How to Write for Positive Social Change
We may bandy around the term positive social change so much that it
may start to feel like another requirement, another box to check on the long
list of goals to reach before finishing a degree. Sometimes, in the thick of
course work or individual research, you can start to lose sight of the forest
among the trees. It is important, and even energizing, to step back and reflect
on the ways that the work you do can have a real impact on the world around
you, from the most personal all the way to the global level.
Putting things into words is the
first step before turning those words into action. The writing you do at Walden
is a way for consolidating and refining your vision for the change you want to
see. That’s the powerful thing about writing: It gives us the chance to
articulate not just what is, but what could be. In order to make a better
world, we have to first imagine one.
If you are pursuing a degree at
Walden University that requires you to complete a thesis, dissertation, or
doctoral or project study, one essential element you are required to explain is
how the whole undertaking contributes to positive social change. But what does
that mean, exactly? “Making the world a better place” can seem like a vast and
overly vague enterprise. You may feel overwhelmed by being asked to explain how
what you’ve been doing at your desk, alone in the library, or on your computer in
your precious free moments could amount to something that could change the
course of other people’s lives—but that is exactly what you are meant to do.
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| image (c) http://www.besocialchange.com |
Social Change Implications: Challenges and Approaches
One trap that writers can fall
into is overstating the implications of their work to the point beyond what a
generally informed reader would find logical. Be sure that the claims you make
about your research fit the scope of what you can accomplish in a single study.
If you are studying the relationship between effective management strategies
and better client outcomes at a nonprofit organization for runaway adolescents,
you will have a hard time convincingly arguing that your study will directly result
in the eradication of teen homelessness worldwide—that’s a problem that is just
too big for you to tackle alone. Remember that your study is one drop working
together with many, many other drops all flowing in the same direction. Add up
all those drops, and pretty soon you have a wave starting to carry things
along.
The other mistake writers make is
to understate or even diminish the study’s potential for positive impact for
the very reason that the problem is too big for one person to take on; it’s just
one little study, so how could it have any effect on how things get done in the
rest of the world?
At a recent residency, a woman
was describing to me her research proposal. She wanted to investigate
strategies for helping kindergarten students in her school district who were
underprepared at the beginning of the school year so that they would be better
able to learn to read alongside their peers. “I’m really passionate about this
issue,” she told me, “but I don’t know what it has to do with positive social
change.”
Here’s the key to explaining your
study’s implications for social change without over- or understating them—start
with the tangible impact this new
knowledge will bring and with the one individual or group of individuals you
know will specifically benefit, and then see how far the wave crashes.
“Well,” I said to this student,
“it might be helpful to start thinking about who would specifically benefit
from your study and in what way.”
“You mean, why is it important
for children to learn to read?” she said, sort of laughing.
Stopping to think through how her
work was going to help the teachers and students in her study helped her see
right away how those benefits could ripple out to the rest of the community. Strategies
to improve literacy at an earlier age would help students achieve more success
as they progressed through school, giving them more educational opportunities.
Investigating the effective strategies could help educators bring the benefits
to other schools and communities as well. No, she wasn’t going to solve the
problems with literacy preparation in the education system in one study, but
she was going to add an important drop to the wave moving things in that
direction.
Creating a Wave of Positive Social Change, One Drop at a Time
I am proud of Walden’s commitment
to promoting positive change in the world. Whether it is in discussions with
colleagues or interactions with students, the feeling is utterly palpable that
everyone is genuinely interested in leaving whatever they touch a little better
than they found it. As students, you commit your time and resources and
dedicate months—often, years—of your lives pursuing degrees and researching
topics that you will then use to help those around you and others in your field
to progress and improve.
If it starts to get hard to see
how the research you’re doing could realistically change the course of human
events, or how one letter to the editor or discussion post could realistically
change another person’s mind, just remember that your voice is one voice among
many. One little drop may not seem as if it can do much on its own, but the
resulting waves can carve and re-carve the very surface of the globe.
Other posts you might like:
Global Days of Service Week is Coming! #IAmSocialChange
Writing for Change on Earth Day (and Every Day)
Other posts you might like:
Global Days of Service Week is Coming! #IAmSocialChange
Writing for Change on Earth Day (and Every Day)
Seeing the variety of social change projects Walden students pursue is one of Dissertation Editor Lydia Lunning’s favorite parts of reading dissertations.
