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From Expert To Novice: How to feel fine while floundering

Leave a Comment / Research, Researcher Identity / 24/10/2022

After nearly two decades of teaching and leading in different levels of the education system, I enjoyed the confidence that my hard-earned proficiency permitted. I knew I still had a lot to learn about my craft, but with years of teaching and school leadership under my belt, I felt adept at my daily work. In 2019, I made the fateful step to embark on my PhD studies in Education. To say I felt overwhelmed is an understatement. The sheer volume of existing knowledge and scholarship was intimidating and I felt cowed. I had no track record as a “proper” researcher and felt I had little of value to contribute amongst the giants in the field. I tried to draw upon my research skills from my Master’s degree, but at times, I felt disoriented- like I had gone from enjoying some measure of expertise as a professional to floundering like a complete novice as a researcher. My mentor and supervisor at the time sagely advised me that the research process, especially at the start, can get “messy” but this messiness made me uneasy and this discomfort grew throughout my first year as a PhD candidate.

Other fledgling members of the PhD research community shared similar experiences. As I tried to make sense of these experiences, The Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisition proved to be a useful framework. This model describes a continuum of skill acquisition from novice to expert status. I realised that I was at different points along the continuum for different researcher skills. In some areas my competence grew at a relatively fast rate and in others, the progress was frustratingly slow. I had to do a significant amount of internal work to overcome imposter syndrome, acknowledge my conscious incompetence and make sense of the vastness of the research world.

An important realisation for me was that I could apply my transferable skill set to my advantage. Generic skills related to personal organisation, reflection and resourcing proved to be valuable as I charted my way through those challenging first two years of study. I tried to be very disciplined with my habits. This, together with acquiring key resources, seeking mentorship and reading the right guide books helped me to make steady progress. I also needed to stop getting in my own way and to get out of my own head. To do this, connecting with others was the key and I relied on my networking skills. I found few communities of support in the Caribbean setting and this fueled my desire to be a part of establishing this Hub. I hope that being a part of TECR Hub will make your own research journey that bit easier, less lonely and more fulfilling.

Mrs. Zaida Khan-Ventour is a PhD candidate, school principal and education consultant. Her research interests focus on professional learning.

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Navigating the Academy: Critical Insights for Early Career Researchers

Leave a Comment / Tenureship / 11/08/2022

While starting one’s first post-doctoral appointment can be a daunting experience (with mixed emotions, fears, aspirations) for many, the lack of institutional knowledge and sensitivities can also impact the struggles and/or successes of early career researchers. Although there are diverse points of engagement based on where and how one is positioned on entry, it is important to consider some important aspects of navigating this very critical stage of one’s career.

The first has to do with knowing the organizational structure and culture of the institution. While one’s academic qualifications and achievements provide an excellent start, the networks, relationships, politics, and practices within the university also represent important institutional dynamics, which determine the opportunities, obstacles, and possibilities for success. Learning the contextual and relational facets of one’s organization within this early but critical period of one’s career enhances the ability to work through or navigate critical situations as they unfold, while minimizing, where possible, the negative impact for one’s academic career.

The second has to do with knowing the criteria for assessment and promotion that are specific to your university and relatedly, that of reading through, in detail, institutional material that speaks to inherent processes and practices. While these are necessary, it is important to know that at times, these written regulations and rules surrounding assessment and promotion, do not always reflect the tendency for unstated/unwritten practices to influence the process. The changing nature of the institutional climates within the last few years also reinforce the need to be attentive to this aspect of institutional life. Issues of reduced public funding, increased use of new public management practices, requirements for commercialization, calls for public scholarship, and assessments of academic impact (with the use of impact factors and citations as widely applied indicators), albeit with diverse iterations and applications across institutional type, ranking, and locality, all underscore the significance of these changes for academic workers. It is safe to say however that working within an understanding of these criteria, both within and beyond your university, can buffer the knowns and unknowns within the process.

A third point is that of using one’s knowledge of these institutional contexts and criteria for assessment and promotion to inform one’s strategic plans for professional success. Oftentimes, early career academics find themselves in a static position of learning the everyday requirements for functioning within teaching, research, and service demands, but without the requisite vision and plans to inform their professional career or trajectory. The latter captures the need for strategic planning and interventions that aligns with that of the visions of their institutions and that are informed by the knowledge that is acquired within one’s academic space. One way to work through individualized strategic plans is to identify feasible annual targets within the framework of institutional assessment criteria, but with specific timelines and outcomes. While there may be some need for flexibility within that process, having these personalized strategic plans can enhance the opportunities and possibilities for successfully navigating this critical stage of one’s career.

