Shortly after getting back from Hong Kong, I went to Barcelona, where I presented at the International Confederation of Educational Developers conference ICED 2010.  This was a smaller conference held in a university in Barcelona, again, though there were many very thought provoking papers and workshops to attend. Weatherwise, more very hot, sunny days, but with much less humidity than in Hong Kong.  So, a couple more photographs

As if that was not enough travelling for one month, I also had a short visit to Ireland to commence the data collection work on the evaluation project I mentioned in last month’s blog.  All in all, this month, my feet have hardly touched the ground … literally!

To continue in the same vein for now though, January and February so far have been busy teaching and marking periods.  I have also found time to submit some proposals for conference papers both as a sole author, and jointly with some very valued colleagues in South Africa and in Australia.  I am hoping that these abstracts meet with some success as I feel so honoured to have the opportunity to work with people from Universities across the world (keeping fingers firmly crossed on these!).  I also submitted two bids for small ‘pockets’ of research funding over this period, one locally, one to a national organisation.  The first has been unsuccessful, but offered good learning for its redevelopment for future submissions….the second is still under review (hopefully the already crossed fingers will work for this too)

During January I made reasonable progress on the book I am writing; I have tight plan/schedule to keep to and so far, all is going well.  I enjoy writing when I have some concentrated time and can loose myself in the substance and content – a whole day can go by in, what feels like the blink of an eye! 

I wouldn’t be a true Brit without mentioning the weather, particularly given the extreme conditions we have experienced at this start of the year.  It has been very cold (and I really don’t like the cold), with some periods of substantial snow fall.  The snow is attractive and leaves a stunning landscape, but we are not prepared for it and it brings chaos for all travellers, even those trying to get about on foot.  I very much dislike driving in these conditions, so am looking forward to spring – we have snowdrops in the garden, so hopefully the new season will soon be here.  In my last blog, I reported on the troubles caused by mechanical problems with my car, so can now update this by reporting that I have decided to buy a new vehicle.  The new car arrives in March – perhaps along with the spring….there is much to look forward to

Great news at work was that after months of involvement in the institutional initiative to develop a professional development framework, our framework was finalised and accredited by the Hgher Education Academy, a significant achievement for the group of colleagues that worked together on this. Also, over the last couple of months I have been working with colleagues to develop our Faculty Teaching and Learning plan and am now in the final throws of consultation on the draft.  There are so many exciting and innovative teaching and learning activities that it is difficult to reflect the depth and breadth of this, alongside our enhancement aspirations, in one accessible document.  The plan will be finalised in the new year. This month has also been a busy marking time, with more submission dates looming in January. 

At home the festive spirit is well underway; decorations are up, presents are nearly all wrapped.  It will be a lovely quiet family time.  December was a bit ‘dogged’ with car problems.  I drive long distances between University campuses and am heavily dependent upon a reliable vehicle.  Yet twice in the last couple of weeks, I have had the inconvenience of major faults and breakdowns.  Whilst repairs have been carried out under warranty, it being a fairly new vehicle, the inconvenience is significant. 

So, just a few more working days before a welcome break.  I hope that anyone reading this has a peaceful and restful break and a joyous new year.

A particular highlight this month was signing a book contract for a new text with the publishers Learning Matters, a book that will be co-authored with and led by my colleague Ian Mathews.  We both have a strong interest in the use of knowledge and evidence in professional practice and this will form the subject matter for this book.  The photo below was taken when the publishers commissioning editor came to the University to meet with myself and other colleagues who have authored texts for them. 

I am third from the left in this photograph with colleagues who have also written for the publisher Learning Matters

Autumn at the aboretum in Lincoln

‘Autumn, the year’s last, loveliest smile’ (attributed to William Cullen Bryant)

It really has been a beautiful autumn, but as I write this, the evenings are getting darker, it is getting colder and the clocks are about to be set back for winter!    Still October has been a good month for me, it feels as though the new academic year has now fully got underway with the usual round of meetings and strategic planning.  More excitingly I have been working with many new students having the early ‘taste’ of learning in higher education.   This month I have also been able to find some space to make some serious ‘in-roads’ into the sole-authored book I am writing for Sage publications, on interprofessional collaborative practice in Social Work, there is alot more to do, but I feel that this is now moving on well.  I am also working on developing some of my doctoral thesis for submission as journal articles, but this is a surprisingly time-consuming process. 

During October, we went to see Bob Golding in the fantastic, new one-man play which celebrates the life and career of the legendary comedian Eric Morecambe – it was a great night out.

So, my plans for November?  Well, more writing, perhaps some updating to this website, there will be marking and more teaching and, of course, planning for the festive season!

I do remember having a wonderful short break to Krakow in Poland with all of the family early in the month.  It was the first time I have been to Poland, we had good weather and stayed in the old part of Krakow, which was lovely.  Here are a couple of pictures…

 I also participated in the iPED 2009, 4th International Inquiring Pedagogies Conference, where I presented a paper and chaired a session.  Directly afterwards heading for London for an interesting meeting with publishers Learning Matters, to discuss, in part, some more writing that I am involved with.  Teaching was also back underway this month, with many new students, the delivery of a new module on social work theories and methods, and preparing for an exciting opportunity to work with some new doctoral students on the professional taught doctorate in education.  As I read back over what I have written here, I can see that it is little wonder that the month seemed to zoom passed without me noticing!

