It’s been a while since I last posted.
A feeling of guilty hovers over my mind. I need to post more. I should voice my feelings and record my experiences more often. After all, this is my thinking spot. But this is also a shared spot and I don’t want to overwhelm you with my troubles. I wish I always had positive remarks to share, but is is not always the case…

Lately I have been reading a lot about narrative inquiry and also writing about what the heck is my paradigm… my personal view and approach to the research I want to do is. This is way important and will justify my entire thesis. See how important it is? Shall we say… crucial?!

Although I know exactly where I am coming from, putting it down in words is far more difficult than I had expected. And so, my writing rhythm is decreasing… yet again! It takes me much longer than expected to fill in those white word documents with paragraphs that convey any kind of sense about my point of view, and express where I expect to arrive at with it.  Yeah… you’ve got it! This is another moment of disillusion. With MYSELF! I swear I used to be faster… in my thinking and in my writing too. The older I get, the slower I become. A action-reaction of a process I can’t change, I know. But you would also think that I would get more skilled…. I would…I did…!

So while I try to find my epistemic position about what I am doing and express it in an intelligible way (because it is all enclosed within the mind…! Honestly, it is there…I just need to find a way to get it on paper…) I always come back to the same thing: People! It’s all about the people. That’s what I want to learn about and from. That is also the way I direct my work. I like people. I like to hear their stories. I want to learn with them. And I also want to learn how I can help them…and in exchange they are helping me!

So, natürlich… I have to look at a methodology that contemplates the individual…that allows me to listen, and understand, the single individual! I want them to tell me their stories, their own way. And I want them to learn about themselves through their own narratives… and, if not asking too much, I also would like them to tell me that my interpretations of their own realities coincide, or not, with their own perspectives. I want to share my research data with my research participants. I want them to feel they are really part of it and not just an instrument of one more piece of research they helped a silly student accomplish.

In short, I want my research project to be an ongoing, interesting conversation with people who have something important to share, because of their experience and the contexts they are in and move about. It’s their lived experience and the choices they have made while living it that I am after.

So yes, stories are important to me. They belong to my childhood. To the cold, raining evenings I spent sitting around fireplaces listening to the stories adults told each other. There was warmth in the voice of the narrator. Always! There was also comfort in that environment… an environment that is no longer there, because the people… they are long gone!

Is the web providing spaces for that dialogue to emerge as a renewed practice? Are networks, communities… the interactions (and interrelationships) we establish online the modern form of telling, and creating, stories while sitting around the virtual fire place? And those who do not feel the need to seek and cultivate those links online, are they still experiencing the spirit of sharing and learning through narrative in the old fashion way, or do they simply not miss it at all?

We are all different. We will all have different stories to tell. We will all have a different take on what the world has come to. And that is what I am interested in learning. You. Your perspective.

Well, so this is it. More to follow. Now let’s put this into a dissertation language…

oohhh – I can see the writer’s block approaching again…

A couple of weeks ago I went to see Nitin Sawnhey talking about his career. I must say, to my embarrassment, I knew nothing about this artist before that day, but I was quite pleased to come away from this event with a little bit more understanding about his music and influences, and, especially, about the philosophy that is behind his art. That was, probably, what fascinated me the most.
Nitin Sawnhey’s music feature a rich diversity of sounds and cultural influences. His work is the result of many, many collaborative links he has developed over the years. Each record, or composition, features different collaborators, who inevitably ‘affect’ the end result.

Nitin talks about his life and career in music from Andrew Dubber on Vimeo.

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I have just come back from the Joint Technology Enhanced Learning Winter School. It brought together young and senior researchers in the field of TEL in meaningful discussions. It was great fun too.

Each day new topics were introduced and there was an effort to make the sessions as much interactive as possible. In comparison with past experiences, the winter school presented some positive changes on how this kind of events can be organised. I appreciated the attention given to active participation, and I especially liked the fact that there was a genuine concern to learn about the participants’ research projects in the very first day. In my humble opinion, that did add some value to our being there. All of a sudden, it was not only the projects of renowned researchers that really mattered. In a way, we were also given space to present ourselves. It felt like our research project is also valued…that we were not there only to ‘absorb’ expert knowledge.

As I mentioned before, time was an issue for me personally. Isn’t it always? When we have the opportunity to engage in discussions that interest us, we do not want to be interrupted.  We wish we can go on for as long as the conversation remains meaningful, and someone has something to add to it. Following a schedule, in which sessions are ‘confined’ to time slots, can restrict the learning experience. But I also know a structure is needed. Time is always an issue…

But overall the experience was extremely positive.

In the last day we were asked to provide our opinion about the winter school experience. We were given three cards, to jot down three main ideas.

