After all distressed days in Turkey, I finally make my dreams come true. Now, I am just happy to be here! Therefore, I decided to go back writing my blog because it may be helpful for other people who seek similar routes/opportunities. By this way, I can also keep on track and improve my writing skill.
I still remember the day when I decided to go Porto for curriculum studies conference in 2015, which totally changed my life over time. My decision to focus on teacher agency and local curriculum development was not easily acceptable subject at that time in terms of political issues. But I have believed the capital importance of this area and pushed boundaries to get it done. Glad not to choose the easy path! Because, I probably would not go to the conference and meet my supervisor who supported me a lot.
How is to be an international PhD student in University of Stirling?
I feel warmly welcomed here. Stirling has the most beautiful campus I have ever seen. I stop to bother about weather long ago when I was living in Finland. But for your information, it is dark and rainy.
Everybody here is ready to help and support as long as you ask for something. There are no courses in PhD that is different from many countries. In the beginning of PhD, you run a skills analysis and then you figure out in which areas you need trainings. I appreciate this flexibility. There are numerous opportunities both in the university (for free) and in other organizations such as BERA, SRA, SERA, etc. You can apply to get funding for trainings and conferences. Basically, you create your own timetable to be able to reach your aims. It can be challenging for some because freedom is something difficult to manage. I try to set deadlines for myself which helps a lot. There is also PhD by publication alternative to PhD by dissertation. You can find further information here.
The most challenging part in securing PhD place is to find scholarship for many overseas students. What I can suggest is to look for specific areas and try to network with important people in this area. I get my scholarship thanks to Stirling Network for Curriculum Studies. You can sign up for newsletter and events, here. We will be more active in social media as the year progresses.
As for my study, I will focus on the role of reflexivity in teacher mediation of curriculum. It is always subject to change but the core idea will stay. I have been reading Margaret Archer's work related to culture and agency, realist social theory and reflexivity. I have to admit that these are not the easiest ones for a first year PhD student. However, I somehow enjoying it because the real life is too complicated to be simplified. I will write more about these issues in following posts.
