Blogging PhD process: foregrounding the pedagogy
Type of work: Communication
Categories:Knowledge Management | Open Access | Social Media & Social Software
Pedagogy and pedagogic practices in relation to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Australia have remained “largely unscrutinised and unquestioned” (Johnson, Lee, & Green, 2000, p. 137) since the Australian degree was established following the Second World War. Despite some recent innovations, the dominant pedagogical practices in Australia are those of individual supervision, coupled with individual study. The relationship between supervisor and student is arguably the most crucial factor in the development of the ‘autonomous scholar’. It is a relationship that has long been privileged and remains largely unexamined - innovations have been largely managerial and pragmatic, rather than pedagogically based. One tool that might improve the transparency of this relationship could be the use of blogging, both as a tool for students to understand and reflect on their own development - which frequently involves a degree of distress - and to decrease the perceived power differentials by increasing the understanding of the nature of the relationship between supervisor and student as one of co-production.