Dr. Talia Esnard is a Senior Lecturer at The University of the West Indies.

Her research interests include Mentoring, Leadership and Work-Family Engagement.

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Publish; don’t perish!

Leave a Comment / Publishing / 11/01/2022

Is this you? You’re fresh, new and excited to be in your new postdoc or Assistant Professor position. You’re ready to accept any responsibility, handle any task and fill any role that comes your way. After all, you want to contribute to your department, make your family proud and maybe even impress your superiors. You work long hours; sit-in at numerous meetings, some of which you chair yourself, and you get excellent feedback from colleagues and students alike about your teaching.

Many early-career researchers tend to approach their first academic appointment in this way. Sounds like a great start, right? Here’s the catch though, out of these well-intentioned group of newcomers, unfortunately, many come to realize at their end-of-contract review that they’d fallen short of meeting the expectations of their university. They learn, that their publication output is unsatisfactory. Has that happened to you? Or maybe, you were more fortunate to get the ‘Remember-to-publish’ advice from a well-meaning colleague or had one of those ultimatum-type warnings from a superior that basically sums up to the message of ‘publish or perish’. Yet, you probably ended up being so consumed by the weight of your other job-related responsibilities that you felt that you didn’t have the time to focus on academic research, let alone publishing.

Now, you could look to blame somebody for not letting you know or for having so much to do that you couldn’t breathe, but what sense would that make!!! Below are a few things that you would want to practice so that you’re in a better position by the time your next review rolls around. If, however, you’ve just joined your faculty and haven’t experienced the distress outlined above, well good for you – Enlightenment is here!

Find out about your responsibilities and terms of employment

To meet those requirements that speak to not only your specific departmental responsibilities but also the more general terms of your employment as an academic staff, you’ve got to find out what they are. These are usually found in your university’s staff guides and staff intranet. When you get your hands on all necessary and relevant information, create a repository (I have a “Know my Job” e-folder), read it all carefully and ask questions on anything for which you need clarification.

For faculty, the number of publications (and research impact – in another post) is important. The acceptable number tends to vary from discipline to discipline and university to university but they may be stated as, for example, a minimum of 2 or 3 academic papers in a high-tiered journal per calendar year. So, get in the know!

Begin from your PhD thesis

If you don’t know where to start, begin with your PhD thesis – you know, that big book that seemed to have consumed your life for at least three years. Look through your findings and decide on an article or chapter that could be developed and published from it. Many early-career researchers do this. Publishing papers from your thesis makes your work more accessible to a wider audience than those that may read your thesis; thus making it more likely to be cited.

Set aside time to do research

Now that you know what is required and you know where to start, you need to get to work. You may ask, “But how?” I know, with all that you already have to do, this may seem impossible. Just remember that a little goes a long way. It is likely that you were hoping for a huge block of time to sit and focus on research activities. I have news for you: Wake-up! That was your PhD! For those of you who didn’t enjoy that luxury, you should know better – that block of time may never come or if it does come, it still may not be sufficient to get enough done to satisfy your university’s requirements. As a busy faculty member, you now need to purposefully block time to get your research done. Yes, you heard right. At least one day per week to do research-related activities MUST be protected on your schedule. Of course, you can do what works for you but be practical. I’ve advised colleagues and PhD students to block as little as an hour and half first thing each morning before they get into their day. Those who’ve taken the advice have praised how well it works, allowing them to be productive and to prioritize before the busyness of the day overwhelms them. The wisdom in choosing the mornings is that if you block a few hours in the evening after a long day having come from work or having put your 2-yr old to bed, you’d likely be too tired to read that 40-page book chapter, analyze a 15-page interview transcript or write a comprehensible section of a journal article. But ‘you do you’. If you can manage to put in some time after work, that’s great. The aim is to remain consistent and keep at those research activities, so that you can see the ‘publishing fruits’ of your labour.

Dr. Rinnelle Lee-Piggott is a Lecturer at the University of the West Indies (St. Augustine). Her research interests include school & principal leadership, school & system improvement & education privatization.

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