I don’t think I was able to express what this week meant to me in the short time I was given …

So here is my second try. I will use three interrelated ‘key-words’ to summarize my views on the Winterschool. These are:

‘People

‘Atmosphere’

‘Connections’.

The winter school brought together quite an interesting cohort of

people!

The group was not too big nor was it too small. Yet, I didn’t manage to get to know everyone…. Something I will have to work on next time.

I think that all the people who took part in this experience contributed to the coherence of a meaningful, friendly (and cosy, I’d risk to say) environment. The

atmosphere

established from early start was really, really important. The fact that our research project was ‘put on the spot’ did make people pay attention to each other. At least, for 3 minutes everyone got to tell others: ‘I am here’; ‘I too am doing research, and this is what my project is about’. [how many times do you join and leave similar events without knowing why other people are there?]. That I thought…was really important, independently how painful it is to stand there and present for 3 minutes… when it felt almost 3 hours. [ I must say I am not a good presenters. Yet, I try to challenge myself as much as I can and trust me…I have improved. Somehow, I always prefer to present to people I don’t know…and especially, without any ‘experts’ in the ‘surroundings’… it makes me feel more comfortable in my speech (silly I know…).

And this takes me to ‘tag’ 3:

Connections.

I knew that I would be making new connections. That is what I cherish the most about these events. That is exactly why I applied to be part of this experience. I love to have access to other people’s ideas and experiences. I learn by exchanging thoughts and resources with them. Often in times, my thoughts are formed as the conversations take place…a result of such interactions. I truly believe in learning as being an outcome of reflected practice and shared experiences, which is most likely to consciously emerge as a result of the stories we create, the narratives we ‘write’.

So that is why ‘learning’ was not on of the chosen ‘tags’…simply because it is implicit in all the other ones.

People are my main source of knowledge. The atmosphere they help to create eases my learning process and it is the connections I cultivate that will sustain it in the long run.

For all of this, thank you all so much for this experience.

A special thanks for Christian and Marion for all the effort made to make this a wonderful week.

Even Christian’s  famous bell (to keep us on time) and the constant click of Marion’s camera will be missed!

Last night @m_a_s_c , @krajagopal and I were talking about education. In General!

It all started with talking about doing a PhD and not feeling we have the same kind of ‘endurance’ we had when we first went to University. The three of us, although in different countries, have experienced similar educational structures, which basically make students focus on memorizing techniques as an efficient strategy to beat the system and get the passing grade which will take you to the next level.
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I am off to the JTEL Winter School on Advanced Learning Technologies 2010

It was quite a surprise to have received a scholarship, and quite short notice too. I can’t believe it’s already about to start! WOW

I am excited about the programme. It seems to be quite hands-on.

I was asked to create a three minute presentation about the ’state’ of my research. I wish I could report more about my PhD progress, but it is still early days ….

Still, I hope my fellow colleagues find it interesting. And you too!

I am looking for people’s feedback, as usually. It helps me think about it from different angles!

If you link to slideshare, you will be able to see my slide notes on the ‘note tab’, just below the slides.

Today’s been a complicated day, if for nothing else because I hate chairing meetings!!!!!  On top of that this was a meeting that touched on a very sensitive area: changing practice. Although this allows me to kind of stick my nose into someone else’s practice and look at ways how it could be improved, especially with the use of technology, such activity does not get me many friends!
Changing practice and attitudes of others is sooooooo difficult. And actually I hate having to play the ‘evangelist’. Throughout the years I have learnt that we cannot change others, they need to want to change themselves and achieve it  on their own accord (even if with the helps of other).

OK, so what happened today – which I won’t go much into detail as not to write another boring post, takes me back to my PhD (which BTW, I am enjoying more and more ). Reading about different academic takes on the use of technology, and how they see collaboration and networking as a key feature of their activity has opened up a new world towards me.
I am now reading this book on ‘The Intellectual and Social Organization of the Sciences’, by Richard Whitley, and find it really interesting to learn about the distinctions he makes between disciplinary groups and their tendency to conduct their academic practice in a more collaborative way or not. He presents two determinant factors for it: ‘degree of mutual dependence’ and ‘degree of task uncertainty’.
In a very plain way, what Whitley says is that individuals, whose academic practice depends on the contribution of other individuals and disciplines, are more likely to collaborate with others. This can happen, for instance, if you are doing multi- or inter-disciplinary research, or even connecting to industry.

The same applies to task uncertainty. In fields where task uncertainty is higher, and where conducting research often takes the researchers out of their  comfort zone, the need to communicate the research process and engage with others is more noticeable than in areas in which task uncertainty is fairly low and often easily dealt with by appropriate research training.

