I am writing this blog in October, as September seems to have disappeared before my eyes! I thought, though, that I should write something here to capture some of the main activities through the month, as far as I can remember them now!
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!
This is the first blog that I have written for this website. Previously I have been blogging on my doctoral research web pages as a means of keeping participant case study institutions, individuals and interested parties up-to-date with progress on the research process. I now intend to use this blog page to provide regular comments and up-dates on my professional work, perhaps monthly, or as often as I can or deem appropriate.
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…..
