Sunday 9 February 2014

Learning through writing

I haven't written on my blog for quite some time. I haven't been able to find a focus that I could consistently follow through. This weekend I had a conversation with my husband who happens to be a sociologist. I was telling him about a conversation that I had had with a colleague who knows that I write about social capital and who then asked me from what perspective I write. I was able to answer him (Putnam's Bowling Alone). But I also refer to Bourdieu's habitus (a non-academic link provided here). It made me think about how we refer to and use the work of others. In hindsight I am not sure that I know enough about Bourdieu to be talking in-depth about his work. And my hermeneutic phenomenology in my PhD (based on Heidegger's and Gadamer's work) is based on a detailed and committed approach to understanding, but does not scale the heights of true understanding of their philosophical perspectives.

I am therefore going to use this blog as a learning tool for myself. I plan to read and engage with the thinking so that I can make more sense of the difficult concepts - ones that I sometimes avoid on the basis that they are so challenging (not a great thing to admit as an academic!). I really hope that anyone who is still linked into this blog will help me in this learning journey. I am sure that by engaging in discussion, as an active learner I will benefit. If you wish to participate in anyway - by commenting or by writing a guest blog on an area of mutual interest - I would be delighted!!

I choose also to share some pictures that encapsulate some of the important messages in the learning. For me, this picture of my daughters and two of their cousins illustrates the importance of the connections we create in our lives (and I simply love the picture as it makes me smile).


1 comment:

  1. I like your nursing blog. Here is a video review by Jenny, a nursing student. What do you think about the book? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EMLFF0S/ref=rdr_kindle_ext_tmb
    http://youtu.be/V_bem9_g3nI

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