It is a case to say that the need determines the approach, and in groups where diversity exists, the levels of adaptability to others’ realities are greater. Also, this can be so because they are more exposed to different sources of influence, which shape and transform their research culture and traditional habits.

But there is also another element to consider: personal traits, I’d think. I still haven’t finished reading this book, so I don’t know if the author will focus on it or not. I will keep you posted!

Now going back to my impressions…

I would also think that those who lack some kind of learning/ critical network around them would try to search for opportunities to connect to, and with, other like-minded people. In an age that is said to be so high tech and globally connected, you would think that no one would be complaining about isolation and the absence of people whom they can discuss their interests with. Unfortunately, for many, technology is still seen as a very impersonal form of communication, when in a matter of fact, when we allow it, it can be a great channel to convey that ‘human touch’ the learning experience so much requires…

Yet, everywhere I go, that is not what I hear. When I talk to PhD students, they all seem, in one way or another, to voice the same opinion: that doing a PhD can be quite a lonely venture.

And I wonder why?

So far, I have informally gathered some reasons why [they think] this is so. Some say they don’t know where to start when it comes to cultivating their network; some admit (almost resigned with their fate) that they feel quite isolated while doing their PhD, but they don’t seem to think they can share any of their ideas with others until it’s all published, in case someone decides to steal them; some have never even considered that there are other PhDs and experts out there they can get in touch with,  etc…
Then I ask about their supervisors, and most often there seems to a matching pattern to the way their students conduct their studies. Supervision is, in many cases,  still very traditional, based on one-to-one scheduled conversations, with little scope for students to access their wider networks (probably because they are not that easily available and accessed…)

So this gets me thinking. It’s important to understand how different disciplines are networking as part of their academic activity. When it comes to researchers and their supervision habits, it also seems important to look at ways in which they are providing PhD support and forms through which their practice could be enhanced in an contextual form.
Furthermore, we cannot forget that the PhD students of today will be the supervisors of tomorrow. And the type of supervision they have received will most likely also influence the kind of supervision they will provide.

Meanwhile, I decided to make a google search to find out what kind of PhD supervision and support is being offered in PhD (by research) programs all around the world (here in the ‘digital village’… sort of speak). The findings were very limited. The few programs I found still claim to be ‘Distance Learning’ and most often demand students attend their yearly residential programs, but nothing is mentioned about how communication with supervisors will be maintained (which can induce to some flexibility how this can be done, and which is good). Besides that, there is no mention of students being able to connect to other students, or even the existence of any kind of  (online) learning community to break the circles of isolation….but then, maybe, we would be looking at online / networked learning…right?!

I think it must be pretty miserable to do a PhD without the support of your Personal Learning Network (PLN). Gosh…where would I be without you? Once in a while I need to vent my ideas, thoughts, feelings here and know I am read [even if not always understood! ]. Everyday, I need to connect to like-minded people and have ‘access’ to their ideas, experiences, etc. That’s my fuel.  It keeps my brain working!!!
I don’t really need or want anyone to write my PhD for me [ although writing in not one of my talents], but I surely need to share the ideas I will be gathering throughout this process.

Isn’t everyone like this? Apparently not!

P.S. If you know of any PhD (especially by research – UK like) programs online please share them with me. I would like to learn more about the approaches that are being developed in this area. There seems to be a lot in place for teaching and learning (k12 and undergraduate) but not so much for research students.

Academic Tribes and Territories, Intellectual enquiry and the culture of disciplines

by Tony Becher and Paul R. Trowler

[Random thoughts about texts I have been reading. Please notice that I am still trying to make sense of this all and therefore welcome your critical comments. I am sure they will help me look at the topic from different angles and perspectives. It is this kind of challenge I am looking for! ]

As part of my PhD literature Review I have been looking at the ‘culture of disciplines’, i.e., looking for research focusing on the specificities and commonalities of disciplinary fields. How do academics of a given field ‘do things around here‘? Do people in different areas of expertise have totally different approaches to how knowledge is constructed and disseminated in this day and age?  Does the nature of their disciplines dictate the way they conduct their academic practice? Can we say as a fact that people in social sciences are less keen on establishing collaborative links than people from natural sciences, for instance?

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[This is not a post about recent ideas or opinions regarding education in general. This is a post about my own education and the cumulative experiences which have contributed to what and where I am today and what and where I want to be in the future. I welcome your comments on my personal views of my own trajectory (otherwise I wouldn't have posted it here). However, if you are not willing to spend the last few minutes reading my lame story, you might want to skip this one! And that's fine. ]

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Today a really good friend of mine emailed to tell me about her impressions on a conference she has recently been to about innovation and creativity.
Her thoughts and feelings about it are interesting…what (I think) she let us read in between the lines of her reflection is even richer.

