School teachers writing at university: What kind of knowledge is at stake?

Abstract

This article reports on a research project that investigated issues of teachers' rofessional knowledge and development by examining aspects of the writing they are required to produce as part of their study of postgraduate continuing professional development courses in universities. The project was informed by recent research and scholarship in the field of academic literacy. The analysis focuses on two elements of the data collected: interviews with a small sample of teachers studying within the Open University MA in Education programme, as well as with their tutors, and a sample of students' written assignments. Case studies are presented of two teachers studying within the programme. Within these case studies, data are analysed using the following organising themes: continuity with previous experience of writing, ‘learning to write’ vs. ‘writing to learn’, and tutor feedback. The article concludes with a discussion of the professional, methodological and theoretical issues raised by the research. © 2000, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.