Driven to abstraction: doctoral supervision and writing pedagogies

The writing of academic abstracts is more than a tiresome necessity of scholarly life. It is a practice that goes beyond genre and technique to questions of writing and identity. In this article we deconstruct a series of abstracts from a variety of refereed journals to ‘read’ for the representation of data, argument, methodology and significance. We describe one strategy for writing abstracts, developed as part of a long‐term project on postgraduate writing pedagogies. We propose that the art of writing abstracts is neglected in the academy, is given scant attention by journal editors, and has produced a motley and often bland array of conventions and genres. We suggest that abstract art should be an important aspect of supervision if graduate students and novice researchers are to stake a claim in the academy.

[1]  H. Goldstein,et al.  Predicting the Future : the role of past performance in determining trends in institutional effectiveness at A level , 2001 .

[2]  P. Atkinson,et al.  Creating a Delicate Balance: the doctoral supervisor's dilemmas , 1998 .

[3]  Lynn Quinn,et al.  Teaching Referencing as an Introduction to Epistemological Empowerment , 2000 .

[4]  C. Mullen.  The Need for a Curricular Writing Model for Graduate Students , 2001 .

[5]  Elizabeth Adams St. Pierre,et al.  Writing: A method of inquiry. , 1994 .

[6]  Educational research and evaluation: Opening communicative space , 2001 .

[7]  Patricia Bizzell,et al.  Academic discourse and critical consciousness , 1992 .

[8]  J. Masschelein.  The Discourse of the Learning Society and the Loss of Childhood , 2001 .

[9]  T. Lillis,et al.  Student Writing in Higher Education: Contemporary confusion, traditional concerns , 2001 .

[10]  D. Hargreaves,et al.  A Capital Theory of School Effectiveness and Improvement , 2001 .

[11]  G. Mannion.  Journal Writing and Learning: Reading between the structural, holistic, and post-structural lines , 2001 .

[12]  A. Harris.  Department Improvement and School Improvement: A missing link? , 2001 .

[13]  David Bartholomae,et al.  Inventing the University , 2005 .

[14]  Harry F. Wolcott,et al.  Writing Up Qualitative Research , 1990 .

[15]  B. Street.  Literacy in Theory and Practice , 1984 .

[16]  G. Thomas,et al.  The development of writing skills in doctoral research students , 1994 .

[17]  Harvey Goldstein,et al.  Using Pupil Performance Data for Judging Schools and Teachers: Scope and limitations , 2001 .

[18]  Mary R. Lea,et al.  Student Writing in Higher Education: New Contexts. , 2000 .

[19]  Ken Hyland,et al.  Options of identity in academic writing , 2002 .

[20]  Rosalie Friend.  Effects of Strategy Instruction on Summary Writing of College Students. , 2001, Contemporary educational psychology.

[21]  Barbara Kamler,et al.  Relocating the Personal: A Critical Writing Pedagogy , 2001 .

[22]  V. Walker.  African American Teaching in the South: 1940–1960 , 2001 .

[23]  Theresa Lillis,et al.  Student Writing: Access, Regulation, Desire , 2001 .

[24]  Mica Pollock.  How the Question We Ask Most About Race in Education Is the Very Question We Most Suppress , 2001 .

[25]  John Willinsky,et al.  The Strategic Education Research Program and the Public Value of Research , 2001 .

[26]  K. Goodman,et al.  The Role of a Writing Centre in Increasing Access to Academic Discourse in a Multilingual University , 1997 .

[27]  Erica Mcwilliam,et al.  The corporate curriculum: Schools as sites of new knowledge production , 2001 .

[28]  David Barton,et al.  Literacy: An Introduction to the Ecology of Written Language , 1994 .

[29]  Adele Graham,et al.  Naming the Game: reconstructing graduate supervision , 1999 .

[30]  Bill Green,et al.  Theorising postgraduate pedagogy , 1995 .

[31]  Alison Taylor.  'Fellow travellers' and 'true believers': A case study of religion and politics in Alberta schools , 2001 .

[32]  Kevin K. Kumashiro.  “Posts” Perspectives on Anti-Oppressive Education in Social Studies, English, Mathematics, and Science Classrooms , 2001 .

[33]  G. McDonald.  What can age by grade tell us about education in Australia? , 2001 .

[34]  Mary Lea,et al.  Student writing in higher education: An academic literacies approach , 1998 .