Researcher Journal: What type of researcher am I?

Hello lovely Wolfson blog readers,

This June, the British Educational Research Association (BERA) held their 2nd Annual Early Career Researcher (ECR) Conference in Leeds. Unlike their main conference, the aim of this event is not for ECR’s to present their research, but to celebrate and reflect on their journey as researchers.

The theme of the conference was ‘At Crossroads of Becoming’, with ECR’s invited to present their own interpretation of this. The conference website talked of ‘ontological dimensions’ and a ‘transformation of the self’ in relation to the conference theme. Although these were not concepts I knew much (if anything) about or had considered so far in my PhD journey, but I thought this would be a good opportunity to challenge myself and explore events outside my comfort zone.

So, I submitted an abstract and to my surprise ended up with a 15-minute slot to present my ECR journey.

My presentation

For my presentation I decided to reflect upon my professional journey so far, where I have worked across the education sector in three distinct capacities:

• Research – I am currently a 2^nd year PhD student at Cardiff University researching the role of secondary schools in supporting the mental health of neurodivergent young people, with a particular focus on adolescents with ADHD.
• Third sector – Prior to starting my PhD, I worked for five years at a charitable organisation delivering a Whole School Approach to Mental Health project within nine local secondary schools in Newport, Wales.
• Education – I have a further five years of experience working in schools across Wales and England as an Additional Learning Needs (ALN) teaching assistant and qualified secondary school teacher of mathematics and psychology.

The focus of my presentation was the transition between each of these fields. In particular I hoped to share learnings from each professional stage that have both supported and challenged my transition into the next, leading to a final exploration of my hopes for becoming an educational early career researcher. My full presentation can be accessed online.

Arriving in Leeds

The week of the conference finally arrived and I popped on the train to Leeds, a city I have never been to before. When I arrived at my hotel I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had accidently booked a musicals themed hotel and was staying in the Sister Act room (one of my favourite’s). I even had some time to calm my presentation nerves by exploring Leeds. I loved the ornate glass ceilings of the old shopping arcades, the gigantic market, and the beautiful Corn Exchange filled with independent shops. Check my tweet for more photos.

It’s conference day!

The day of the conference arrived and I was overwhelmed by the choice and breadth of presentations available to attend. Everyone had taken such different approaches to the days theme, and I became unsure how my presentation would fit in. I heard talks about intersecting identities, the concept of disagreeing with yourself, reflections on research methods, and being an insider researcher. One person even discussed how someone describing their PhD topic as ‘cute’ led them on a journey of self-validation. I found that the joy of the conference was not only in the varied content of the talks, but in the sheer openness of my fellow ECRs.

Hearing their journeys, personal struggles, critical reflections on being researchers and questioning their approaches, led me to reflect on my own journey in ways I hadn’t considered before. I realised that my interpretation of ‘becoming’ had been quite literal, and that I tend to take quite a strategic and pragmatic approach to research, where others are more critically reflective and conceptual.

Lessons learnt – the journey is never ending

What this conference has taught me is the true value of reflection and of sharing and learning from the diverse experiences of others in research.  No one person’s approach was ‘right’, nobody was the ‘best’ researcher, the point was to recognise, accept and live in a space where we are always learning and growing as researchers.

The journey is never ending and at each crossroads we shouldn’t be afraid to look down every path that is in front of us. As we come across fellow travellers, they will inevitably point out new paths we hadn’t even noticed, and our journeys will become richer because of this.

Since attending the conference, I have taken a deeper dive into questioning what type of researcher I am, what philosophies I align with and what outlook I have on life that influences my approach to research.

Wow! Who knew that one day in Leeds would lead me to question so much about myself as a researcher…and as human being. I can’t wait to see what I learn next!

About Abbey

My name is Abbey Rowe, and I am a 2^nd year PhD research student working with both the Wolfson Centre for Young People’s Mental Health and DECIPher at Cardiff University.

• Read my blog post for the Wolfson blog titled “My first year as a PhD student at the Wolfson Centre”
• Read my blog post for the Wolfson Centre titled “My second year as a PhD student at the Wolfson Centre”
• Check out this blog post I wrote for DECIPHer that gives an overview of my research topic and plans

Connect with me:
Twitter: @AbbeyJRowe
Email: roweaj1@cardiff.ac.uk