Abstract:

In the busyness of tertiary education, finding time and space for writing can be difficult for academic staff, especially in a polytechnic where the focus is on vocational training. Our goals in offering an annual writers’ retreat to staff are to develop participants’ skills in writing for publication and to assist them in completing and publishing their research. Each year we offer a five day residential retreat in a beautiful setting where participants can also access recreational opportunities. Participants set and monitor their own writing goals, and also read and review one another’s work. We offer brief workshops on relevant topics requested by participants and ensure everyone is well fed. Over the six years we have run these retreats, we have obtained feedback from participants each year and tracked their research outcomes. Although it can take time for writing completed during a retreat to result in a published output, participants report that they continue to make progress with their writing tasks following the retreat. Our monitoring of participants’ progress with their writing following the retreats signals improved completion of written papers and articles and better quality research outputs, since a number of participants have told us that the writers’ retreats have spurred them on to aim for journal publication or conference presentation rather than simply completing an unpublished summary research report. In addition, writers’ retreats have fostered collegial relationships across disciplines within the organisation. We have developed seven principles to guide our organisation and facilitation of writers’ retreats and to ensure they continue to offer good value to participants. We believe these principles are valuable for others running academic writing retreats across the tertiary sector.

Keywords:

Writing retreats, academic writing, professional development.