Global Days of Service week is coming! #IAmSocialChange
Here at Walden, we have a unique commitment to helping students become scholar-practitioners who can use their education to enact social change in
their communities and in the world. Beginning in 2006, Walden designated a
particular day of the year—called the Global Day of Service—for students,
staff, faculty, alumni, and friends to volunteer together.
This year, Walden is celebrating the Global Days of Service
throughout an entire week (Sept. 30-Oct. 6). Starting Monday, look for these ways to get involved:
- Read and comment on new posts here on the Writing Center Blog.
- “Writing for Social Change: Exploring Perspectives,” the first webinar in a new series, will take place Wednesday from 6-7 p.m. Eastern time. Register here to join us for a discussion of social change, its definitions and perspectives, and how it connects to writing.
- Sign up for volunteer opportunities—including ones that involve writing—through the Walden Service Network.
- Are you a new doctoral or master’s student with a plan for effecting positive social change? Consider applying for one of Walden’s Commitment to Social Change Scholarships (applications are due October 1). In December, Walden will award
- one $25,000 scholarship to a new doctoral student,
- three $5,000 scholarships to new doctoral students,
- three $2,500 scholarships to new master’s students.
- Head to the Scholars of Change video contest Facebook page to cast your vote--and to be inspired.
- Follow the Global Days of Service across social media with the hashtag #IAmSocialChange.
Many members of the Walden community will volunteer next week or join a service project to celebrate the Global Days of Service. We encourage you to do the same, but also to dedicate some time to thinking about your ongoing role in enacting social change and how writing might play a part in that role.
What are your plans for the Global Days of Service? Do you have ideas for other ways to get involved? Share in the comments!
Visit this page for more information on the Global Days of Service.
Maintaining Confidentiality (Part 1)
A key component of ethical research for many social science studies is maintaining the
confidentiality of participants.
This confidentiality means not identifying individual participants and
usually also not identifying the study site (e.g., a school, a company, or some
other institution) or community partners, depending on what information you
agreed to protect in your research plan submitted to the Institutional
Review Board (IRB) for approval. This post points out a few places in your
capstone study where you should be careful not to identify your study site
inadvertently.
Dissertation Editor and Web Content Coordinator Paul Lai joined the editing team in 2011 and recently expanded his role into web content coordination for the Writing Center.
Dedication and acknowledgements:
You may want to thank your participants and study site for allowing you to conduct your research. If so, remember to refer to them only in general terms rather than naming them as individuals or organizations.Evidence of the problem at the local level:
For EdD Doctoral Studies in particular, you may find yourself inadvertently citing statistics and other material from your study site to provide necessary evidence for your problem. For other capstone studies, you may face a similar issue when you need to explain the need for your research at your study site. The second post in this series on maintaining confidentiality will focus more on recommended strategies for writing about the site without revealing its identity.Setting and participants:
When you describe your setting, the study site, you may find yourself providing information such as region, state, school district, statistics, or other features of the site that inadvertently reveals your study site. For example, if you note that your study site is the only elementary school in a particular county and then name that county, you have effectively pointed out which school you are studying. Only provide relevant details of the setting and participants to avoid this problem.Appendices:
Students provide a wide range of materials in their appendices, and sometimes that material includes identifying information (in letterheads, signatures, and other content). In general, do not include any letters or other information that you have already submitted to the IRB for research approval. That material is on file with the IRB office and is generally confidential material such as research agreements from study sites. If you must include something that has identifying information such as names, addresses, and other contact information, redact that information.
Stay tuned for another post in 2 weeks with more recommendations on how
to write about your study site without revealing its identity. You might also
take a look at the post at the APA Style Blog, “Let’s
Talk About Research Participants,” which provides some guidance on writing
about individual participants without revealing their identities.
Dissertation Editor and Web Content Coordinator Paul Lai joined the editing team in 2011 and recently expanded his role into web content coordination for the Writing Center.
Keep It Super Simple
One of the most important lessons I’ve ever learned—in writing
and in life—is that less is more.
In my first poetry classes, anxious to sound literary, I stuffed
my writing with odd metaphors, unusual words, and tangled sentences, as though
my sole purpose was to confuse my reader. Then I was assigned a terrifying
project: Cut out every third word of my poems.
At first I resented this assignment (didn’t my professor
know how hard I’d worked on my drafts?), but I was ultimately shocked—and
humbled—to see how such a drastic revision could improve my writing.
