Discussion Topic 1: Scholar and Practitioner

INSTRUCTIONS BELOW

Please respond to the discussion below with approximately 125-150 words and incorporate the questions below to your response.

1. How do you see yourself as a scholar and practitioner? 

1. What are your attitudes, beliefs, and dispositions towards your identity as a doctoral research student and member of the community of practice?. 

(Sonya Discussion Response)

“When it comes to the practitioners, contrary to scholars, a practitioner is a person who practices a profession, occupation or art.” (Yalcin Diker, Carleton University) (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267026112_PRACTITIONERS_VS_SCHOLARS) I want to research higher education leadership as a practitioner. Per the abstract in this publication, ‘practitioners help to create the new policies and strategies and then offer implementation alternatives’. In my role as the Training Specialist, I identified problem areas where training was needed and pinpointed the audience that would best benefit from the training.  I then determined the best training method to disseminate the information. My experiences lead to my belief in the pragmatism worldview. According to Table 1.1 Four Worldviews, pg. 6 of “Research Design” by John W. Creswell, two of the major elements of the pragmatism world view are problem-centered and real-world practice oriented.

As a new doctoral research student, I am becoming more deliberate about engaging in conversations about higher education. Those conversations have appeared in the form of tweets, articles on social media and the news media to name a few. As a doctoral student, I know I need to seek opportunities to connect and network with members in the higher education community.

My professional interest is centered around professors and introducing them to new methods of teaching and communicating to the millennial and generation y population. A couple organizations and publications that I have been introduced to and have interest in are the National Communication Association and the Center for Teaching and Learning which publishes the Teaching Innovation Projects Journal (TIPS). These organizations have conferences and other events that would allow me to present and share my research.