Haven’t been writing/posting here much.  Had to prioritize putting together my tenure portfolio.  Having rid my shoulders of that weight (literally and figuratively), I look forward to writing more here.  For now, I thought I’d let you know what I wrote about my blog in my tenure narrative.  First, I began my section on “scholarship” with the following quote from Dewey’s Logic: The Theory of Inquiry:

In scientific inquiry, every conclusion reached, whether of fact or conception, is held subject to determination by its fate in further inquires…The conditional status of scientific conclusions (conditional in the sense of subjection to revision in further inquiry) is sometimes used by critics to disparage scientific “truths” in comparison with those which are alleged to be eternal and immutable. In fact, it is a necessary condition of continuous advance in apprehension and in understanding.

Then, in making the claim that a blog can be a form of scholarship, I wrote:

Since January 2008, I have explored a new mode of publishing. As a blogger at Educational Insanity (http://edinsanity.com), I have come to firmly believe that I am engaging in a relevant and important form of scholarship. Consistent with Dewey’s theory of inquiry and my beliefs about scholarship, I use my blog as a space to make knowledge claims; assertions that are conditional on their fate by further inquiries. Those inquiries come from peers, most of whom are educators in one form or another. In other words, blogging affords a pure form of peer review. The “blogosphere,” and especially the “edublogosphere,” is wonderfully rigorous and relentless in its review process; knowledge claims without sufficient warrants are regularly challenged. Blogging, for me, is very much a scholarly endeavor and satisfies me as a public intellectual.

Tags: blogging, Dewey, scholarship, tenure

Everything is Miscellaneous

Originally uploaded by Travelin’ Librarian

Today is the deadline to submit my annual review. August 20 is my deadline for submitting my tenure portfolio. I will write about how I’ve played the game and published in peer-reviewed journals and done service by sitting and chairing various committees…blah, blah, blah. But, I also intend to make the case that the time I’ve spent this year blogging, twittering, networking, etc. should “count” for tenure consideration. Ernest Boyer wrote about the “Scholarship of Application” (and, BTW, Western Carolina University formally adopted Boyer’s ideas into their tenure criteria last year). Others, including Richard Lerner, have written about “Outreach Scholarship.” These ideas certainly blur the distinction between the academic holy trinity (teaching, research, service).

Well, Boyer, Lerner et al. never contemplated the read/write Web or RSS or online social networking. So the question I’m pondering is how might we conceptualize the role of higher education faculty where everything is miscellaneous and everybody is coming?

I’d appreciate any help you can offer as I ponder…

Tags: Boyer, scholarship, tenure, Web 2.0