Foundations of Presenting

The work of a pragmatic fieldworker is also done through written and spoken words. Presenting includes varied forms of representation, including writing, performing, teaching, training, and speaking. Presenting is done in the fieldworker’s various communities. Presenting warranted assertions need not be done when the research is over. In fact, Dewey (1941) combines inquiry and truth, and makes the case that knowledge can never really be disconnected from the process of inquiry. As such, speaking in the midst of a research project is not to be frowned upon. Rather, speaking with certain knowledge after a project is over is to be regarded with skepticism. 

Presentation of ideas is not merely a matter of scholarly elicitation. Researchers have an ethical obligation to speak. To know about an issue but remain silent often plays into unjust social conditions. Speaking also has transformative power on the researcher. Just as performance can alter a person’s relation to the knowledge he or she performs (Jones, 1997, Spry, 2011), a pragmatic fieldworker will often internalize realities of his or her work as he or she presents it. Ultimately, presenting ideas provides resources for action and invitation into inquiry.

Skill Development for Present

Presenting can be improved by studying presentational structure, practicing writing, speaking, and performing for a variety of audiences, and developing new styles of presentation.