Footnotes - My PhD in the Making

Researching with, rather than about people.

In this episode I share my reflections on whether or how to continue podcasting while conducting research with various schools. I have started my fieldwork and share feeling torn between being present and focusing on my ethnographic deep-dive-design, while wanting to keep up with other aspects of academia and life. I explore doing research with, not about people and my consecutive decision that researching with people, means finishing this first season here. This is the final episode of Seasons One. 

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A deep dive into what I learned during my first PhD year at Cambridge.

This is not a magic recipe on how to make your PhD experience any less messy. The messiness is part of it. Today’s episode is somewhat different: rather than sharing about the process of my PhD, I reflect on everything around this PhD journey. I share six personal reflections and learnings that made this first year more tangible, my progress more measurable and my reflections deeper. What is your favorite learning?

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In today’s episode, you are entering a Montessori Classroom. In nine minutes, I give you an insight into what makes Montessori Education so unique, criticisms on this educational approach and its shortfalls. While this Podcast is primarily reflecting on my PhD journey, in today’s episode I uncover my personal research interests in education and peacebuilding as a tool for change.

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Being empathetic towards the communities we research with is what counts most.

As a qualitative researcher, you are often labelled as either an insider or an outsider. In today’s episode I propose to see insider-outsiderness as a spectrum. I elaborate on the importance to walk the fine line between complete involvement and conscious detachment. Identities are fluid, and so are our roles as insiders and outsiders.

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Have you ever thought about the power of your own words?

This week’s episode is dedicated to problematise the word ‘empowering’. In the context of cross-cultural education and international development there is often talk about ‘empowering others’. I dive deeper into who gives power to whom, how does that inform injustices, the inherent power imbalance of the researcher-participant relationship and the way in which our words shape the way the world is.

Further Resources:

Skeggs, B. (1994). Situating the Production of Feminist Ethnography. In M. Maynard & J. Purvis (Eds.), Researching Women’s Lives From A Feminist Perspective. Routledge.

Torres, R. A., & Nyaga, D. (Eds.). (2021). Critical research methodologies: Ethics and responsibilities. Brill.

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The only true motivation for the choice of context, is to genuinely understand and learn what is happening in the context.

In this weeks episode, I share three questions with you that help you reflect on the overarching aim of your research. I question researchers choice of context and wonder if there can ever be a space for western researchers in the Global South. I invite you to reflect on the implications of consciously choosing to stay in or out of a specific context, question what it means to choose being passive in fear of perpetuating structural problematics and share some of my personal answers to these questions with you.

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Cherry Picking Methodologies and comparing Ethnography to a Party.

Choosing your methodological approach in research might be one of the most decisive decisions you take.

If you listen in, you hear me sharing how I grapple with methodological decisions, what factors I take into account, how I question the practice of ‘cherry-picking’ methodological elements by academics and why I am torn between a multiple case study approach and Ethnography.

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We can now learn anything, anytime, anywhere.

For me, the pandemic revolutionised what I consider to be ‘learning’. In this episode, I reflect on my developing understanding of the concept of learning as a PhD student during the pandemic. I come to the conclusion that learning has truly become independent of time and space. What does learning mean for you?

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In a time of absolute ‘busyness’, how can we devote enough time to do research well?

Academia today is fast-moving, demanding tangible results and ‘demonstrable impact’ for policy makers and funding bodies. Although each PhD is such a unique project, we all have the same timeline to adhere to. While the world is in midst of a global pandemic, I am thinking about methodological choices, without being sure which contexts I can realistically go to in a few months. This is the Pandemic PhD life.

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