Befriending the delete key allowed me to weed out superfluous words (or lines
or even stanzas) from my poems to create more room for what was truly
important.
I relearned this lesson four years later while training to
receive my certificate in teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL).
Whenever my TEFL trainer observed me teach, she’d write the letters KISS on my report. It wasn’t as cutesy
as it sounds; KISS stood for Keep it super simple, a reminder to
avoid asking my beginning English students convoluted questions such as “Would
anyone in the room maybe be willing to read page 34?” Far better were simple,
concise requests: “Maria, please read page 34.” Again, simplifying my words
helped my meaning shine through.
1. Edit
ruthlessly, and fear not the delete key. Always be on the lookout for
places to cut out extra words or phrases.
Wordy: It has been stated by Jackson (2008), in his study, that most
students at the high school level agree and concur that they are assigned to do
more homework than they like.
Revised: Jackson (2008) stated that
most high school students believe they receive too much homework.
2. Be wary
of conjugations of the verb to be,
which tend to weigh down sentences.
Wordy: There are many reasons that politicians have suggested to support universal
health care.
Revised: Politicians have suggested many reasons to support universal
health care.
Wordy: It was the
accreditation report that convinced the managers to rethink company policies.
Revised: The accreditation report convinced the managers to rethink
company policies.
3. Use simple
words and sentence structures. Remember: Simple language is the clearest
way to express complex ideas.
Wordy: The hospital is running into a panoply of quandaries due to
envisaged removals from next year’s budget
allocations.
Revised: The hospital faces many problems due to next year’s budget cuts.
Wordy: Beginning in 2007, employees expressed concerns about
transparency in the company, to which the company responded by beginning to
hold quarterly town hall meetings.
Revised: In response to employees’
concerns about transparency, the company began holding quarterly town hall
meetings in 2007.
Give these tips and tricks a try, and remember: Keep it super simple!
Kayla Skarbakka, Writing Instructor & Coordinator of International Writing Instruction and Support, is inspired by Walden students' drive to pursue their educational and career goals. She earned her certificate in teaching English as a foreign language in Peru.
Becoming a Writing Nomad
I’ve been under deadline recently
for an article I’m writing. This is a new situation for me, since it isn’t only
a professor’s deadline I have to meet. This time, I have actual editors who expect my manuscript on
time. Scary, right?
Beth Oyler , the Writing Center's webinars guru, recently celebrated her three-year anniversary with Walden.
In anticipation of my
procrastination, I took a few days off work to devote myself fully to reading,
writing, and revising. I hoped that this intensive approach would help me
complete the article on time.
I’ll give away the end of the story: I finished and submitted my article on time. Cue sighs of relief.
Those three days reminded me that writing and reading in such an intensive way is tough! More specifically, I realized that I get restless easily. I become bored with the music I’m listening to, the people around me, the table I’m sitting at, the thing I’m trying to do. You name it, I probably became restless with (and subsequently annoyed with) it during those three days.
Those three days reminded me that writing and reading in such an intensive way is tough! More specifically, I realized that I get restless easily. I become bored with the music I’m listening to, the people around me, the table I’m sitting at, the thing I’m trying to do. You name it, I probably became restless with (and subsequently annoyed with) it during those three days.
But, with all that boredom I knew I had to finish the draft. There wasn’t any extension waiting for me, and no possibility that I could leave the article half-finished. If I didn’t complete the article (and complete it well), at the very least I’d be disappointed with myself. At the most, I’d get kicked off the project.
What I also realized, though, is that my restlessness is normal. It’s just part of who I am and the way I write. But, here’s the secret: That’s okay!
It’s okay that I get restless because I worked around it by becoming what I like to jokingly call myself: A writing nomad. I found that it worked better for me to give into the restlessness periodically rather than pushing through and becoming even more distracted. When I noticed my focus waning, rather than look out the window every few minutes, I moved to a different location. I moved from the library to the coffee shop. Then, I moved back home. Once home, I went from my desk to my bedroom. Each time I moved locations, I gave my mind a mini break. Once I settled into the new location, I renewed my focus and energy. I was able to devote another burst of energy to my writing until I became restless again.
Whether you’re working on shorter assignments like discussion posts and course papers or longer drafts like final papers or a doctoral study, think about the last time you struggled to complete the assignment. Did you get distracted and restless like me? Maybe you, too, need to give yourself a change of scenery or a short break to re-energize and refocus. Try it—see if it works, and let us know in the comments!
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