Faculty Journal Keeping Across the Disciplines:

A Teaching, Writing, Research and Work Management Resource

Dannelle D. Stevens, Portland State University

Joanne E. Cooper, University of Hawaii

AERA Professional Development Workshop

San Diego, 2009

AgendaI. IntroductionsII. Challenges: Focused FreewriteIII. Research: Reflection in adult developmentIV. Writing: ListsV. Writing production: Research-based strategies BREAKVI. Journal keeping as a teaching, writing and research

resourceVII. Writing: Dialogue with inner mentorVIII. Writing: Concept-mapping & stickiesIX. Writing: Letter from the future with action planX. Final thoughts….

Research on the role of reflection in adult

learning “Our narratives are the means through which

we imagine ourselves into the persons we become” (Hopkins, 1994, p. xvii).

“…any writing and reading of our lives presents us with a challenge that is at the heart of every educational experience: making sense of our lives in the world” (Grumet, 1990, p.3).

Our Research: Role of Reflection on

Professional Life“My journal contains the hard stuff, the good things in life and just

the ‘everyday’ things. By writing about them it helps me. It gives me a place to put things. My journal gives me a place to look at things I do and make better decisions in the future” (Maralyn)

“My journal helps balance so many things….It is like I have all these plates spinning in the air- some have chips because they have fallen or collide with one another. They collide less often when I have a journal.” (Micki, professor of education)

“When I want to know what I really think, I write in my journal. It is more than a mirror: it does not reflect me; it is an organic process; it is discovery work. Writing in my journal changes me. I am growing and evolving as I write.” (Barbara, President emerita)

Using Journals to Improve Your Writing Skill and Productivity

Freewriting: Build writing fluency through freewriting frequently.

Focused Freewriting: Generate ideas, stimulate flashes of insight.

Dialogue: Write a dialogue with your manuscript, with your perception of yourself as a writer, with your writing block, with time, with paper topics, with students.

Concept Map: Generate as many ideas, questions, concerns, insights as possible about a particular topic. Cluster them, make connections, write sentences below the clusters that summarize the ideas in the cluster. Begin writing.

Using Journals to Improve Your Writing Skill and Productivity

Metareflection: Reread notes in your journals from conferences, ideas from readings, reflections, notes made during reflections, related to a topic. Photocopy these notes to create the seeds you have already planted for writing and developing your topic. Read them. Summarize them and write from them.

Books about Writing

Become a student of writing: Boice, R. (1990). Professors as writers: A self-help guide

to productive writing. Cooper, J.E. & Stevens, D. D. (2002). Tenure in the

sacred grove: Issues and strategies for women and minorities.

Elbow, P. (1981). Writing with power: Techniques for mastering the writing process.

Rankin, E. (2001). The work of writing: Insights & strategies for academics & professionals

Silvia, P. J. (2007). How to write a lot: A practical guide to productive academic writing.

Ways to use the Journal in Professional Life

DialogueConcept MappingLetter from the FutureHemingway from The Snows of Kilimanjaro (p. 64) There was so much to write. He had seen the world

change; not just the events; although he had seen many of them and watched the people, but he had seen the subtler change and he could remember how the people were at different times. He had been in it and he watched it and it was his duty to write of it.