of our third EdD meeting this coming Saturday I’ve been asked to select a journal that has been significant to me and my professional practice in some way, and to explain my selection. I made a shortlist of … Continue reading

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Buchanan 1998: Being human

This was a very persuasive article. It almost lured me into believing that human life is so very very different from everything else in the natural world – to the extent where we can claim to be separate from it. … Continue reading

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Authorial identity – a cultural issue?

Hyland, K. (2002). Authority and Invisibility: Authorial Identity in Academic Writing. Journal of Pragmatics, 34, 1091-1112 I had to do a bit of research in the googlebox to determine exactly what Hyland means by ‘authorial’ – i.e. ‘of the author’ … Continue reading

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By jove, I think she’s got it

Sayer, A (2000) Realism and Social Science, London: SAGE, 67 – 80 I could have moved on from critical realism now… there is other reading material I need to get through by the end of the month (on post-positivism, humanism … Continue reading

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Pring 2000: Concepts and conflicts

“Maybe the distinction will seem clearer on reading the other introduction to Critical Realism we’ve been given (Pring 2000).” – Me, November 1st. …No, it didn’t really help, not yet. I understood the conclusion fine, but found myself getting really … Continue reading

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Sayer 2000 (Chapter 1): New meanings for old words…

Critical Realism! I loved this idea of different levels of existence; the ’empirical’ (what we observe), the ‘actual’ (what exists and/or happens in practice, which is not necessarily what we observe),  and the ‘real’ ; the potential or capacity of … Continue reading

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Drake and Heath (2008): A tale of woe

According to the authors, this chapter (from Sikes & Potts’ Researching Education from the Inside) begins to explore ‘some of the strengths and limitations of being an insider researcher’. Strengths?! It’s a catalogue of misery; a relentless battering of challenges, … Continue reading

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Anderson (2002) and Anderson and Herr (1998) – Status and Legitimacy of Practitioner Research

The later, shorter article of these two – both published in Educational Researcher – was the one on our reading list for Researching the Real World, but I ended up dragging up the earlier one in order to find out … Continue reading

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Hyland, K. (2009) Chapter 1: Points of Departure

This was an enjoyable and thought-provoking read. Not only was it nice to read something so well-written, but it was also fun to revisit some of the ideas I started to engage with when I first started blogging – e.g. … Continue reading

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Crotty 1998: Introduction to the research process

Halfway through this one I thought, “oh damn… I should have read this before the Morrison chapter…”. However, it does set the scene of social research more clearly and definitely than the first reading, and for that reason I think … Continue reading

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