Actively building engaged communities of practice? If so, which communities?

Dr Katy Vigurs, Staffordshire University

Using social media within & beyond the professional doctorate classroom

@drkatyvigursk.vigurs@staffs.ac.uk

#ICPD2014

How many of you are also doing this?

#ICPD2014 @drkatyvigurs

Who am I? Why am I here? What are my professional doctorate interests, roles and responsibilities?

• Based in School of Education at Staffordshire University

• Staffordshire University is a ’new’ post-1992 University in the Midlands, England

• EdD programme is 6 years old• EdD Course Director (since 2010)• EE for EdD at Sheffield Hallam & Greenwich• Member of national EdD Leaders’ Network• Member of UKCGE Working Group ’The

Postgraduate Student Experience’• Winner of Prospects Postgraduate Award

2013-14 (Best Postgraduate Teaching Team for EdD)

#ICPD2014

Setting the context - EdD programme at Staffordshire University (I’ll explain the pavlova image later…)

• Part-time programme (5-6 years long)• First cohort graduated 2012-13• Currently 35 students on the programme

across 4 cohorts• EdD students work in HEIs, FECs,

Schools, Adult and Community Education. • Average group size of 10• Years 1-2 structured by ’taught’ modules• Classes in evening and weekends• Some students live and work locally• Others travel (e.g. Rotherham, York,

Bedford, Stockport, Manchester)• Years 3-6 run through supervisory teams-------------------------------------------------------------• EdD staff team of 7 (plus guest lecturers) • Each member of staff supervising up to 10

EdD students)

Your own footer Your Logo

Production of EdD critical incidents to develop curriculum & pedagogies

”The majority of critical incidents…are mostly straightforward accounts of very commonplace events that occur in routine professional practice…that are indicative of underlying trends, motives and structures. These incidents appear to be ’typical’…but are rendered critical through analysis.”

Tripp, D. (1993) Critical Incidents in Teaching: Developing Professional Judgement (p.24-5)

Seemed to struggle to identify with and/or feel part of a research community or communities (Value? Location? Hidden practices?)

Did not have a detailed sense of their supervisors’ on-going ‘academic lives’ – “what on earth do you do everyday?” (invisible academic practices? One dimensional relationships?)

Seemed to compartmentalise their doctoral study – not part of their everyday activities (Busy? Boundaries? Split identity?)

Outside of their cohorts, they were not mixing with other EdD students at Staffordshire University (insular, cliques?)

Were not finding it easy to identify as researchers themselves (Identity change / shift?)

Experienced a sense of isolation when out of ‘taught’ phase (Lost motivation, momentum, peer support, support of wider team?).

Were also not mixing with other doctoral students or academics/practitioners conducting educational research beyond the University (narrow frame of reference / experience?)

#ICPD2014

Where does this paper stem from? What did I observe in our EdD students?

Analysis of critical incidents as EdD tutor

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5

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Compared CI issues with Vitae RDF- where were issues impacting?

Is this about identifying existing communities of practice or creating new ones? Or a combination?

What could we be doing to provide better support? #1 Opportunities for connection

What questions were raised for the EdD team?

How identify, participate in & shape research communities?

How connect & interact with

others externally?

How connect & interact with

other SU EdD students?

How overcome the barriers to developing a researcher identity? How make it seem attractive, achievable, exciting, useful?

What could we be doing to provide better support? #2 Making research micropractices visible

What questions were raised for the EdD team?

How make visible academic

rhythmns & processes?

How embed research

practices into the everyday?

Building on the work of Carmichael (2011), I wanted to look at the role of networks (as entities) and networking (as a set of practices) for supporting the learning and development of professional doctorate students.

Key challenges to addressNot mutually exclusive

#1

Providing Opportunities

for Connections

#2

Making Visible Research

Micropractices

As a result of a successful bid, I am exploring the use of Twitter as an online technology to promote & develop aspects #1 and #2 within the EdD programme (do we all know what Twitter is?)

So what am I doing in 2013-14?

• Equipment bought for newest EdD group (cohort 6) – 10 Google Nexus tablets

• Designed session on using Twitter for doctoral study - built into induction session

• Set task to set up Twitter account and complete a number of Twitter activities before next session.

• Cohort 6 has its own hashtag #EdDSU6 - important

• Tweeting encouraged within EdD classes too.

• All other EdD students also told about use of Twitter & encouraged to set up accounts

Student engagement side to the bid

• Can’t assume that practice in

academia already digitized to a high level? Is not a given that most academics / researchers use social media for professional purposes daily?

THUS…• My own use of Twitter (since

January 2013) needed to develop.

• Needed to encourage other EdD staff to use it too – this has been difficult so far.

Staff engagement side to the bid?

1 2

What was it that appealed?

Why did I choose Twitter?

It’s an open, public space

Established. Lots of users.

I already had experience of it

Possibilities for responding to #1 & #2 with Twitter?

• Sources of information• Forms of communication &

interaction• Participation in communities

(Fuchs, 2014)

What’s going on in practice?

How is it working so far?

5/7 staff have Twitter

accounts.

2 EdD graduates are using it (only 1

regularly).

But only I am using it

regularly.

Data now being generated on their

experiences

24/35 EdD students are

using it.

But they are using it in

quite different ways

Emergent types of Twitter usage

• All are following a number of relevant individuals & organisations.

• All are being followed by others (internal & external).

• Some of ’favouriting’ & ’retweeting others’ tweets.

• Some are asking questions.

• Some are commenting on others’ tweets.

• Some are taking part in live ’tweet chats’

• Some post pics.

Communication & Interactions

Accessing Information

• Cohort 6 using it to develop their own cohort community e.g. #tweetmydish

• Finding groups to belong to based on shared values & interests & follow their work (BERA, BELMAS, BSA, Vitae, UKCGE on Twitter). Layering of associations.

• Sparks connections in other spheres too – using Twitter to build and deepen web of relationships round doctoral study.

Participating in Communities

• All are using Twitter to do this.

• Some are only using Twitter to do this.

• Using Twitter to gain access to articles, blogs, reports, events, sense of micropractices ’out there’:

• Policy development & critique

• Theory & concepts

• Research methods

• Subject knowledge

Complete research project by July!!Themes to be explored in research.

Next steps…

Value of using Twitter for EdD visibility & reputation?

Value of using Twitter within the doctoral classroom?

Integration and embedding within wider doctoral pedagogies?

Issues of leadership and governance

Value of using Twitter beyond the doctoral classroom?

Issues of power and exclusion

Identifying theoretical frameworks to extend analysis

References

• Carmichael, P. (2011) Networking Research: New Directions in Educational Enquiry, London: Bloomsbury.

• Fuchs, C. (2014) Social Media: a critical introduction, London: Sage.

• Tripp, D. (1993) Critical Incidents in Teaching: Developing Professional Judgment, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.

Over to you…Please take 2 mins to discuss your thoughts & experiences

with a neighbour.Or tweet your comments!

@drkatyvigursThen let’s share.