This week I have rewritten this literature review. I have attempted to show the process of rethinking which I’ve engaged with and I’ve also tried to show that rewriting is a messy process, which it certainly is here. Have re-read this literature review now, it seems somewhat disjointed and there are lapses in some of my thinking. This is always the case with first drafts of my writing as it tends to take me several attempts to get my writing into good shape. But the process of writing academically can be seen as a struggle to sharpen thought and understanding. It is impossible for me to write perfectly in the first attempt – I need at least 4 or 4 goes.
Next week I will upload my latest rewriting which will include some reworking of the power of the text and other reading strategies useful to students. Any comments on these areas or any others, would be gratefully received!
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2 comments:
Dear Kate
Firstly, apologies for my long silence. I have been bogged down in essay marking as well as struggling to try to get some of my own literature review written.
I like the way your literature review is evolving. I just re-read the latest draft and would like to offer the following thoughts.
It strikes me that there is a tremendous similarity between Bourdieu’s habitus and Foucault's idea of discourse. They both seem to be about the way in which we are unconsciously structured and limited, shaped if you like, by the culture within which we live. It is difficult to stray beyond the discourses within which we live our lives: difficult even to speak, or indeed to think, outside of powerful discourses. This is particularly so within higher education where powerful hierarchies and regulation tend to constrain and limit the discourses which can be spoken. The academic essay, for example, would seem to lie within a particular discourse. Academics are asked to distinguish between good essays and bad essays every time they assess work. Yet get a bunch of them in a room together and ask them to define what actually makes a good essay and you will find very little agreement.
The second thought I had was about widening participation. I think you are right when you warn of the dangers of a two-tier system. We seem to be growing just such a system with the introduction of foundation degrees, usually taught part-time, often squeezed into an impossible timetable and attracting largely non-traditional students. My experience is that most of the students who study on foundation degrees have very limited experience of reading academic texts or writing in academic styles. By the way, I like foundation degrees. I'm just concerned about the limited resources of, particularly teaching hours, that we are giving to them. Of course, higher education in the UK already has all sorts of hidden tiers: Oxbridge, the Ruskin group, post-1992, to name just three. I'm also interested in the current impact of student surveys. Universities seem to be getting very anxious about yet another hierarchical system.
My own research is looking at the differences in reading between different subject areas. I'm just wondering if this as any relevance to your study? What I seem to be finding is that not only is the amount of reading different in different subject areas, but why that reading is done and what is expected from it also differs. I think that is the problem with some of these structured reading programmes (sorry Sandra!). They assume that reading across the University is a largely homogenous process, whereas I would argue that different subject areas, even possibly different academics, require very different sorts of reading.
I was told the other day that the term 'brainstorm' is now very un-PC! This strikes me as stuff and nonsense!
All the best
Rob
Dear Rob
Please accept my apologies for the long delay in coming back to you - I too have undertaken masses of marking and have also been on a very early (June/July) summer holiday which was great!
I enjoyed reading your comments and agree with them. You have given me cause to consider the differences that exist across and within different disciplines, an area not really explored in this literature review but certainly an area worthy of further exploration.
I would be very interested in reading some of your research in this area - can you refer me to a website or publications list?
I hope to hear from you soon,
best wishes
Kate
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