‘It's an amazing learning curve to be part of the project’: exploring academic identity in collaborative research

Abstract

This article reports on an investigation into the role of academic identity within collaborative research in higher education in South Africa. The study was informed by the literature on academic identities, collaborative research and communities of practice. It was located within a multi-site study, with involvement of researcher collaborators from eight South African higher education institutions. Eighteen academic development practitioners recorded their perceptions of their participation in one higher education research project. An analysis of the research team members' experiences of participating in the first phase of the research project lent credence to the factors influencing participants' academic identities. The study found that collaborative research provided potential for knowledge generation and personal and professional growth, but noted that in order to enable participation, attention needs to be paid to the interrelationship between researchers' academic individual and collective identities and their sense of expertise in the field of educational research.

Digital stories as a method for evidence-based practice and knowledge co-creation in technology-enhanced learning for children with autism

“…Deriving from the action research tradition is the important aspiration of participatory research involving practitioners and researchers (Christie and Menter 2009;Leibowitz, Ndebele, and Winberg 2014), and of inclusive research that seeks to fundamentally change the power relationships between researchers and those who are traditionally researched (Seale, Nind, and Parsons 2014). Collaboration and dialogue are considered key to such research, where knowledge is understood to be culturally specific and situated, and hence evidence is an outcome of knowledge co-creation (Fisher, Higgins, and Loveless 2006;Houston et al 2010).…”

Challenging the knowledge‐transfer orthodoxy: Knowledge co‐construction in technology‐enhanced learning for children with autism

“…By contrast, participatory research methodologies (e.g. Leibowitz et al ., ), including those incorporating multimedia tools (e.g. Hewitt et al ., ; Lin et al ., ), aim to draw on the situated knowledge of practitioners and on their adaptive responses to the nuances of the individual situational contexts.…”

An International Interdisciplinary Writing Group

“…She distributed leadership as much as possible, continually handing decisions back to the group to encourage shared ownership and move towards fluid leadership. As discussed by Leibowitz, Ndebele, and Winberg (2014), we respectfully talked about issues of power, expertise, and authority throughout the collaborative process. This honesty contributed to our deep bonds and the following recommendations, which we humbly offer to other writing groups: -Bring your expertise but park your ego (explicit conversations about group process can help) -Appoint a leader/facilitator who leads as a guide on the side; be prepared to share leadership as required -Listen carefully, ask for explanations, offer thoughts and clarify (leave nothing unsaid) -Embrace discomfort and uncertainty as part of the process -Stay connected and responsive (silence helps no one) -Revise and review timelines as needed to accommodate the above What has been particularly pertinent to us during this process has been our evolution as a group, made possible only because we have created a safe space in which we can continually revise anticipations, take risks by being open to new experiences, and engage with our diversity.…”

“…While leadership within a collaborative academic endeavour like a writing group can be shared, relationships are not equal as faculty members bring different experiences and confidence to any collaboration (Manarin, Carey, Rathburn, & Ryland, 2015). Leibowitz, Ndebele, and Winberg (2014) note that academic identities "change over time as participants position and reposition themselves" arguing that "collective identities depend on how individuals perceive themselves, as well as how they are perceived and positioned by others" (p. 1266). They emphasize the need to pay attention to intersubjectivity in the group, including issues of expertise, belonging, value, and participation.…”