Writing retreats as third spaces

  • J. Garaway Cape Peninsula University of Technology

Abstract

Much has been written on the importance of writing retreats in providing the conditions for productive writing, away from the demands of everyday academic life. Most authors, however, acknowledge that even though retreats may result in positive outcomes, they are also complex social spaces which participants may experience as challenging. One, perhaps different, way to understand these difficulties is that they are the sorts of differences typical of a form of learning space known as a ‘third space’. In such spaces, as seen through an Activity Theory lens, differences can be understood as drivers for collaborative learning and development. Theorising writing retreats as third spaces within an Activity Theory framework then opens up ways to potentially enhance participants’ learning experiences.

Author Biography

J. Garaway, Cape Peninsula University of Technology

Associate Professor and Acting Director of Teaching and Learning, Cape Peninsula University of Technology James works in Academic Staff Development at CPUT and teaches on the regional Post Graduate Diploma for Higher Education and CHEC courses in assessment and curriculum development. In addition he acts as the institutional coordinator for the foundation programmes, focusing on students’ transitioning into university. His other main interest is in the development of the vocational curriculum and students’ preparation for and transitioning into workplaces and society.  

References

Bhabha, H. 1994. The location of culture. London: Routledge.

Blackler, F. 1993. Knowledge and theory of organisations: Organisations as activity systems and reframing of management. Journal of Management Studies 30 (6): 863-884.

Boud, D. and Molloy, E. 2013. Feedback in higher and professional education: Understanding it and doing it well. London: Routledge.

Cousins, G. 2009. Researching learning in higher education. London: Routledge.

Devlin, M. and Radloff, A. 2014. A structured writing programme for staff: Facilitating knowledge, skills, confidence and publishing outcomes. Journal of Further and Higher Education 38 (2): 230-248.

Dwyer, A., Lewis, B., McDonald, F. and Burns, M. 2012. It’s always a pleasure: Exploring productivity and pleasure in a writing group for early career academics. Studies in Higher Education 34 (2): 129-144.

The Economist. 2016. September 24-30th 2016.

Edwards, A. 2005. Relational agency in professional practice: A CHAT analysis. Actio: An International Journal of Human Activity Theory 1: 1-17.

EngestrÓ§m, Y. 1999. Activity Theory and transformation. In Y. EngestrÓ§m, R. Miettinen and R. Punamaki, eds. Perspectives on Activity Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

EngestrÓ§m, Y. and Sannino, A. 2011. Discursive manifestations of contradictions in organisational change efforts. Journal of Organisational Change Management 53 (1): 368-387.

Grant, B. 2006. Writing in the company of other women: Exceeding the boundaries. Studies in Higher Education 31(4): 483-495.

Gutierrez, K. 2008. Developing a sociocultural literacy in the third space. Reading Research Quarterly 43 (2): 148-164.

Gutierrez, K., Baquedano-Lopez, P. and Tejeda, C. 1999. Rethinking diversity: Hybridity and hybrid language practices in the third space. Mind, Culture and Activity 6 (4): 286-303.

Lee, A. and Boud, D. 2003. Writing groups, change and academic identity: Research development as local practice. Studies in Higher Education 28 (2): 187-200.

Mannix, V. 2015. Fostering the affective and cognitive dimensions of learning. In P. Layne and P. Lake, eds. Globalisation of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Dordrecht: Springer.

Moore, S., Murphy, M. and Murray, R. 2010. Increasing academic output and supporting equality of career opportunity in universities: Can writers’ retreats play a role? Journal of Faculty Development 24 (3): 21-30.

Moore, S. 2003. Writers' retreats for academics: Exploring and increasing the motivation to write. Journal of Further and Higher Education 27 (3): 333-342.

Muller, J. 2001. Responsiveness and innovation in Higher Education. Commissioned paper as support material for the book Transformation in Higher Education: Global Pressures and Local Realities, accessed 10 October 2016, http://www.chet.org.za/.

Savin-Baden, M. 2008. Learning spaces: Creating opportunities for knowledge creation in academic life. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill/SRHE/OUP.

Soja, E.W. 1980. The socio-spatial dialectic. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 70 (2): 207-225.

Swales, J. 2004. Research genres. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Volbrecht, T. and Boughey, C. 2008. Curriculum responsiveness from the margins: A reappraisal of academic development in South Africa. In H. Griesel, ed. Curriculum responsiveness: Case studies in Higher Education. Pretoria: SAUVCA: 57-80.

Published
2017-04-23
How to Cite
Garaway, J. 2017. “Writing Retreats As Third Spaces”. South African Journal of Higher Education 31 (2), 72-88. https://doi.org/10.20853/31-2-1343.
Section
Special Section