Summer's here!

After a fabulous break in Turkey - two weeks of unadulterated sun, sea and fabulous food ;) - (I'm about to post some stuff about my trip on my personal blog) -anyway - I've finally caught-up a bit with my reading. Mostly it was fiction of course (well, I was on holiday), but EVEN (?) this was relevant stuff. (my personal favourite was David Lodge's "How far can you go?" - an hilariously funny account of young couples in the 60's struggling with the rules of Catholicism).

But perhaps the most relevant was Laurel Richardson's Fields of Play, which is kind of a retrospective look at an academic life that is constantly fighting against the bureaucratic hierarchies of the institutional madness that is Sociology in HE. It was thrilling to reading about the impact of Symbolic Interactionism on Richardson's thinking and inspiring to see how successful she'd made crossing the boundaries in such a radical way. A fabulous read and thanks to my supervisor, Liz Hoult for the tip:)

Now on with the transcribing and other stuff - like writing a proper methodology section and perhaps a proper paper which brings together some of this stuff.

The fiction-writer in me is secretly looking forward to the results of my latest 'Challenge' in my local writers' group.

Maybe there'll be some more inspiration there too?

There's something about having a clean and clutter-free room to work in. I can't stand mess. I had a light-bulb moment yesterday, whilst indulging in a (small) packet of licorice allsorts (delish) from my favourite Deal shop The Sugar Boy. It was about this Grounded theory business that has been sitting - unaddressed - at the back of my mind for a year. I've been meaning to look up and 'officially' claim it. But it wasn't until yesterday, whilst reading the brilliant Antony Bryant when I really grasped the connections between what I'm doing and how I'm going to get there (if you know what I mean)....

I've also often (vaguely) thought how relevant Symbolic Interactionism is to my research - for instance the fact that the teachers are 'labelled' with the term 'Grade 3' after they are observed (sometimes by their managers who do actually know them as a person)! There's also lots of other (perhaps more ambiguous) symbolic parallels between my research and these theories as a whole - like the agentic factor i.e. that teachers feel they are 'in control' sometimes and therefore perhaps are more resilient to the stresses of being observed. Also the importance of studying comes through in these theories as central - and of course reflexivity in teaching practice is a crucial point of the observation process - hopefully both for the observed and the teacher and finally the importance of the act of observing itself. The 'Data' and the context are an integral part of the process....




I might be a bit slow, but I've only just read about the connection between these two approaches (i.e. that Strauss came from the same place in Chicago etc. and it kind of adds some weight to what I THOUGHT I already knew (maybe subconsciously)!

Anyway, time to dash and get reading for this meeting. Thought I better add something here as so neglected for a few months. More later....much more to share.

busy month!

Wow - not a single day free in March and not much written on here for a while.
Geneva was a mixed experience - great city. Pictures of the place here . About four of the presentations contained possible relevance to my work...more stuff to follow-up (where do I get the time)?! Their theories of resilience, self-identity and emotions in learning all have lots of overlap with my interests... such as this work from Leeds Met (although focused on students rather than teachers)...

Next month should be a better time - less teaching and events to attend. I'm in London three times in five days next week - although at least being on the train is good reading time...

MMMMMmm onwards (and sidewards).

presenting our thoughts

Here's a short powerpoint that may or may not make sense - but it's a start. Enbedding this powerpoint has been a learning experience in itself!

The end of AimHigher? Who would've thought it? But then, who would have thought it would come to this?

Students flinging fire extinguishers about in Westminster, professors encouraging their students and staff to 'sit in'..and now Gove saying that teachers' training will be unrecognisable by the time he's finished with it. It's difficult to know where to start.

With 50% of current secondary school being 'satisfactory' (meaning UNsatisfactory in Ofsted-speak) or below, and FE colleges doing even worse, there's no doubt that there are some things that are undeniably going badly wrong with our education system.

I'm wondering now what might happen if they inflict the worst on HE - namely Ofsted. I wonder how many Profs out there would put up with the Orwellian world of Ofsted language and 'specialists' in their classrooms (or perhaps I should more accurately say lecture rooms). But then, that's where the FE lecturers went wrong really - they just lack the self-esteem and self-confidence in their abilities... Mmmm well, as I'm writing about the context of the Marketisation of FE through the 90's Incorporation issues, and see what this has done to FE as a whole, I'll be intrigued to see what happens to HE under a similar aproach...

But the snow is here and that has helped (kind of) to allow me space to write and read and write some more. There's a shape forming of sorts. And its very pleasing to read in other's research that conclusions are in line with my own experiences of teaching.

Still time to work on the practicalities, ethics applications, expenses and meetings. I feel at times like (I can only imagine) someone blooming with their pregnancy might feel (as I've often heard said). Its pure magical luxury to be being able to immerse yourself in the readings without the time constraints that usually make my studying just stressful. No teaching commitments (yet); distance (emotional and physical) from difficult family situations; and support from friends and academics that are heartening and (for me) unusual. I suppose it's like the state of being able to enjoy just 'being'.......meanwhile, some kids are just clearing the drive of snow for me (payment of satsumas to follow), but I think Dizzy has other ideas involving football and snowballs. Monkey.

"Thinkering" about Philosophers...

I've always loved coloured glass. I used to collect old perrier bottles when I was young for the very purpose of lining them up on my windowsill and watching the light catch them in the morning. Nothing like this wonderful collection I found in a junk-shop in Rye of course.

Metaphorically, coloured glass is taking on a new significance as I seek an appropriate 'lens' to analyse my inchoative research aspirations for the coming three years. Will it be someone like Bourdieu or Foucault? Or perhaps someone less well-known or perhaps well-used by sociologists...



Mind-maps and sorting keywords into 'relevant' lists seems to be filling alot of my time at the moment. (Maybe something more tangible will come out of the interview I'll be doing on Wednesday). The strangest thing for me at the moment is realising that this really will be the long-term plan. NOT something that I can sit and just 'write' (although I have actually started SOME writing) once I've accummulated all the facts over a few days or even weeks.



Time to read lots and lots and wander the beach with Dizzy seeking inspiration for my ontological dilemmas....feels like such a luxury - even if it is going to short-lived until I get teaching again..

One month in....

Well here I am. A new academic year, a new month. I thought - why not? Lets start a new blog and allow some freedomw for these random thoughts, reflections, worries and joys about my PhD. Three years is a long time not to have somewhere more open to share these kind of thoughts, and maybe - just maybe - there will be other people out there who I can share some of these thoughts with?

Sometime over the next three years hopefully we will also be buying a house, so I will have to let my steam off somewhere.

So, for those of you not sure what I'm even trying to research, here it is:
teaching and learning observations in Further Education. What are they all about, what is the use of them, what impact are they having on teachers and students and most importantly, what can we do to improve them?

As a writer, not only of academic stuff but also of creative stories, I'm attempting to find a way of integrating literary theory into my work (either as a methodology or performance-based research), but of course things are at an early stage.Is anyone else out there attempting this kind of approach?

I'm starting by writing my motivations - my personal learning journey for getting this far. It was the quickest 5000 words I have ever written! So here we are, getting started - writing a little, reading alot and talking to as many people as I can.

I'll let you know how I get on.....