AoEA EduKIT: Rethinking Report Writing

18th Apr 2024

The AoEA Education Keeping in Touch meetings (EduKITs) are for AoEA members to listen to guest speakers, share knowledge and best practice whilst also providing a forum for peer discussion & support. They occur fortnightly at 5.30pm Thursdays during term time. Book your place here even if you are not a member.

For this EduKIT we will welcome Dr Susan Mandala, Associate Professor (Research) in Pragmatic Stylistics at the University of Sunderland. She will talk about report writing... with a difference.

Rethinking Report Writing: An EduKIT presentation by Dr Susan Mandala

Writing is hard. Few would disagree with that. But for educationalists, writing matters. Whether it is reports for school improvement; evaluations of school governance; strategic plans for curriculum development; or expressions of our own professional ability, writing affects lives. When writing works, the right things get done, the right projects get off the ground, the best ideas come to the fore. Increasingly, however, we see writing that disappoints. Data is described rather than analysed; ideas are generated but not organised; conclusions are made but do not flow from the account presented. In this EduKIT, I explore, from my perspective as a linguist, writer, and writing consultant, why such issues occur, why conventional writing advice often fails us, and how two techniques from qualitative research, thematic coding and card-sorting, are a way forward for writing in education.

Dr Susan Mandala is Associate Professor (Research) at the University of Sunderland and a professional Writing Consultant. As a specialist in stylistics, the study of choice in language, she has published two books (Language in Science Fiction and Fantasy: The Question of Style and Twentieth Century Drama as Ordinary Talk: Speaking Between the Lines) and numerous scholarly essays and journal articles. She is currently interested in the way linguistic approaches apply more widely in other disciplines and professions, and her latest article ‘Stylistics, popular culture, and educational research: A systematised review and case study’, is published in English Text Construction, 16 (2): 144-168. As a Writing Consultant, she delivers a range of workshops on diverse aspects of decision-making in writing. In addition to numerous writing workshops with staff and students at the University of Sunderland, she has delivered workshops for the North of Tyne Combined Authority (Writing with Impact); the Holmeside Writers in Sunderland (Linguistic Knowledge for Creative Writers); Washington Academy (Answering a Write About Question); and Biddick Academy (Analysing Language in Literature: Finding Patterns and Planning Your Answer).

For a more information on Susan and a complete list of her publications, you can find her on Linkedin. www.linkedin.com/in/susan-mandala-phd-6a94b7290

You may also enjoy her blog on dissertation literature reviews, A Guide for the Exasperated. https://litreviewsfortheexasperated.blogspot.com/