The gaps between these posts are growing worryingly longer... I had intended to update the blog at least once a week, if not two or three times a week, but life appears to have caught up with me. The irony is that I love writing, but can't find time to do it because of all the *other stuff* (jobs, bills, rent, work - you know, the unimportant things...). In the relative calm after the storm of job-hunting and PhD writing, I've finally had a chance to come back and update the blog. More importantly, I've also had the chance to think creatively again. Which is useful, as it's given me a tonne of ideas for developing the PhD write-up. Which is not useful, as I need to be focusing on the teaching at the moment, and not the PhD!
Looking back over my more recent posts, and having recently discovered a friend's beautifully-written blog, I wonder what the purpose of this blog is - whether it is an outlet for ideas, some kind of journal or a space for reviewing (which is what I mostly seem to do). I suppose there's no reason it can't be a bit of all those things. Perhaps, more accurately, it is a place to store the things that build up in my head and look at them more objectively. I've always found that a particularly productive way of finding new ideas, even if it's a case of viewing the same old ideas in a new way.
Having sent my final first-draft chapter into the ether, I'm now able to take a similar approach to the PhD. It was always my aim to vomit material onto the page and then look at it from a distance to see what was working and what wasn't. Lots of it doesn't, but some bits feel right. I've also had what may turn out to be a very fruitful idea for the conclusion (the calling card for publishers: look, you want to publish my thesis really!). As I do a few final bits of reading, I've found I'm suddenly coming across lots of avenues that would benefit from further research in the light of what I've been doing so far. This is deeply frustrating, as I'm more aware then ever that I will probably not get the opportunity to do this; at least, not in the near future. I would love to work in higher education again some day, but it's really a case of taking one day at a time at the moment, and I am also very much looking forward to rehoning my skills in the classroom. I suspect (and don't tell anyone this) that teachers are actually far more creative than academics (particularly in the beginning of their careers), despite the lack of research opportunities.
The renewed interest in research is perhaps a knock-on effect of reading my sister's undergraduate thesis. She is finishing off a BA in Early Childhood Studies, with the intention of training as a primary school teacher (and a marvellous one she will make, too), but she has also always had a deep interest in books and reading (a family thing, perhaps?). Her research centres on the government-backed 'Boys Into Books' scheme, which promotes reading to boys in both primary schools and local authority libraries. Having read over her thesis a few times, I've found the whole question of reading schemes and libraries deeply interesting. Like all New Labour schemes, 'Boys Into Books' feels rushed and un-thought-through - a soundbite for a critical media, although it does touch upon some real issues. The assumption is that boys don't like reading and, if they do, they only like to read non-fiction material. The focus of the government is on the consequences for literacy at primary level (that is, the effect on primary league tables). [*As an aside, it was interesting and somewhat disturbing to recently observe a secondary school teacher assure their class that the 'whole point of education' was to fulfil the requirements of exam mark schemes.*] My sister's research highlights several ways in which these assumptions can be contested and several very intriguing avenues of further research. I won't go into it any further here, as it's yet to be examined, but I'll try and come back to it another time!
Other stuff that is hovering in my mind at the moment:
Why, when I read the Fidra blog (see the list of blogs I follow) does the icon on my dashboard change to their icon? No other blog affects my dashboard in this way!
The plug of the extension lead which connects my TV/DVD player etc to the electricity has been sparking worryingly for several weeks. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I'm finding it hard to justify going out and buying a new one when this one does occasionally fufil its purpose; however, how long do I leave it before I accidently burn the flat down? (Undoubtedly taking the whole block with it...) More to the point, what happens if it refuses to comply just before the next episode of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency begins?! Oh, the decisions we must make....
Perhaps my favourite BBC news article of the last few weeks: a very funny nursery rhyme from 1744! (Scroll through to picture 5.)
Looking back over my more recent posts, and having recently discovered a friend's beautifully-written blog, I wonder what the purpose of this blog is - whether it is an outlet for ideas, some kind of journal or a space for reviewing (which is what I mostly seem to do). I suppose there's no reason it can't be a bit of all those things. Perhaps, more accurately, it is a place to store the things that build up in my head and look at them more objectively. I've always found that a particularly productive way of finding new ideas, even if it's a case of viewing the same old ideas in a new way.
Having sent my final first-draft chapter into the ether, I'm now able to take a similar approach to the PhD. It was always my aim to vomit material onto the page and then look at it from a distance to see what was working and what wasn't. Lots of it doesn't, but some bits feel right. I've also had what may turn out to be a very fruitful idea for the conclusion (the calling card for publishers: look, you want to publish my thesis really!). As I do a few final bits of reading, I've found I'm suddenly coming across lots of avenues that would benefit from further research in the light of what I've been doing so far. This is deeply frustrating, as I'm more aware then ever that I will probably not get the opportunity to do this; at least, not in the near future. I would love to work in higher education again some day, but it's really a case of taking one day at a time at the moment, and I am also very much looking forward to rehoning my skills in the classroom. I suspect (and don't tell anyone this) that teachers are actually far more creative than academics (particularly in the beginning of their careers), despite the lack of research opportunities.
The renewed interest in research is perhaps a knock-on effect of reading my sister's undergraduate thesis. She is finishing off a BA in Early Childhood Studies, with the intention of training as a primary school teacher (and a marvellous one she will make, too), but she has also always had a deep interest in books and reading (a family thing, perhaps?). Her research centres on the government-backed 'Boys Into Books' scheme, which promotes reading to boys in both primary schools and local authority libraries. Having read over her thesis a few times, I've found the whole question of reading schemes and libraries deeply interesting. Like all New Labour schemes, 'Boys Into Books' feels rushed and un-thought-through - a soundbite for a critical media, although it does touch upon some real issues. The assumption is that boys don't like reading and, if they do, they only like to read non-fiction material. The focus of the government is on the consequences for literacy at primary level (that is, the effect on primary league tables). [*As an aside, it was interesting and somewhat disturbing to recently observe a secondary school teacher assure their class that the 'whole point of education' was to fulfil the requirements of exam mark schemes.*] My sister's research highlights several ways in which these assumptions can be contested and several very intriguing avenues of further research. I won't go into it any further here, as it's yet to be examined, but I'll try and come back to it another time!
Other stuff that is hovering in my mind at the moment:
Why, when I read the Fidra blog (see the list of blogs I follow) does the icon on my dashboard change to their icon? No other blog affects my dashboard in this way!
The plug of the extension lead which connects my TV/DVD player etc to the electricity has been sparking worryingly for several weeks. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I'm finding it hard to justify going out and buying a new one when this one does occasionally fufil its purpose; however, how long do I leave it before I accidently burn the flat down? (Undoubtedly taking the whole block with it...) More to the point, what happens if it refuses to comply just before the next episode of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency begins?! Oh, the decisions we must make....
Perhaps my favourite BBC news article of the last few weeks: a very funny nursery rhyme from 1744! (Scroll through to picture 5.)
1 comment:
How come I didn't know you had a blog? Poor communication on our part.
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