Doctoral pedagogy in digital third space: An investigation of academic blogging

ABSTRACT

Academic blogs are international, extramural, outside of institutional structure, obligation, and audit. Their algorithms allow quantitative investigation, but qualitative research on blog practice is rare. This paper offers qualitative insight into academic blog pedagogy using DoctoralWriting as a case study. Here, DoctoralWriting comments-to-posts become data (391 comments giving 129 pages of text), analysed both thematically and using NVivo12 to show the blog’s interactive practice. We became interested in how commenters and academic bloggers create a community of practice. The findings led us to add Third Space theory to community of practice. Emerging from the super-complexity of postcolonial theory, Third Space exists outside of, or between, cultures. That means it can detach from biases, hierarchies and role restrictions. We show blogging’s potential within doctoral education, demonstrate a novel method for understanding academic blogging, and advance the pedagogical use of Third Space theory.

KEYWORDS:

• Academic blogging
• social media as third space
• blogging pedagogy
• doctoral pedagogy
• doctoral writing
• academic identity

Acknowledgments

We are hugely indebted to anonymous reviewers whose intelligent direction enabled this paper to be stronger. In two cases, we have used their language in improving our paper. We also thank Cally Guerin and Claire Aitchison for their consent to our production of this research paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Susan Carter

Susan Carter has long-standing interest in doctoral experience and pedagogy, including supervision; academic writing; the ironies of academia and the development of academic identity within this space. She one of the foundational authors and editors of DoctoralWriting blog.

Trang Thu Thi Nguyen

Trang Thu Thi Nguyen has recently completed her PhD research at the School of Critical Studies in Education, Faculty of Education and Social Work, the University of Auckland. Her research interests include researcher development, online learning and teacher education.