ABSTRACT
Learning academic writing involves getting to grips with the conventions of quality, rigour, academic style, and fine-tuning an argument. Learning from models was not only important for academics but could also be crucial for learning administrative writing. A particularly important aspect of learning was simply to learn by doing, by writing and reflecting on writing. Learning to manage people was one key aspect of adopting higher-level administrative roles which was described as being largely learned through experience. The main value of formal training seemed to be in meeting others in the same role and being able to discuss shared issues – reinforcing the points made about the importance of learning from others. Learning through relationships and collaboration and from others’ feedback was important in most of these areas, although less so in relation to personal administrative writing. Like learning from collaboration, learning by doing could also be a deeply satisfying process.
