| Spring 1998 |
Volume 19, No. 1 |
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President-Elect's Column...R. Scott Kretchmar |
| Developing the Academy Program this year presented a challenge that I did not foresee when I began this work. This difficulty did not stem from a lack of qualified speakers, an | absence of new research that could be reported, or a shortfall in topics of interest. Besides having to make tough choices among speakers and themes, what then could this matter have been? |
The problem is actually a good one because I believe it has been caused, at least in part, by the arrival of what I like to call the post-disciplinary period in our field (in Thomas & Nelson, Research Methods in Physical Activity, 3rd ed.). In this era, single-discipline, interdisciplinary, and cross-disciplinary approaches to knowing will still be valid and remain useful. However, post-disciplinary inquiry will require scholars to stray from their disciplinary homes and rely, in part, on knowledge that comes from other places--from years of professional experience, common sense, informed speculations, complex value judgments, and well-honed intuitions. Discipline-generated and grounded information will have to be synthesized with knowledge that does not fit disciplinary models of investigation or tests for significance very well.
This year's conference theme--how we might tell our story more effectively--requires just such a post-disciplinary approach. Saying who we are and what we have to offer, to be sure, rests partly on discipline-based research, information, facts, data. But it does not stop there. It involves the craft of attracting attention, involving our listeners, persuading, and then garnering concrete support. It begs, in short, for good science coupled with passion, communicative skill, and even a bit of wisdom.
Yet, our resumes and often our reputations speak more clearly to the former than the latter because most of us climbed the academic ladder during the so-called subdisciplinary period of kinesiology. Amidst all our research articles, listings of grants, and citations for academic honors, most of us have found it difficult to provide entries that attest directly to our good judgment, to say nothing of our wisdom. Perhaps some of us have found ways, but it still remains difficult for a post-disciplinary program planner like myself to learn and know about that "other side" of our work--that side that tells who we are, what we know, and what we can do beyond our expertise as physiologists, biomechanists, pedagogists, and the like.
Jack Wilmore, I would imagine, faced a similar problem last year. He had to find a number of speakers who were willing to leave their disciplinary homes, at least in part, to offer a variety of experience-based insights, informed judgments, and speculations about why some programs survive (and thrive) and others do not. Undoubtedly, he was less interested in whether a person was a world-renowned sport sociologist than his or her insight into a complex professional dilemma. I have been working to find those kinds of people too--folks who are not just fine kinesiologists but who, for this year's program, have had successful and unsuccessful experiences related to "telling our story."
They will be asked, what works and what does not? How might we shape our argument for different audiences? With all the scientific information about the benefits of the active lifestyle now in our possession, why does our message often appear to have so little impact? When we tell others--such as deans and provosts, legislators, colleagues, and prospective graduate students--about our research and graduate programs, how can we more clearly and forcefully describe their qualities?
In the disciplinary period, members of the Academy who had responsibilities for developing our annual program were often concerned with balancing contributions from the social and biological sciences, pedagogy, the humanities and other categories. Recently, this project has taken on a new face. We have had to ferret out individuals with extra-disciplinary experience and insight--whatever their disciplinary base might be. While challenging, this project is in many ways more exciting. It will allow us to see a number of our colleagues differently, as they address the gentle, complex, and important art of telling our story.
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Last update: May 11, 1998
