Dear All,
This is an interesting discussion isn't it? Very thought provoking for
me anyway. As someone just coming to what I hope is the end of my PhD
I can only offer another anecdote.
I think it is always a risk to talk about 'research' in universal
terms and thereby to serve a comparison with another universal named
'teaching.' I know that pure science research is different from other
forms of research and that there are differences within each domain
(methods, analysis etc etc). So it's hard to even compare research
with research. My own PhD is an inter-disciplinary project shared
across 3 very different subjects and different faculties. Supervision
and the research activity itself is something quite different when
compared with research and supervision within a single discipline. It
demands different ways of working for all concerned. So, there is no
universal 'research.'
I also think there are dangers in talking about teaching as a unified
and universal idea. I have done face to face and online teaching and
they are very different things. Each of these modes can work on very
different models and values. I have been involved in what online team
teaching for example. I have also been involved in collaborative
tutoring between UK and Chinese tutors - different cultures, different
time zones, students from different cultures, all working together.
These are new practices that resist attempts to discuss universal or
objective notions of teaching. That's before we compare one mode with
another. Then there is the fairly recent issue of inter-disciplinary
teaching and then inter-cultural teaching (such as online courses
involving students from around the world). My supervisors have been
wonderful throughout but it demands new models of supervision and
collaboration for them. So, there is no universal 'teaching.'
In my mind it seems so reductive to discuss teaching in relation to
research in rather simple terms. They're both changing and their both
very diverse indeed. If you wanted me to answer based on my own
experience I'd say a PhD would be unlikely to hurt your teaching. I
suspect it would be hard to argue that it would not also benefit your
teaching (even if only being more able to offer some kind of road map
to students). I am not claiming that being strong in one area
automatically implies the same abilities in the other. They are each
very very different and they are each changing, both in isolation and
in relation to each other. Having taught before my PhD I feel that I
am probably better furnished and hopefully that can only help my
teaching - but it depends what we are comparing and what the context
and purpose of the comparison may be. As always, it depends.
Best wishes,
Nick
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Nicholas Bowskill,
Faculty of Education,
University of Glasgow
Shared Thinking - Reflective Practice at the Collective Level
Web Site: http://www.sharedthinking.info
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