International Newsletter - 2006/07 - Highlights
Six Months into my PhD: Anticipation and Realisation
Charles Ochieng’ Ong’ondo, Kenya, PhD student 2006
When I reflect upon it now, my wish to pursue education to higher levels started in childhood. From an early age, I embraced the motto of my Primary School that said ‘Learn to the end'. Our teachers taught us that learning had an end somewhere and that we should learn until we came to a signpost saying, "No more learning ahead". At that time, in the 1970s, it was believed in my country, Kenya, that England would be an end in two important ways: it was where the people who brought us ‘learning' lived and also the place where the "real owners of English" (our medium of instruction) were found. Thus, my dream to learn English further in England was born.
Much later while at a university in Kenya I was tutored by one Professor Kembo-Sure in whom I saw the teacher of English I wanted to be: smart, neat, knowledgeable, skilled, systematic, articulate, and conscientious. The learned professor had obtained his teaching skills in England at the University of Leeds. From then on, I started wishing and praying for an opportunity to do my postgraduate studies in England, and specifically at the University of Leeds. So strong was my desire that when the opportunity came to do a PhD, I applied to the University of Leeds. From that moment, I realised I had made the correct decision.
The School of Education responded to my mails very promptly, giving me all the required information. I was literally bombarded with information from visa and scholarship application requirements to where to buy food. Using that information, I made several applications for scholarships and was extremely lucky to get the Commonwealth Academic Staff Scholarship tenable in the United Kingdom for a PhD in Education.
Anxiety quickly grips one soon after receiving an offer to study in another continent, allowing minimal time to celebrate. Numerous questions cross one's mind. What then is a PhD? Will I cope with native speakers? The British are believed in my country to be very mean, officious, three-piece-suit-adorning fellows, who do not have time for such time-wasting ceremonies as handshakes and small talk. For me, in particular, the anxiety was double because, some time earlier, I had gone to South Africa, supposedly on a scholarship and it was a disaster. I had to make my way back to Kenya by bus, a journey that took me a whole week. The main reason? Lack of adequate pre-departure information.
This was not the case when coming to Leeds. Right from the time of arrival at Leeds-Bradford airport, I started dismissing the theories and images I had about the English. Here were friendly, considerate and supportive people. The meet-and-greet team gave me a wonderful welcome from the airport to my room, they showed me where to eat and gave me all the information I would require immediately. The welcome was remarkable - If you were in my home village, you would be excused for thinking that I was a Rain Maker being welcomed after a long spell of drought!
I soon found my way to the School of Education's home, Hillary Place, where I was provided with further helpful information and support. A workstation, with a computer (and internet connection), printer, photocopier and all the basic facilities, was promptly arranged. The workstation provides you with a special kind of support; a place to interact with fellow PhD students from a variety of countries and backgrounds, sharing experiences and expertise. Amongst us, friendships have been formed which may last for the rest of our lives.
A meeting was soon organised to meet with our supervisors. They were so warm, so reassuring, and so keen to know about us. They do not wear those intimidating three-piece-suits and are happy to be called by their first names. They are not the, I know it all academics that we have interacted with elsewhere: they allow you to present your opinion and discuss it. They will direct you to all the resources you need and, when you meet for supervision, you are not put under pressure.
One thing I have learnt is that working for a PhD is an endeavour that requires absolute resolve and resilience. Six months down the line, I am still immersed in literature review, and exploring other dimensions. Besides, there are such personal issues to deal with as missing one's family. Fortunately, there is massive support from supervisors and the entire School. One also gets fulfilment by the realisation that one is getting to know more about one's subject. Nevertheless, the research student, in my short experience, requires one crucial variable: Open mindedness.
Life after PhD
Dr Erhan Bingobali, Turkey, PhD 2005
There is a period in everyone's life which dramatically marks their life. The period of doing a PhD is surely a great example of this phenomenon. It marks one's life not because during this time one goes through all sorts of emotions, but because it shapes and - to a greater extent, determines one's life after getting it!
Sponsored by the Turkish Government, I carried out my Master's and PhD studies in Mathematics Education in CSSME during the period of 2000-2005. I considered myself fortunate because, as part of my sponsorship, the Ministry of Education in Turkey were to assign me to one of the underdeveloped rural universities upon completion of my PhD. So after finishing in late 2005 I returned to Turkey and in April 2006 I began work as a lecturer in the Mathematics Education department in a university situated in the eastern part of Turkey.
This appointment involved a massive transition from being a PhD student to becoming a university lecturer in only five months. In the sheltered life of Leeds, we always had our supervisors by our side to consult with and ask for guidance. But, all of a sudden, I found myself being a university lecturer and having both teaching and research responsibilities. This transition was exciting, daunting, sometimes frustrating and yet fulfilling and promising. In short, the transition was "a welcome to the real world" as the saying goes.
One particular aspect of this "real world" life was the teaching. Quite contrary to the solitary and research-oriented life during the PhD period, my new life, working with the students and other colleagues in the department, was dynamic and vibrant. Teaching for the first time required quite a lot of preparation and hard work - something I'm sure applies to all of you who have begun teaching for the first time!
One aspect with which I found difficulty when I first arrived in the UK was the language. My ‘unique' version of English sometimes meant only I could understand what I was talking about! After five years of studying everything in English, it appeared that I still had a language problem but this time, I was using some English words whilst teaching my Mathematics courses. This caused amusement amongst my students and, in the end-of semester evaluation form, some complained that they wanted their Mathematics Education lecturer to teach them in Turkish, not in English!
When not teaching I am expected to conduct research only this time without the help of a supervisor! My experience in Leeds has been very helpful, and I feel that it has expanded my horizon with regards to doing research in both actual and potential areas. I am fortunate to be still in touch with my supervisor in Leeds to ask for his advice on new research areas and also to write papers together.
Yet another aspect of life in the ‘real world' is to adapt to life back home after 5 years of experience in Leeds. Life in Leeds was, by and large, very simple and many of us found ourselves living within the ‘sacred triangle' of Home, the School of Education and Morrisons supermarket, especially during the writing-up process! Margaret Taylor was doing quite a lot of work to turn this ‘sacred triangle' more into a polygon by organising some social events. And I had the pleasure of attending the most memorable and unforgettable Lake District and Peak District weekend events, and Christmas and Farewell Parties! Well appreciated and missed!
Contrary to life in Leeds, life in Turkey is hectic and necessarily ‘polygonal'. It took me some time to get used to this many-sided life here! Adapting was not limited to home life only; some time was required to get used to the rituals and conventions existing amongst academics in the university, too. We have a hierarchical system amongst the academics here; sometimes your title speaks louder than you do! This means you don't have a Professor like Phil Scott to crack a joke with! I have learnt how to behave and, as well-put by the RED character in the Shawshank Redemption Movie, "I am institutionalised". I must admit, however, that this institutionalisation still carries a very strong imprint from the less formal institutionalisation in the Leeds School of Education. I would like to pass on my regards and greetings to all of you friends who, in one way or another, have been institutionalised in/by the School of Education and I wish you all the best in your post-Masters or Post-PhD lives.
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Last updated by Ross Featherstone on 5th September 2008