Jeremy Forest Price, jeremy.price.1@bc.edu, 392 Lincoln Street, Waltham, MA 02451 USA
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In this past academic year (2008-2009), I garnered a number of experiences which have helped me grow in terms of providing me with a number of scholarly skills. I reviewed a manuscript for a peer-reviewed journal; I led a research project (in conjunction with my advisor); and I wrote several academic conference-ready papers and presented them (in several different venues with different expectations in terms of delivery, from PowerPoint to strictly oral delivery with no visual aids). These experiences, and the skills that I have gained from them, are important for my growth and continued development as a scholar, whether I end up in research and development, commercial publishing, or academia.
Perhaps more important—and more interesting, from my perspective—are two other areas of growth which have coincided with my experiences and the related skills over the year:
For some time, I have noticed that while I can take a stance in class, or in discussion, I have been hedging in terms of taking a stance in my writing. I tended to include a fairly high proportion of long quotations—or even short quotations—in my writing, not because I was plagiarizing, but because I was uncertain of my own ability or authority. While at times it is important to maintain the original language and intent of the author in a paper, I was doing so at the expense of my own voice. So, I began to consciously work on this while writing papers for courses and for conferences. The 800-word limit for a book review assignment in Dr. Hargreave’s Theory of Leadership class was especially helpful in this regard as I was not able to quote the book I reviewed (Seven Generations of Iroquois Leadership by Laurence Hauptman) at length, forcing me to think about what I was writing in order to not only get the point across but to take a stand on the concept of leadership and historicity.
Secondly, I was able to find a philosophical grounding for my thinking and research—which I distinguish from a "theoretical" grounding—in large part due to the philosophy course I took, German-Jewish Thinkers. I was able to engage with several philosophers and thinkers, especially Martin Buber, Hannah Arendt, Franz Rosenzweig, and the Frankfurt School (Critical Theory). In conjunction, I have read up on the critical constructivist approach to education of Wolfgang Klafki. The work of these thinkers have underpinned many of my coursework papers as well as my research projects for the year, and have been very influential for me in developing an approach and a stance in education scholarship and research. I can see how these thinkers—and others—will continue to inform my growth and leadership in the field of education.
Jeremy Forest Price, jeremy.price.1@bc.edu, 392 Lincoln Street, Waltham, MA 02451 USA
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