Despite having some more annual leave days once back at home, I spent some time planning the book writing for next term, keeping up with work emails, updating these web pages; none of these thing are a chore…

At the end of the month we have a long weekend in Edinburgh for the Edinburgh tattoo which should be excellent, if the weather is favourable.

Back to the more serious work next month…watch this space!

A potentially significant ‘milestone’ for my own career development came about this month when the Dean of Faculty offered me the role of ‘Director of Teaching and Learning’ for the Faculty, which is the largest in the institution. Whilst not a promotion, or a post in itself, this is a considerable responsibility that encompasses much of the strategic work I already do, but formalizes and recognizes it within the Faculty management structure. I officially start the role next month, but effectively it will commence with the new academic year in September.

In the middle of the month I enjoyed three-days ‘out’ at the national, annual Joint Social Work Education conference (JSWEC) at the University of Hertfordshire. I participated in the conference as part of a group of colleagues and students; we all travelled together in a mini-bus-type vehicle that I drove (a real charabanc!) – see photo of the ‘mottly crew’ at the conference dinner, below.  I gave one joint presentation on behalf of a colleague who was unable to attend, and also put up a poster presentation on the SCOTs project.  The conference was excellent, well-organised and very informative.  I really enjoyed meeting lots of colleagues ‘old’ and new, some of whom I hadn’t seen for some years, so a fabulous networking opportunity.

Finally, as I write this at the end of July, I am about to go on annual leave, starting with a holiday in Germany and Austria.  Over the next two weeks, we will be cycling along the River Danube tow-path from Germany into Austria, from Passau to Vienna. Photographs to follow next month!

During June I also had the pleasure of working with students from the SCOTs project to present our pilot work at two very different conferences at DeMontford University, Leicester.  The financing for the pilot phase of this work ended at the end of June 2009 and with it, the temporary contracts and all arrangements for the students that were running and implementing the pilot.  Sadly, it appears that there is unlikely to be any continuation or growth funding for this innovative project, which is particularly disappointing given its success and the interest it has stirred, nationally. I do still intend, however, to ensure that this work gets written up in a way that it might be considered for publication in the future.

I have not had much time to work on these web pages recently, but I have updated some photographs and my publications page and have started to make use of the new University repository, making some relevant links on the publications page of this site.  I still have more work to do on this, but I am gradually getting accustomed to the process and think is it is useful addition.

I had occasion to visit London twice during June both for working meetings. One of these was my first meeting on the SEDA (Staff Educational Development Association) National Scholarship, Research and Evaluation Committee, to which I am honoured to have been accepted as a member.  As a committee member I am also an editorial board member of the Taylor Francis journal Innovations in Education and Teaching International (IETI), which is the journal of the Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA).  Lots to get to grips with here, but much of my learning from working on the editorial board of Practice: Social Work In Action is transferrable. 

On one of these trips to London, Dai and I stayed over for the weekend and went to see ‘We will rock you’ at the Dominion Theatre, which was really good.  We also spent several hours on the Sunday in the British Museum at the Henry VIII exhibition.  Perhaps as a result of my disengagement from history lessons in school, I found the exhibition very informative and interesting.

Betty and Barney (my cats!) have had a good month too!  We (well more accurately, Dai) built them an outdoor cat run, attached to our home, so that they can go in and out safely (they are house cats) – I have added a new video clip to Youtube, follow the link and smile ! 

May has been a month for completing all the marking and beginning to think about teaching commitments for the next academic year. The marking process is lengthy but is now in the latter stages with reports being prepared for various examination boards in the next couple of months. I know that students wait anxiously for confirmation of grades, so this is an important time of the academic year.

At home, the kittens, or rather ‘cats’, were one-year old. As pedigree pusses, they are house-cats, but following a safe exploration in the back garden, it became clear that they would enjoy the experience of fresh air and some different scenery. So amid much laughter in the family, my ‘other half’ has agreed to build them a cat run – I will upload some photographs here when the run is finished and in use!

I completed a large set of marking by the middle of April, knowing that there is more student work coming in for assessment in May. Whilst marking represents a hard, concentrated period of work, I always enjoy being able to focus on one aspect of teaching and learning, seeing feedback as a significant part of the process. Over the quieter Easter period, I set aside some ‘chunks’ of time to work on my doctoral thesis and experienced great relief in completing the first full draft of the whole thesis. I updated my doctoral web pages to reflect some of the philosophical, theoretical and practical developments that have arisen through the writing process; this has been a great learning curve. Whilst fully aware that there may yet be several re-writes and further amendments before a final version is arrived at, it feels very satisfying to now be working with a full document and to have a ‘feel’ of the full product. I meet with my supervisors later in May, so the process continues!

