Category Archives: reflexivity

unlearning – a tiny reflection

There’s a lot of learning that goes on in universities. Of course, I hear you say, that is what universities are about. Yes, but I’m thinking particularly about the learning that goes on during the doctorate and afterwards. On and … Continue reading

Posted in de-familiarisation, reflexivity, the familiar, unlearning | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

making the familiar strange – two book recommendations

Today, as this post publishes, I’m giving a talk to postgraduate researchers. One of the things I will talk about is why it’s important for all researchers to practice seeing things differently. We already have ways of describing this imperative … Continue reading

Posted in creativity, defamiliarisation, reflexivity, research methods, the familiar | Tagged , , , , , | 9 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

making the familiar strange – what’s that about?

I’m doing a set of posts about writing the methods chapter/the thesis sections which address methods and methodological concerns. When writing about their research process, doctoral researchers sometimes refer to the need to deal with things that up till then … Continue reading

Posted in methods chapter, reflexivity | Tagged , , , , | 4 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