Doing Academic Writing in Education: Connecting the Personal and the Professional

by Richards, Janet C.; Miller, Sharon K.

• ISBN13: 9780805848403
• ISBN10: 0805848401
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-06-07
• Publisher: Lawrence Erlbau

Summary

This clear, reader-friendly book is carefully designed to help readers gain confidence and acquire competence in their academic writing abilities. It focuses on real people as they write and actively involves readers in the writing process. The authors' innovative approach encourages reflection on how professional writing initiatives connect to the personal self. For pre-service and in-service teachers, graduate students, school administrators, educational specialists, and all others involved in the educational enterprise, effective writing is important to professional success. Organized to help the reader move progressively and confidently forward as a writer of academic prose, i Doing Academic Writing in Education: Connecting the Personal and the Professional /i features: br br *activities to engage readers in connecting their writing endeavors to their personal selves, and in discovering their own writing attitudes, behaviors, strengths, and problem areas; br *practical applications to inform and support the reader's writing initiatives--including opportunities to engage in invention strategies, to begin a draft, to revise and edit a piece of writing that is personally and professionally important, and to record reflections about writing; br *the voices of the authors and of graduate students who are pursuing a variety of academic writing tasks--to serve as models for the reader's writing endeavors; and *writing samples and personal stories about writing shared by experts in various contexts--offering hints about conditions, self-reflections, and habits that help them write effectively. br All students and professionals in the field of education will welcome the distinctive focusin this book on connecting the personal and the professional, and the wealth of practical applications and opportunities for reflection it provides.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xvii
Donald M. Murray
Preface xix
Our Reasons for Writing This Book	xix
We Wrote This Book for Educators Who Want to Write Well	xx
Distinctive Features	xxi
How to Use the Book	xxii
Acknowledgments	xxiv
Contributing Writer-Educators	xxvii
About the Authors	xxxi
1 Seeing Ourselves as Writers: A Process of Personal Discovery	1	(27)
Getting to Know Us	2	(1)
Becoming a Writer	3	(2)
Early Writing Experiences	3	(2)
Some Teachers May Take Too Much Control of Students' Writing	5	(3)
Teachers Can Make a Positive Difference	8	(1)
Personal Reflections	8	(1)
Finding Support for Your Writing Efforts	9	(1)
Participating in a Writing Group	10	(2)
Personal Reflections	11	(1)
Behaving Like a Writer	12	(2)
A Preferred Time and Place for Writing	14	(1)
Identifying Our Individual Styles of Composing	15	(5)
Heavy Planners	15	(1)
Heavy Revisers	16	(1)
Sequential Composers	16	(1)
Procrastinators	17	(2)
Discovery Drafters	19	(1)
Overcoming Obstacles to Writing: Lack of Confidence, Doubts, and Fears	20	(3)
Personal Reflections	22	(1)
Understanding How Academic Writing Connects to Our Personal Selves	23	(2)
Personal Reflections	25	(1)
Summary	25	(1)
Relevant Readings	26	(2)
2 Types and Purposes of Academic Writing	28	(35)
Recounting Early Experiences With Academic Writing	29	(3)
Personal Reflections	31	(1)
Identifying the Reasons Educators Write	32	(7)
Job-Related Writing	32	(1)
High-Stakes Writing	33	(3)
Publish or Perish: Tim Morse	34	(2)
Writing to Tell Stories and Report Research About Teaching	36	(1)
Writing in Graduate School	37	(13)
Personal Reflections	38	(1)
Exploring Traditional Expectations of Academic Writing	39	(1)
The Impact of the Personal on Academic Writing	40	(1)
Objectivity Versus the Personal "I" and Passive Versus Active Voice	41	(1)
When Objectivity Suppresses Truth	41	(2)
Consider Class Papers a Prewriting Exercise	43	(1)
We Can Become Our Own Worst Enemy	44	(1)
Personal Reflections	45	(1)
Debating Opposing Notions of Writing in the Academy	45	(1)
The Polarization of Viewpoints	46	(2)
Use of the Personal in Academic Writing	48	(1)
Expressing Your Individual Voice	48	(1)
The Narrative Voice May Pose Problems	49	(1)
Personal Reflections	50	(1)
Meeting the Challenge of the Dissertation	50	(9)
Completing a Dissertation Can Be a Positive Experience	52	(3)
Challenges to the Traditional Dissertation	55	(2)
Electronic Dissertation Initiatives	57	(1)
Collaborative Dissertations	58	(1)
Publishing in Professional Journals	59	(1)
Personal Reflections	60	(1)
Summary	60	(1)
Relevant Readings	61	(2)
3 Invention	63	(37)
The Writing Process	65	(1)
Using a Variety of Approaches to Write an Academic Piece	66	(1)
Benefiting From Invention Strategies	67	(1)
Writing With Different Invention Styles	67	(1)
Equating Invention With Inquiry	68	(1)
Choosing Invention Strategies Based on Your Purpose for Writing	69	(1)
Considering a Variety of Invention Strategies	70	(1)
Sketch Journals and Drawings	70	(4)
Concept Maps and Webs	74	(7)
Free Writing	77	(4)
Brainstorming: Debbie Dimmett	78	(3)
What I Know About Ceremonial Languages Used in Afro-Cuban Religions	81	(12)
Article Proposal: Heather Brown	84	(2)
Talking With Others	86	(1)
Thinking Aloud/Speaking Into a Tape Recorder	87	(1)
Using Index Cards	88	(1)
Electronic Sticky Notes	89	(1)
Making Lists as Visual Displays	89	(1)
Making an Outline	90	(3)
The Benefits of Peer and Self-Assessment for Improving Student Work and Raising Student Achievement: Debbie Dimmett	90	(3)
Using Technology	93	(1)
Online Prewriting Sources	93	(1)
Combining Invention Strategies	94	(3)
Personal Reflections	96	(1)
Practical Applications: Trying Some Invention Strategies	96	(1)
Personal Reflections	97	(1)
Summary	97	(1)
Relevant Readings	98	(2)
4 Drafting	100	(27)
Recognizing That Drafting Is Task Specific and Idiosyncratic	101	(1)
Thinking Before Drafting	102	(2)
Some Writers Become Anxious and Apprehensive	104	(1)
Don't Fall Back on Writer's Block as an Excuse	105	(1)
Heather Brown's Prewriting Reflections	106	(4)
Using the Think-Writing Log	110	(3)
Personal Reflections	113	(1)
Equating Drafting With Discovery	113	(1)
Writing as Fast as Possible	113	(2)
Drafting and Revising Simultaneously	115	(1)
Personal Reflections	116	(1)
Exploring Other Drafting Considerations and Habits	116	(3)
Turning to the Arts	119	(2)
Personal Reflections	121	(1)
Composing a Draft: Some Helpful Hints	121	(3)
Practical Applications: Writing Your Own Draft	123	(1)
Personal Reflections	124	(1)
Summary	124	(2)
Relevant Readings	126	(1)
5 Revision: The Heart of Writing	127	(27)
Thinking Like Visual Artists	128	(1)
Confusing Revision and Editing	128	(1)
Attempting Big-Time Revision	129	(1)
Why Authors Revise	130	(1)
Revision: The Beginning of the Writing Process	130	(1)
Some Writers Resist Revision	131	(1)
Personal Reflections	132	(1)
Reflecting on Revision	132	(3)
Revising: A Purpose-Driven Activity	135	(2)
Practical Applications: Keeping a Record of Your Revisions	136	(1)
Categorizing Your Revisions	137	(1)
Revising With the Support of Others	138	(2)
Revising With an Audience in Mind	140	(1)
A Good Reader of Your Own Writing	141	(1)
Personal Reflections	141	(1)
Reviewing Our Students' Draft Excerpts and Revisions	142	(8)
The National Board Certification Process: Mary Gobert	142	(1)
Mary Explains Her Revisions in Her Think-Writing Log	143	(1)
The Accelerated Reader™	143	(1)
Amy's First Revision	144	(1)
Amy's Second Revision	145	(1)
Amy's Third Revision 145 Research Proposal	146	(1)
Choyce Explains Her Revisions in Her Think-Writing Log	146	(1)
Choyce's Revision	146	(1)
Mary-Virginia Knowles's Action Research Project	147	(3)
Thinking Strategically About Revision	150	(1)
Practical Applications: Engaging in Your Own Revision Activities	151	(1)
Personal Reflections	151	(1)
Summary	152	(1)
Relevant Readings	153	(1)
6 Editing	154	(25)
Editing With Various Styles	155	(1)
What Style of Editing Is Best?	156	(1)
Don't Worry About Memorizing Formal Rules	156	(1)
We Edit for Our Readers	157	(1)
Audience as an Important Factor	158	(1)
Personal Reflections	159	(1)
Distinguishing Editing From Revising	159	(1)
Feeling Overwhelmed With the Editing Process	160	(1)
Thinking the Editing Process Is Easy	161	(1)
Following a Systematic Editing Plan	162	(2)
Having an Editing Mentor	164	(1)
Enhancing Editing Skills Through Experience: John Barnitz	164	(1)
Developing a Talent and a Finely Tuned Ear for Editing	165	(2)
Editing for More Than Conventions of Written Language	167	(7)
Editing for Clarity	168	(3)
Editing for Pace	171	(1)
Editing for Correctness	172	(2)
Knowing You Are Finished Editing	174	(1)
Personal Reflections	174	(1)
Identifying Editing Error Patterns	174	(2)
Practical Applications: Examining Your Own Editing Process	176	(1)
Summary	176	(1)
Relevant Readings	177	(2)
7 Integrating the Personal and the Professional	179	(20)
Writing in Your Own Voice	180	(2)
Letting Your Voice Be Heard	182	(3)
Personal Reflections	185	(1)
Merging Voice and Academic Writing	185	(3)
The University as a Community of Voices	188	(1)
Writing From Classroom Teachers	189	(2)
Benefiting From a Writing Group	191	(3)
Determining What Constitutes Professional Writing	194	(1)
Personal Reflections	195	(1)
Considering Your Audience	195	(2)
Connecting the Personal and the Professional	197	(1)
Practical Applications: Putting It All Together	197	(1)
Summary	198	(1)
References	199	(8)
Author Index	207	(4)
Subject Index	211