Critical autobiography in the professional doctorate: improving students’ writing through the device of literature

ABSTRACT

This paper argues for a pedagogic practice to overcome the challenges that many professional practitioners face in undertaking a professional doctorate. Recent examination feedback on a professional doctoral programme of 300 candidates in the UK highlighted that a number of candidates often struggle to write persuasively, critically and reflectively. This paper discusses the impact of a series of workshops designed to support students in resolving the challenges of writing clearly. In our workshops, we encouraged the students to conceptualise their professional doctorate as a critical autobiography. In order to foster a critical autobiographical voice in our students, we explored a range of autobiographical texts for students to use as models for their own writing. In addition to offering a description of our teaching practice in these workshops, this paper explores the theoretical background that illuminates our pedagogical choices. Both theory and practice are posited side by side in our paper to uncover mutually illuminating connections in our discussion and evaluation of our attempts to improve students’ writing. We suggest that conceptualising the professional doctorate as critical autobiography is a valuable tool for professional practitioners who struggle to communicate the complexities of their practice confidently and lucidly.

KEYWORDS:

• Critical autobiography
• criticality
• academic writing
• professional doctorate
• literature

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr Christine Eastman is a Senior Lecturer in the Institute for Work Based Learning at Middlesex University. Her research examines how the reading and study of literary works can be used as a pedagogical tool to improve students’ academic work and to enhance their contribution to the workplace. Improving Workplace Learning by Teaching Literature, a book that chronicles her work with various business cohorts and postgraduate students, is due to be published by Springer in 2016.

Dr Kate Maguire is an Associate Professor at the Institute for Work Based Learning at Middlesex University and head of its research degree programmes. Her background is in social anthropology of the Middle East, trauma psychotherapy and authority dynamics. She has engaged with innovative research methodologies relevant to professional practice research with particular interest in how anthropological approaches can contribute to conceptualising professional practice. She was drawn to work-based learning for its stance on the contribution of practice to knowledge and its role in creating the conditions for a more equitable share in decision-making processes to improve society.