To Melbourne and back (writing for international publication)
Amanda Crow
HudCRES
As academic staff we are expected to present our research at conferences, contribute and write book chapters and submit articles to journals. This is at worst challenging and involves juggling priorities but at best brings an overwhelming sense of achievement, especially for relative newcomers to research like myself and colleague Nicola Firth.
This post charts what has happened since Nicola and I were asked in November 2018 to submit an abstract for a chapter to be published in a new book: 'Seeing' the world through children’s eyes: (A handbook of) Visual methodologies and approaches to early learning to be edited by Professor Jayne White, RMIT, Melbourne, Australia.
Of course we said yes, albeit with some trepidation! The book is aimed at practitioners, students and researchers, and is focussed on using visual methods of data collection when conducting research with children; our area of academic and professional expertise. It was also an opportunity to write about our own EdD research and the visual methods we used to collect our data. Chapter contributors hail from a number of different countries including Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, creating the exciting prospect of developing collaborative and constructive international relationships.
And so the writing began
Abstract acceptance was accompanied by an invitation to travel to Melbourne in June of this year, present our chapter ideas at the Association for Visual Pedagogies Conference at the RMIT University in Melbourne (our colleague Professor Helen Lomax was also one of the keynote speakers) and attend a book review meeting with Jayne and the writing team.
Prior to travelling, we were all requested to critique and exchange our draft work with other contributors in order to contribute to the robust reviewing process. This in itself was a new experience for both of us.
We headed to Melbourne confident in our presenting skills, after all we know our own research and we have presented many times before ...
The review meeting was a new concept and a learning opportunity
Each author in turn was in the spotlight as their draft chapter was commented on, questioned and critiqued by their reviewers and the book editor, Jayne.
The process was exposing, challenging and inspiring, there was nowhere to hide.
Any insecurities Nicola and I had about being new writers soon disappeared and we became confident in our abilities to contribute to the discussions as each draft chapter was scrutinised for content, and to ensure it would meet the requirements of the editor and publishers.
We left the day more focussed. It is fair to say we both have more work to do in order to complete the chapters but have constructive comments to follow and a clear goal in sight. Working collaboratively with a group of academics with differing opinions, varying experiences of completing research and many who are established and published authors is daunting and a steep learning curve, but an experience that will hopefully mean we become more confident in our own abilities as researchers and authors.
L-R Jayne White, Amanda Crow and Nicola Firth, discussing content for the book: 'Seeing’ the world through children’s eyes: (A handbook of) Visual methodologies and approaches to early learning’ So what did we learn?
- The need to be honest with yourself and others; we all have feelings of doubt from time to time, and that's OK
- You need broad shoulders; each opportunity is a learning opportunity
- Take criticism constructively; don’t react, take time to reflect
- Networking and working alongside international colleagues and peers is a great opportunity, and one that does not happen every day. Embrace it, enjoy it, we all have something positive to offer.
Want more 'Ed Space?
Read more of the research blog of the Huddersfield Centre for Research in Education and Society (HudCRES).