Category Archives: reflection

writing more than one thing at the same time – part three, managing

Writing several things at once is often called multi-tasking. This is a term I try to avoid, as it focuses on an action – ‘tasking’. Tasking has two problems – first of all, it doesn’t really highlight the thinking involved … Continue reading

Posted in academic writing, academic writing voice, authority in writing, reflection, reflection on learning, time, writing and thinking, writing more then one thing at once, writing regularly | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

managing the PhD – keeping a journal

The PhD is often stressful and trying. Nevertheless, most people do get through it. Many PhDers keep a journal to help work through the difficulties, challenges and worries that they experience.  Writing about the everyday can of course just be … Continue reading

Posted in journal, journaling, PhD, reflection, reflection on learning, starting the PhD, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

taking the doctoral walk

This is a guest post from Susan Gollifer, a doctoral researcher in education at The University of Iceland. Susan’s research looks at teachers and human rights curriculum. I am coming towards the end of a two-month Erasmus placement at a … Continue reading

Posted in academic writing, reflection, reflexivity, supervision, supervisor, Susan Gollifer | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

after the field work – what next?

It’s summer in the UK and we are officially on leave. Well, only sort of. Most academics manage to squeeze in a bit of time off, but I had my week in France a few weeks ago because I knew … Continue reading

Posted in data, reflection, research project, Tate Summer School | Tagged , | 2 Comments

mulling it over – a thinking tool for reflecting on a research experience

Reflection is one of those weasel-ly words that can mean anything and nothing. Most of us acknowledge that we need to do it, but what does it actually mean as a practice? You are probably familiar with Donald Schön’s (a) … Continue reading

Posted in conceptual, experience, introspection, recollection, reflection, reflexivity, theory | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

sustain your writing – find a palate cleanser or ten

We all know what a palette cleanser is right? We’re academics so we must have encountered the ubiquitous sorbet either in chilly reality or on one of those food porn tele programmes :)? Or we’ve been to a wine tasting … Continue reading

Posted in academic writing, books, mental space, palette cleanser, reading, reflection, reward, theory | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

can you write about mess in your thesis and if so how? part two

Peter Matthews continues his post about writing about the messy bits of his research. In my previous post I reported the “positive story” of my fieldwork – reflecting on that feeling of “connection” with my research participants in the narrative … Continue reading

Posted in crafting writing, Dr, informants, publishing, reflection, research methods, rules of engagement, snowball sample, thesis | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

can you write about mess in your thesis, and if so, how? part one

This post is written by Dr Peter Matthews who works in the School of the Built Environment at Herriott Watt. Peter’s blog is Urbanity…History and he tweets as @urbaneprofessor. I asked him to show and tell how he talked about … Continue reading

Posted in academic writing, interview, mess, PhD, reflection, research methods, thesis | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments