Taking Yourself Seriously
Processes of Research and Engagement
Peter Taylor and Jeremy Szteiter ©Work in Progress, 6 January 2012
| Taking Yourself Seriously: Processes of Research and Engagement is designed for college students as well as more experienced professionals who want to further their development as researchers, writers, and agents of change. A wide range of tools and processes for research, writing, and collaboration are defined and described—from Governing Question to GOSP, Plus-Delta feedback to Process Review, and Supportive Listening to Sense of Place Map. The tools and processes are linked to three frameworks that lend themselves to adaptation by teachers and other advisors, consist of the following: A set of ten Phases of Research and Engagement, which researchers move through and later revisit in light of other people's responses to work in progress and what is learned using tools from the other phases; Cycles and Epicycles of Action Research, which emphasizes reflection and dialogue to shape ideas about what action is needed and how to build a constituency to implement the change; and Creative Habits for Synthesis of theory and practice. Researchers and writers working under these frameworks participate in Dialogue around Written Work and in Making Space for Taking Initiative In and Through Relationships. These processes help researchers and writers align their questions and ideas, aspirations, ability to take or influence action, and relationships with other people. The tools, processes, and frameworks are illustrated through excerpts from two projects: one engaging adult learning communities in using the principles of theater arts to prepare them to create social change; the other involving collaborative play among teachers in curriculum planning. A final section provides entry points for students and educators to explore insights, experiences, and information from a wider world of research, writing, and engagement in change. |
Front Matter (Acknowledgements, etc.)
Overview (origins of the book and how to use it, overviews and interrelationship of the three frameworks in part 1, and prefiguring of essays in part 4)
1. PHASES, CYCLES AND HABITS
2. TOOLS AND PROCESSES
3. ILLUSTRATIONS
4. CONNECTIONS AND EXTENSIONS
References
Commentaries from students
About the Authors
[pdf version, 12 Dec. '11]
