Taking Yourself Seriously: A Fieldbook of Processes of Research and Engagement

Taking Yourself Seriously: A Fieldbook of Processes of Research and Engagement is designed for college students as well as more experienced professionals who want to further their development as researchers, writers, workshop facilitators, and agents of change. A wide range of tools and processes for research, writing, and collaboration are defined and described--from Governing Question to GOSP, Plus-Delta feedback to Dialogue Hours, and Supportive Listening to Sense of Place Map. The tools and processes are linked to four frameworks that lend themselves to adaptation by teachers, advisors, and collaborators, which consist of the following: A set of ten Phases of Research and Engagement, which researchers move through and later revisit in light of other people's responses to work in progress and what is learned using tools from the other phases; Cycles and Epicycles of Action Research, which emphasizes reflection and dialogue to shape ideas about what action is needed and how to build a constituency to implement the change; Creative Habits for Synthesis of Theory and Practice in major writing projects; and Connecting-Probing-Reflecting Spaces, in which participants support and learn from each others' inquiries. Researchers and writers working under these frameworks participate especially in Dialogue around Written Work, Making Space for Taking Initiative In and Through Relationships, and Refractive Practice--pausing to take stock and identify alternative paths before proceeding. These processes help researchers and writers align their questions and ideas, aspirations, ability to take or influence action, and relationships with other people. Many of the tools, processes, and frameworks are illustrated through excerpts from two projects: one engaging adult learning communities in using the principles of theater arts to prepare them to create social change; the other involving collaborative play among teachers in curriculum planning. Think-pieces that make up the final section recount passages in the authors' ongoing journeys, providing points of departure for readers' own explorations and affirming everyone's ability to experiment and shape their own work and lives.

About the Author :
Peter Taylor teaches and directs programs on critical thinking, reflective practice, and science-in-society at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He studies the complexity of environmental and health sciences in their social context as well as innovation in teaching, group process, and interdisciplinary collaboration (see bit.ly/pjtaylor). He is especially interested in conversations with others who are, in diverse ways, "troubled by heterogeneity" (bit.ly/tbhblog) centers around community-based and adult education and has involved managing, developing, and teaching programs to lifelong learners, with an emphasis on a learning process that involves the teaching of others what has been learned and supporting the growth of individuals to become teachers of what they know.

Review :
"I was able to get engaged in a project that I was able to actually use in work, which was extremely satisfying. The whole process encouraged me, and I felt very empowered as a change agent, which could be an exhilarating feeling." Healthcare professional and story-teller "I really had not been used to thinking about my own thinking, so learning to do that also helped me to slow down and start to look away from the career path that I had been taking for granted." Biologist-turned-web designer "I found that my experience in the courses helped me to accept feedback from other professionals. I am more comfortable with listening to why my own ideas might not work or need further evaluation. This even happens to the point where I find reasons now to seek out this kind of feedback." Teacher "I had viewed research as a process of collecting information into a sort of database and reviewing it effectively. I have now revised my notions to include a more broad understanding of interconnectedness between people and ideas. An important part of research is to keep relationships going."Adult educator "Many of the strategies employed to bring our little company together so deeply, so quickly, could well be applied in the classroom to build a community of trust and support from its earliest days." College professor "I've changed. I've changed on all levels. On a political level. Work level. Personal level. Professional level. And it has been a positive change... I have an infrastructure in my brain, so I know what I am doing now when I am with people, when I work in groups." Translator "Most workshops are dysfunctional--this one wasn't" Participant in science-in-society workshop