Webinar 3: Higher Education narratives beyond the academy.

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This Webinar is part of the SRHE Newer Researchers Network International Online Webinar Series 2018. The webinars provide a space where researchers can share their research in an engaging, relevant and informative way and to receive constructive feedback from their peers.  This is the second of three webinars and will start discussions ahead of the SRHE Newer Researchers Conference on the 4th December 2018.

Presentation 1
‘From Student to Graduate: Four Learners’ Perspectives of the Professional Doctorate Journey’

Presentation Summary

During this webinar, we will discuss our experiences and perspectives as four female academics who were the first graduates of a new Professional Doctorate programme. We position ourselves simultaneously as researchers and research participants, engaging in collaborative autoethnography to critically reflect on our experiences. We will identify a number of key issues including the need to navigate some significant shifts in identity throughout the doctorate, and how the course structure and peer relationships supported each of us to reach our end goal – the successful completion of our studies. We will conclude the discussion focusing on the potential implications of our experiences for leaders of Professional Doctorates.

Louise Webber,  is a Lecturer in Early Childhood Studies at Plymouth University. Initially she was employed in a Further Education College but after completing her Doctorate wanted to pursue a more research focused teaching career. Her doctorate focused on Mature Women and Higher Education: Reconstructing Identity and Family Relationships.

Helen Goodall is a part-time Senior Lecturer at the University of St Mark and St John and also works independently in the field of professional and organisational development. Her doctorate explored Professional Development: A Participative Study of a Self-facilitated Learning Group.

Valerie Huggins is a Researcher in Early Education for Sustainability for VSO and previously an Associate Professor in Early Childhood Studies at Plymouth University. Since gaining a doctorate, she has taken on senior leadership roles in teaching and learning and internationalisation. Valerie’s doctorate considered the extent to which international study visits promoted the intercultural capabilities of the students who participated.

Karen Wickett is a Lecturer and Joint Programme Leader in Early Childhood Studies at Plymouth University. At the beginning of the doctorate she was employed part time in a Children’s Centre as a teacher and at Plymouth University as a lecturer. Her doctorate explored Beliefs and Relationships during the Transition to School: Parents, Practitioners and Teachers.

Presentation 2

All of us put other people first”:

Narratives from a participatory photodiary study with university student carers

Summary

Drawing on research with university student carers, this presentation offers recommendations to support this population. Our starting point is the current policy context in which caring responsibilities are seemingly incompatible with full-time higher education. Through findings from visual and textual data generated in co-production with student carers, we underscore the multi-layered challenges they face when simultaneously performing their caring duties and pursuing a degree. We show that student carers are conscious of their societal role and appreciative of the support available, but also susceptible to misrecognition, physical and mental strain, and barriers to accessing support within and outside the University.

Authors’ biographies

Jacqueline Priego-Hernández is a Senior Lecturer in Social Psychology at the University of Portsmouth. Her expertise lies at the intersection between education and healthcare interventions for the psychosocial wellbeing of youth in socially excluded communities. She is a chartered member of the British Psychological Society, with a PhD and MSc in Social Psychology from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Debbie Holley is Professor of Learning Innovation and the Head of the Centre for Excellence in Learning at Bournemouth University, where she co-convenes the UoA23 (Education) submission for REF2021. She is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a National Teaching Fellow. Her research interests are in overcoming the barriers to formal/informal learning, engaging students inside and outside the formal classroom, and ensuring equitable provision for all students entering HE.