When I decided to return to school as a doctoral student, I did not imagine some of the struggles I would have. The juggle of family, job, and school was an enormous challenge. The financial tag placed a strain on my budget. My friends thought I had disappeared. But I recalled the ebb and flow of the semester and relearned how to schedule myself so that I could devote myself to my studies during certain weeks and come up for air on others. Last semester I was given a difficult assignment by my professor. I chuckle as I write this since I know that every assignment has been difficult. I was asked to explore issues of identity, literacy, and power in a given setting. My classmates chose their research among a broad range of topics: one examined and wrote about identity and graffitti, another wrote about identity and Facebook, and another wrote about identity in an autitstic child with artitstic talent. I struggled with my topic. Most of my classmates were teachers and many were able to work with current students or former students or students' friends. As an administrator I wanted to explore how principals and administrators express their identity. Someone suggested I study blogs.
I got lucky on my first venture into the blogosphere and wound up on Scott McLeod's site. His appeal to administrators to begin blogging hit home so here I am. As I read the blogs of other administrators, I am reminded of James Gee's work on affinity spaces. In affinity spaces people interact and relate to each other around a common passion, proclivity, or endeavor. By their very nature blogs are a magnet that attract like-minded people.
I will continue to read and study blogs. I am considering if blogs actually foster leadership? What do you think? I would really like to hear from you.
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