FRAGMENTS AND APHORISMS FOR CREATING KNOWLEDGE CONTENT IN DIGITAL SPACE

Students participating in an interactive digital environment (called the fishbowl) are addressing the question: How do we stay ‘relevant' when solving problems? In this context, reflexivity refers to thinking broadly and critically about one’s thinking and one’s self in relation to others. This includes critically examining the vocabulary on important subject matters and considering alternative positions. Our paper will show case 'reflexive leadership' in a 'community of inquiry.':

Participant 1: “Doing fragments and aphorisms: The creation of aphorisms comes from our experiences and reflecting on them within the fishbowl. We concisely reflect on fragments of the letters and identify what resonates with us and particularly reflect on that aspect of the letter. Our posts define what we see as the truth based on our opinions and as we continue to grow our aphoristic strategy will grow as well."
Participant 2: "Understanding Action Research: "The way in which we post is based on action research, its a reflective process, consistently challenging us to solve the problem of what to say and what emotions does this letter evoke? The fishbowl is our community and we can research the effect of the letters on our classmates, allowing us to evaluate word choices and reactions. This process and exposure generates a change in how we react to these letters, through practice we become more comfortable and willing to answer the letters, and through reading others reflections we are encouraged to improve our own writing based on what we learn together.”

In other words, Reflexivity means a willingness and capacity to switch position and think about issues from a different angle. You take a couple of steps back and carefully think about the broader issues at stake. ‘Doubt’ is a key component that fuels critical thinking (Schon,1983). A ‘playful frame of mind’ is another.

We aim to reach three large audiences.
1. People wanting advanced theoretical understanding of their position on a subject matter, i.e., scholars and students.
2. The leadership industry—those selling leadership and claiming to improve leaders and leadership through advice, training and recipes.
3. Practitioners expected to contribute to their groups.

We will present a series of “fragments” that are made up of notes, ideas, and aphorisms. Aphorisms are summary texts designed to make an impact. Typically, fragments and aphorisms are less works than gestures, arrows pointing in the direction a person might research, meditate on or develop. Unlike paragraphs or sentences, fragments do not flow directly from and into their bordering text. Instead they are independent, defined by their singularity, by the digital space that encases them – even when they scroll together.

Our purpose for using fragments as a method of communication are the following:
1. To emphasize a particularly important idea you want to get across to the audience by eliminating most words except the ones that carry the most essential meaning.
2. To catch the viewer’s attention and make an idea more memorable.
3. To slow down the pace of the writing by creating additional pausing with punctuation.

References:
1. Invitation ot Reflexive Sociology, Pierre Bourdieu and Loic J. D.. Wacquant, 1992
2. Reflexive Methodology, Mats Alvesson and Raj Skoldberg, Sage, 2001
3. First Person Action Research, Judi Marshall, Sage, 2016
4. Reflective Practitioner, Don Schon, 1983