Welcome to this new Special Interest Group and discussion area.

Having run a pre-conference event at the Rethymnon CARN 2017 conference last year, it is clear, that people might appreciate CARN providing somewhere for those involved in, or thinking of doctoral study to form a community. So, if you've arrived at this page, you're already interested in doing this! Welcome to the CARN Doctoral Study Special Interest Group (SIG) :smiley:

The purpose of this area is to support us in our work and deliberations in relation to doctoral study. In effect, this means that if you belong in any of the following categories:

- you are currently undertaking doctoral study (in any form or mode)
- you are thinking about starting a doctoral programme
- you supervise doctoral study

then this area might be somewhere for you to share thoughts, ask questions, get support, find new resources etc. In fact, the area should be exactly what people want it to be. The categories above are not meant to be inclusive, so please feel free to let me know what else should be added.

As a starting point, could you please contribute to the discussion "What I would find helpful", indicating ways in which you think this community could best be structured, and operate. I hope we can schedule another pre-conference gathering in Manchester 2018, and if it would be of benefit, we could perhaps organise some virtual meetings during the year.

I look forward to our ongoing collaboration.
Mary (McAteer)

Comments

  • Sustaining part-time study for a doctorate can be challenging in sustaining interest and focus While working full time.
  • edited January 2018
    Indeed it can Brian! Hopefully having a CARN community will give people somewhere for support and encouragement during doctoral study. If you have any thoughts on how we could do this, or how we could structure our interactions, it would be great to see them posted on the 'What I would find helpful' thread
  • I completed my doctorate at Sussex University and did it while working full time and when I had 3 children at home .
    I would love to help doctoral students either in encouragement, or in practical matters such as methods. What I found most difficult with my Ph.D was making sense of data. I can help in doing that. I now teach a course for teachers as researchers and have experience that others might find useful. Can meet anyone in the UK as I get there often with 2 children based in London and am also delighted to travel in Europe in order to help.
    My expertise is schools as organizations, INSET, participatory AR and aspects of language acquisition and TEFL.
    Shai Aran
  • Thank you for this Shai.
    What challenges to other PhD students face? I remember facing real challenges in relation to sustaining full-time teaching, 3 young children (all under 10), and the constant 'invasion' of positivistic thinking coming from the school-based notions of 'quality' and 'accountability' . It was hard to stop myself being sucked into that language, and hence, that way of thinking at times, as I studied my own practice.

    Mary
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