Writing Groups as Transformative Spaces

Autor/inn/en	Wilmot, Kirstin; McKenna, Sioux
Titel	Writing Groups as Transformative Spaces
Quelle	In: Higher Education Research and Development, 37 (2018) 4, S.868-882 (15 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0729-4360
DOI	10.1080/07294360.2018.1450361
Schlagwörter	Collaborative Writing; Transformative Learning; Foreign Countries; Cooperative Learning; Curriculum Development; Grounded Theory; Student Empowerment; Writing (Composition); Writing Skills; Skill Development; College Students; Communities of Practice; Student Surveys; Interdisciplinary Approach; Writing Across the Curriculum; South Africa + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Pädagogische Transformation; Ausland; Kooperatives Lernen; Curriculum; Development; Curriculumentwicklung; Lehrplan; Entwicklung; Studienberechtigung; Schreibübung; Writing skill; Schreibfertigkeit; Kompetenzentwicklung; Qualifikationsentwicklung; Collegestudent; Community; Schülerbefragung; Fächerübergreifender Unterricht; Fächerverbindender Unterricht; Interdisziplinarität; Südafrika; Süd-Afrika; Republik Südafrika; Südafrikanische Republik
Abstract	Curriculum transformation is a central concern for higher education in response to rapidly expanding technologies, globalisation and the widening diversity of the student and staff body. This is particularly true for South Africa, which is still grappling with inequalities and pressure for social redress in its universities. Early responses to supporting students took the form of add-on, 'deficit-model' approaches which understood poor student retention and success rates as emerging from students' lack of neutral literacy 'skills'. Recent initiatives have begun to adopt more socio-cultural understandings of literacy that seek to challenge traditional power structures and cultivate horizontal peer-orientated spaces for learning with a focus on "practice" rather than on "product". Writing groups, as spaces for academic writing development, embrace this orientation and are argued to provide a transformative framework that foregrounds proactive student learning and experience, while still accommodating disciplinary learning through peer engagement. Drawing on the successful implementation of such forms of support at a research-intensive university, this paper argues that writing groups can play a critical role in both personal (student) transformation and broader curriculum transformation. Data include anonymous questionnaires and surveys with participants and coordinators of the writing groups. An inductive, constant comparative analysis indicated that students feel empowered in this space to develop not only their writing practices but also their transforming identities as scholars. Writing groups were found to provide 'safe spaces' where academic practices can be made explicit and where they can be challenged. The paper therefore argues that writing groups can play a small but key role in broader transformation efforts. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01