Hot off the Press: EdD Thesis

Relationships, Assets and Social Capital: A Case Study Review of Youth Mentoring

by Dr Catherine Comfort

Abstract

Youth mentoring, where young people (mentees) work with adult mentors to achieve change, is a popular government and third sector intervention. Past research, concentrating on quantitative analysis of US programmes, concludes that mentoring achieves significant but modest change. Such research assumes that changes from mentoring can be externally identified and measured, often without hearing the views of those involved.

This study investigates the experiences and expectations of mentoring from the perspective of mentees, mentors, referring agencies and programme coordinators. Using social capital theory (Bourdieu, 1986; Coleman, 1988; Putnam, 2000), the study explores how mentoring relationships are built and their role in bringing about change.

A local authority youth mentoring programme in the UK formed the case study for investigating experiences of mentoring and perceptions of change. To allow nuanced exploration of views, an interpretive, qualitative approach was taken. Data were collected from mentors, mentees, referring agencies and coordinators via semi-structured interviews, survey, diaries, focus groups and programme feedback. Data collection and thematic analysis were informed by social capital theory.

Findings indicated that mentees actively participating in the mentoring process benefitted most. Mentees experienced unusual levels of equality in the purposeful and trusting mentoring relationship. Drawing on the relationship’s social capital, mentees enhanced their assets and enjoyed emotional support, learning and challenge. Collaborating with mentors, mentees achieved previously inaccessible outcomes. Assets developed could be used in other relationships.

The study also concludes that social capital and asset acquisition provide a theoretical basis for understanding the mentoring process. By encouraging asset and social capital exchange, mentoring develops mentees’ self-awareness, agency, and confidence, increasing the likelihood of resilience. This knowledge may be transferable to other programmes and relationships. Supporting young people’s knowledge of their needs and strengths through mentoring may contribute to their wellbeing post 2019 Covid pandemic.

You may read the full thesis here: http://oro.open.ac.uk/87092/

Catherine Comfort | OU people profiles (open.ac.uk)

30th January 202222nd September 2021

Start writing and hope to get it right!

‘For it is not enough to know what we ought to say; we must also say it as we ought’

(Aristotle, Rhetoric, 350 B.C.E.)

During our postgraduate studies, we are encouraged to use formal prose distinct to each research community. It takes us the whole of our studies to find our academic voice and the ‘right tone’ to communicate it. This process can be facilitated by using online aids such as the academic phrasebook or purchasing one of the many addons such as REF-N-WRITE or Grammarly.

However, writing a blog post is different again. Experienced bloggers say it is liberating, but to a novice like myself, who is used to the safe and familiar ‘formal’, it is scary. This anxiety could be because there seems to be considerable confusion on what they are. Blogs are often thought of as online diaries or journals, but Prof. Dunleavy points out that this is no longer the case. He explains that they can be loosely categorised into two basic kinds: those run by a single person and those by a small group, as in this blog.

Among their many advantages, blogs are potentially powerful and immediate means of sharing ideas with an academic tone distinctive to the blogger and has its own rules. But what are those rules? How do you write creatively in a formal way that is necessary for academic blogs? There are no phrasebooks or supplements that can solve this issue. Unable to find any satisfying literature on the subject, I followed the same path as I always do:

Listen to the experts: Stephen King’s advises abundant reading and writing, so I have read other people’s academic blogs. My favourites are The Thesis Whisperer and Writing for Research, but there are many more and easy to find by running a website search;
Watch seminars by experts on blogging (while doing domestic chores such as cooking and ironing) after searching for the bloggers whose blogs I admired. For example, Professor Inger Mewburn and Dunleavy, and there are many others.

However, there is nothing left to do at a certain point but start writing and hope you get it right.

Finally, and regarding the quote by Aristotle, to write anything well, it is not enough to have something to say or even the skill with which to say it. We need to know the social norms of the community in which we find ourselves. There are no set rules in academic blogs, but I believe that the character and the language still need to be relevant. For this reason, it would be great if you could let us know your experience and beliefs concerning what they should look like and how they should feel.