My trip to Hong Kong was mainly for work purposes to present as an invited speaker at an international symposium ‘Anti-poverty social work practice’. The symposium was held at, and principally organized by, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. With a colleague, I represented the journal ‘Practice: Social Work in Action’ and spoke about the special issue of the journal to be published next year (2010) focusing on Poverty in East Asia. I am one of the guest editors of this special edition which will be published to coincide with the Joint World Conference on Social Work and Social Development which will be held in Hong Kong in June 2010.

Of course, it would make little sense to travel all that way (12 hour flight from Amsterdam) without adding on some annual leave and a little sightseeing. I have not been to Hong Kong before, so everything about it was new; some wonderful sights; a different culture; interesting food; a safe environment; and kind, polite and generous people. I am hopeful of being able to visit again for the World conference next year and look forward to meeting colleagues at the Chinese University of Hong Kong again, and perhaps going into the Chinese mainland afterwards. In the meantime, I have various exciting projects planned for the coming months…but more of that in future blogs.

The SCOTs project has also begun to be fully implemented in that last couple of months. I participated in the facilitation of a two-day training induction programme and whilst this was initially postponed by heavy snow in our area, the two-days were really enjoyable and got the project off to a sound start.  Now the co-ordinator is overseeing the day-to-day running of the project, which gives me some relief.  With three students from the SCOTs project I attended a Higher Education Academy subject centre conference The Festival of Learning in Wolverhampton.  We presented a workshop on the project and were overwhelmed with the interest and enthusiasm with which this was received.  Here is a small photo of us all taken at the end of the conference.

The CPD framework project that I am involved in is also moving apace now with a structured project plan in place through the hard work of the newly appointed project co-ordinator.  Again, a project close to my heart that was instigated as a direct result of my early local research, so it is particularly pleasing to see such progress.

Another reason for the blurring of time over recent weeks has been my self-imposed schedule of writing the final chapters of my thesis.  Sometimes this feels like walking backwards through treacle with flippers on (whatever that might be like) and at other times I really feel I can see the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’.  At the time of writing this blog, I have four out of six chapters in good draft form, with another part-way there and the final chapter also roughly planned.  I hope to have a first full very rough draft together by the end of next month – I am ever optimistic!

As ever, I don’t like to forget to mention that I still have another life, despite the busy times…and last month managed a long weekend away from it all in the bright lights of London.  Dai and I went to see The Lion King at The Lyceum Theatre, which was a spectacular performance; we also saw Carmen at The Royal Albert Hall, this time a spectacular venue, but also a wonderful performance that was only being shown for 12 nights.  Whilst in London I was treated to an ipod classic and have had great fun since ‘playing’ with my new toy – I love new technology!   We also enjoyed a more local show recently, when my son, Rob, solo’d at the ‘The Burn’, a local acoustic club – whilst I might be accused of being biased, I thought he was fab!  Hopefully I will be able to put a link to his new CD or DVD on these webpages soon. The cats are fine; I cannot call them kittens anymore – if you want to see up-to-date photos of them, click here to see a new slideshow on youtube ENJOY!

At home, it was quite good to put the christmas decorations away as the kittens were perpetually interested in the baubles and ribbons!  Early in the month we treated ourselves to a spa-weekend away; a couple of days of sort of ‘detox’ with lots of swimming and relaxation, the perfect start to 2009!

At home, any spare time has been geared towards planning for the festive break.  We had a lovely weekend in Manchester, looking around the German Christmas market and enjoying a Tapas meal out.  So the focus has been on shopping for presents, planning meals, thinking about decorations – and wondering how we will manage the challenge of putting up a Christmas Tree with baubles and decorations, with two lively 6-month old kittens charging about…. 

Family life was also somewhat difficult this month with a very sad and unexpected family bereavement putting us all in a bit of turmoil.  However, on a more cheery note, family pulled together and we are now all looking forward to the festive break and some time to ‘gather strength’.  December will be a busy time workwise, but with some precious family time built-in.

So, the key thing for October has been publishing this website, with the help of colleagues at the University of Lincoln and my husband, Dai – there is lots more to do, but this will always be ‘work in progress’.  I have also been spending as much time as possible writing on my doctoral thesis, with a particular focus on chapters 1, 2 and 3.  My teaching focus this month has been on supporting part-time students with the final dissertations and progress towards practice learning experiences as part of their undergraduate studies.  I had an excellent day at the NVivo Masterclass in London in the middle of the month and now feel confident to improve and progress my analysis of the doctoral project on the qualitative data analysis software.  Also, on 7th October at Derby University, I facilitated, with colleagues from the REACH network, a one-day workshop event, in partnership with the Centre for Recording Achievement titled ‘Implementing Professional Development in Complex Roles within Higher Education; using research findings’.  This went very well, with over 20 participants, although we are yet to properly reflect on all of the outcomes and the evaluations from the day.

At home, my son had his 21st birthday (where do the years go?); my daughter and son-in-law came over to spend a weekend with us; I had a weekend away at a spa-retreat with some ‘old’ girlfriends from school; and the kittens have been growing at great speed!

The diary is full for November, so we shall see what progress can be made…..