For those who can’t read Portuguese, Teresa is a teacher, but she is not just an ordinary teacher (I often ask myself if there are/should there be ‘ordinary’ teachers…). In my opinion … in my ideal world… all teachers should be… are extraordinary souls whose main goal is to encourage others to learn not only about the world around them, but also about the world within themselves.
And talking about extraordinary educators…Teresa is one of them! Over the years I have followed Teresa’s endeavours in constantly (re)creating new learning situations in which she eagerly involves her students. She takes them into reading adventure, engages them in webquest and many other activities which allow them to discover their own language and literature from a totally different perspective: theirs! Teresa is never short of creativity. Experimenting new strategies to innovate in and beyond the classroom is her practice motto. Sharing it with others has now been taken to a new level as she organises training sessions in her own school (for her colleagues) and also in her country in an attempt to pass on not only the experiences, but also the enthusiasm that marks the teaching, and also the learning, of this EXTRAordinary educator.  It is in her enthusiasm and her commitment to create contextual  learning and engaging experiences that she constantly (re)discovers creativity and innovates in the ‘simple‘ attempt of making a difference (in others’ learning world).

In several conversations we have had, Teresa has always referred to her practice and her role more as a teacher and a teacher trainer, rather than a researcher. She claims she is not ‘gifted’ to the theoretical stuff‘, but what she still hasn’t probably realized is that she is both a researcher and a research subject of her own practice, as she constantly reflects and re-evaluates her practices, thus finding ways of improving and/or building on those same  practices, whilst openly sharing them with relevant networks and communities she participates in.

IMHO, Teresa you are the idea 21st century scholar: someone who identifies a ‘problem’, reflects about it, engages directly with it, brings their networks in for support, feedback and collaboration, and openly disseminates the practice processes, findings and reflections  in an attempt to inform practice and generate new ‘action-research’.

Definitely, researchers and practitioners should be working more closely together. It can only add value to education. But I also believe that practitioners at a given point are also researchers of their own practice and their own context. And I can only wish that more action-research could be done, and valued, in the field of education, and social sciences in general.

As a final comment to your comment of feeling divided between being a researcher, a teacher and a teacher trainer. I’d definitely agree that you are the result of the three, and it is exactly the combination of the three fields that make you excel as an educator, whose research/learning/teaching practice has impacted on so many learners… (as we well know).

… good teachers will also be reminded for the positive impact they have in our intellectual and personal growth!

Random thoughts…

The new academic year is about to start, and I need to start working on some ideas which might help researchers and PhD students enhance their Personal Learning Networks. My purpose is to give them a different perspective of the Internet, beyond email exchanges and content search. During last year’s workshop, I realized that a fair amount of our PhD community is still quite conservative when it comes to using the web in a more interactive way. I am sure if a study was conducted several factors would emerge as reasons why the researchers present different opinions about using the web to enhance their academic activity. I would guess that from discipline specific research culture, their role models’ practice, nature of the research, to fear of opening up their unpublished ideas to a bigger, strange world, might be amongst the reasons pointed out.

Not being part of the online world does not exclude them from their research circles, but equally doesn’t give them the opportunity to enhance their professional network through different channels. The web they can extend one’s connections way beyond of what the institution traditionally may offer as networking possibilities. Actually, I am not even sure if the institution as such has ever consider that to be a crucial, and influential, aspect of their staff’s career and development. Or better put, they might, but that is something that is not visibly expressed in their criteria. The researcher however might feel the need to discuss with his/her peers about research related topics. Those who have well established networks know who to go to, those who don’t – and here I am referring especially to young career researchers, who, for that same reason, might still not have gather enough experienced in the field to cultivate a sustainable network around them might find t more difficult to find people interested in their area who they can consult with. That for me is a key issue of my learning and research: to be exposed to different opinions, perspectives, experiences… And I know that connecting only with the researchers and practitioners in my local whereabouts is just not enough, as there aren’t that many. Hence, I see my participation online as a passport to a more ‘global’ perspective, which I can have access to almost immediately, and often in times for free. And yes, that is also important, because as a student money is not abundant, and going to conferences or take part in many kind of research activities cost amounts of money many students are often not able to spare. That is therefore also another plus of the web in my own experience.

I can experience learning in meaningful groups for free and independently of any institutional provision. The tools are there free of charge. My willing to connect to a wider world is also there. My enthusiasm to participate is not connected to any certificate and that usually frees up my mind to focus on what is more relevant: my learning rather then any external quantification of it. And so that freedom to connect, to choose where, when and with whom to network is, for me, the added value of cyberworld.