Dr Lesley Fearn @lesleyfearn

I recently achieved my EdD regarding learning and teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) using online community projects in secondary schools. This interest stems from more than thirty years of experience teaching English (as a Foreign Language) and English literature in state schools in the south of Italy. During this time, I have continually experimented with new approaches and techniques, especially with technology, to motivate students in their schooling. Other areas of interest include Fine Art and English literature that I studied as a BA and MA. As far as research is concerned, I am particularly interested in Action Research and sociocultural paradigms.

14th November 20218th September 2021

Congratulations: Dr Stafford

Celebrating Dr Mary Stafford’s successful completion of her doctoral thesis.

Doctoral researchers abroad: negotiating language and identity in a multilingual context

colourful balloons and ribbon to say well done — Photo by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash

Abstract

This research explores how language and identity are negotiated by study abroad doctoral researchers originally from China, Brazil, Iran and Ukraine whilst studying in France. The research questions investigated the language choices made in the contexts encountered by the SA doctoral researchers, how these choices were negotiated and the potential impacts of the use of both French and English on their identities.

To address the three research questions posed in this study I have used a case study framework to explore the SA doctoral researchers’ use of language, their possibilities of negotiation of language choice as well as how these experiences impact their identities using both emic and etic perspectives. A framework was developed from the literature review, using Bourdieu’s concepts of social and linguistic capital as well as habitus. Byram’s work on intercultural awareness was also of relevance, as was Lave and Wenger’s legitimate peripheral participation. For identity the Block, Norton and Ting-Toomey’s work provided a framework. A series of three semi-structured interviews were undertaken with SA doctoral researchers on an individual basis as the main research method, research with further individual interviews with supervisors to explore the questions from another
perspective. Other methods included questionnaires and observations of language use in context.

The findings show the uses and potential linguistic capital for both English and French often vary depending on the community, affecting access, even with the same members participating and impacting on identities. This can influence the investment of the participants in both languages and ultimately their experience in France. To improve participation SA doctoral researchers should learn a minimum of the local language prior to undertaking three years of study in a non-English speaking country. Investment in social English for local and study abroad doctoral researchers could contribute to better understanding through third space and communication.

You can read Dr Stafford’s Thesis here: EdD mary stafford.pdf (open.ac.uk)

30th October 202122nd September 2021

Congratulations to Dr Gill Ferguson

Congratulations to Dr Gill Ferguson for the successful completion of her EdD Thesis

“When David Bowie created
Ziggy Stardust”
The lived experiences of social
workers learning through work

Abstract

The findings from this qualitative study sit at the intersection of knowledge about
workplace and professional learning, offering new insights into how social workers
learn through work. The study explored the unique lived experiences of social
workers’ learning through an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) study
(Smith et al., 2009).

IPA was selected to focus on the nature of the social workers’ lifeworld and their
lived experiences of learning in the workplace. In-depth individual interviews
gathered rich descriptions from sixteen social workers. The double-hermeneutic
cycle, a feature of IPA, explored the meaning that the social workers drew from
their experiences and the researcher making sense of the participants’ sensemaking. Individual and unique experiences of the participants were explored,
generating themes for the social workers through an immersive process of
analysis for each case in turn.

Superordinate themes were then identified across the group that revealed the
complexity of social workers’ learning experiences. These were, Journey of the
self; Navigating landscape and place; Navigating tasks; Learning through the
body; Learning through others; Practices and conceptions of learning; and,
Learning by chance. These aspects of the social workers’ lived experiences weave
together in a complex and enmeshed web, each thread connected to the others as
part of the learning process. Striking metaphors were used by social workers to
convey the meaning they associated with their learning in the workplace.
The thesis shows the nature and complexity of individual social workers’
experiences and how understanding these can help design more effective
workplace continuing professional learning opportunities. Drawing on rich
theoretical ideas from phenomenology and workplace learning, the thesis offers a
hybrid conceptual web model for social work professional development. This model acknowledges the unique experience of social workers within a complex
context involving navigation of task, place and embodied learning.

You can read Gillian’s thesis here: Gillian Ferguson theses.pdf (open.ac.uk)

Dr Gillian Ferguson @learnventurer

I’ve worked in diverse settings as social worker, community learning worker and various other roles in practice, HE and learning/development. Keen to be inspired and inspire others to learn. My doctoral research explored lived experiences of social workers learning through work.

@learnventurer