The PhD and the Autonomous Self: gender, rationality and postgraduate pedagogy

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all?content=10.1080/713696141 (i can email the pdf around on request)

Although referring specifically to an Australian context, I think there is crossover to higher ed. practices in this other commonwealth nation.

Also, although the emphasis is on PhD supervisory relations, i think the critique of masculinity and patriarchy is useful to our interests about distinct forms of knowledge production, e.g. through peer-learning around classroom pedagogy (Arts TA).

More might be said, however, about other ways of knowing, such as the role of indigenous theory and practice, particularly since the authors are valuing shifts in learning that engage those outside of the academy.

in the end, they seem a little vague on this front, and don't detail enough (to my mind) of the practice of what they're talking about; what it might "look like," in short.

nevertheless, the critique of Kant, Rousseau and others is very useful in and of itself.

Would love comments on the article or on my thoughts here. Please post them!

Just received info back from my query into the other journal I was trying to come up with (as a possible place to submit for publication). It's the Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: www.cjsotl-rcacea.ca

First perusal: isolation

Isolation, whether total or only at specific moments, remains for now a persistent theme in the graduate student TA experience. My hunch is that emphasis on efficiency, expertise, and disciplinary knowledge, along with the TA work conditions (short-term contracts within a departmental structure allowing the university to function more cheaply with larger class sizes) give rise to isolation by exacerbating anxieties related to the "impostor syndrome" (where TAs feel they do not have what it takes to be doing what they're asked to do).

TA programs that justify themselves as compensating for a lack of skill, experience, knowledge, practice or capacity on the part of TAs, thereby undervalue graduate students' existing capacities for self-direction. Caught within the rhetoric around enhancing the quality of undergraduate education, many programs do not fully take advantage of the opportunity for building graduate students' autonomy in the TA role. Instead, the peer relations that form through these TA development programs become an accidental side-effect, a bonus to the assumed "meat" of the program, rather than an intentional centre-piece in combating isolation and supporting skill development.

An initial perusal of the literature on TA development confirms a tendency towards providing solutions about how to be a more efficient TA, often within a specific disciplinary context. While there is a place for efficiency and disciplinary or departmental standards, when these become the imaginary bar that TAs have to jump, then the actual pedagogical potential of the TA role is partially neutralized, since the TA's own unique capacities and experiences are seen as marginal, and therefore may be stunted. By contrast, there is other literature that suggests that peer relations among TAs can play a central role not only in reducing the negative effects of isolation but also in supporting a fuller development of graduate student autonomous capacities. The challenge is to create the conditions in which TAs are supported in the development of their own capacities

question of continuity

Here are some initial thoughts on the question of how to maintain the Arts TA/GA program over time.

Written documents
-Gillian problems used year-to-year
-notes taken during group sessions (i.e., group thoughts on Gillian problems)
-evaluations, including thoughts on possible changes to the program in future
-academic article
-possibility of academic poster?

Involvement of past Arts TA/GA participants
-people who have completed the program and are still at Ryerson (How to include them? How to motivate/interest them in taking part?)
-Arts TA blog; possibiity of occasional e-mail prompts to encrouage use?
-conference presentations/workshops/roundtables involving a larger group
-possibility of involving TA/GA participants from other universities? (people from Ryerson program who've relocated; people who've been through other programs/experiences from other universities who are now at Ryerson; people from other universites who wish to co-facilitate a program through blog, meetings, conference workshops/roundtables)

Institutional involvement
-allocation of space and resources
-involvement of interested faculty
(while I think this has to be acknowledged, not sure how far to go with this)

Thoughts? Comments?

test

Hi All,

To my amazement, I was actually able to remember my log in info. Just hoping this is the blog we're using.

Given that I read the opening title of Matt's entry as "What is the universe" as opposed to "What is a university" I think I need my morning tea before continuing.

thanks Kris,
Catherine

What is a university?

A bit frightening to think about but better to look than ignore:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-samuels/how-americas-universities_b_440954.html

Conflict Resolution resources

I played around with a few things last night. First, I went to the transcript of an interview I did last year with someone who works in alternative dispute resolution in a variety of different contexts. She identified issues such as the problem of frustrations building up and the assumptions we make that another person won't understand. Her emphasis was on people's need for acknowledgment, to feel heard and valued, as well as the importance of setting and reinforcing ground rules for that discourse to enable "effective talk." She also mentioned attribution theory, which I may have to investigate further, as her definition didn't quite jibe with the limited research I've done thus far.

Interesting to revisit, but mostly it helped me pick out a few key terms for further research.
I found a couple of good websites with information re: conflict resolution. Although this one is business oriented, I think the same sorts of parameters apply to most contexts.

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_81.htm

This site discusses the benefits (some unexpected) of resolving conflicts, different styles of conflict resolution (competitive, collaborative, compromising, accommodating and avoiding) as well as one called the "Interest-Based Relational (IBR) Approach" which focusses on the relationships between individual standpoints. It also goes into established steps for resolving conflict: setting the scene, gathering information, agreeing on the problem, brainstorming for possible solutions and finally negotiating the solution.

Another website I found:

http://www.ohrd.wisc.edu/onlinetraining/resolution/index.asp

takes a slightly different approach by focussing on the more personal aspects of conflict.

Both are worth some time if you're interested in the subject.