Hi all,

There is one other thing worth remembering about writing ...

It is complex, and developing expertise in it is another whole ball-game.

One of the helpful contributions to my understanding of writing has come 
from my reading around the development of expertise ... (1991 ed)

One of the items in Ericsson& Smith's book was written by Scardamalia and 
Bereiter
They talk about 'knowledge-transforming' versus 'knowledge-telling' 
approaches to writing ...

They have a fabulous diagram (Figure 7.4, page 181) which shows some of the 
interactivity involved in knowledge-transforming writing.

It is apparent to me that to do this well, a practitioner is involved in 
multiple evaluations, and one of those evaluative steps and interactions is 
with the process of knowledge-telling writing (what I think Sarah and I have 
been talking about when you can plan more of what you want to say and then 
say it, reasonably straightforwardly).

They wrap by saying
" Our argument has been that literate expertise involves a dialectical 
process that serves to advance domain knowledge. Experts may limit their own 
development by adopting a facile, knowledge-telling approach to writing that 
although it may serve immediate purposes, deprives them of the 
knowledge-transforming benefits of a more expert approach to writing. ...

"It must also be recognized, however, that expert reading and writing, as we 
have described them, are effortful problem-solving processes that compete 
for time and mental resources with other activities involved in expert 
careers. There is, therefore. a trade-off. ..."

I found it helpful to hear some of this when I was struggling with writing 
and with writing that in the end became my thesis.

So remember in thesis work you are involved in developing expertise in
* the content domain of your study (eg teaching or education);
* the content domain of the research process (whether qualitative or 
quantitative); and
* the area of research-writing literacy,
* as well as functional literacy, for reading, in all three domains ...

It is no small task.

Dianne

Scardamalia, M., & Bereiter, C. (1991). Literate Expertise. In K. A. 
Ericsson & J. Smith (Eds.), Toward a general theory of expertise. New York: 
Cambridge UP.