ABSTRACT
Work around student writing represents an investment in teaching. All of the participants in the study were evidently committed to their work with students and, in different ways, took seriously the teaching dimension of their role. Martin, a clinical paediatrician at RGU's medical school, speaks positively about the half day a week he spends leading and teaching an undergraduate course: "Sharing one's experience and learning with the next generation, well it's a privilege. Some participants also appeared to define themselves explicitly as 'not a teacher' for a number of reasons. Writing is seen as a set of complex social practices involving issues of power and identity for academic writers. The ethnographic researcher is able to form a composite picture of how participants see student writers and writing and of how they see themselves and their work in relation to this.
