Browsing by Author "Wisker, Gina"

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    The ‘creative-minded supervisor : gatekeeping and boundary breaking when supervising creative doctorates
    (SUN MeDIA, 2016) Wisker, Gina; Robinson, Gillian
    INTRODUCTION: Research into what examiners value in a PhD (Kiley & Mullins 2002) identified some characteristics which might surprise supervisors who seek to ensure that, as well as contributing to knowledge, their students undertake manageable research projects, use familiar (enough) methodologies and methods and conform (enough) to acceptable formats in the finished thesis. In their research, both risk-taking and creativity emerged as highly valued in successful PhD theses. Creativity and risktaking might be expected essentials in a PhD which centres on an artistic production, and are very familiar to those taking experimental approaches or challenging fixed ideas. However, for those of us supervising a much broader range of research it could be challenging to find ways to work with students or negotiate routes that are risky and creative, also sound, safe, familiar, and likely to be successful. This raises an exciting set of opportunities, located in supervisors’ roles, and in supervisorstudent interactions, in context. Supervisors are gatekeepers, boundary brokers, and boundary breakers, particularly when working with creative doctorates. Creative postgraduate students engaged in creative doctorates, whether in the creative arts, or taking creative approaches to problems and questions in a range of disciplines, might take us out of our own comfort zones. Yet, we would like to argue that, as supervisors, we need to be – in the words of one of our respondents – ‘creativeminded’ enough (Wisker & Robinson 2014) to encourage and reward the creative approaches and work, while also ensuring that the breaking of boundaries in new knowledge also fulfils expectations of a rigorous research project and wellcommunicated thesis.
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    Postgraduate study in uncharted territory: a comparative study
    (SUN MeDIA, 2016) Leibowitz, Brenda; Wisker, Gina; Lamberti, Pia
    INTRODUCTION: Worldwide many mid-career professionals in a variety of professional occupations now undertake PhDs (Kiley 2015). In the UK for example, the drive for post-1992 universities to be more research-active, and the impetus from the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014, and upcoming REF 2020, has put the spotlight on recruiting, developing and motivating researchers, and encouraging academic staff already in posts to complete doctorates. And in South Africa, the achievement of a PhD is seen as a contribution to education for the public good, and an enhancement to the development of the knowledge economy (ASSAf 2010). This focus emphasises the importance of the PhD award for the academic career trajectory, and highlights the drive to encourage research-informed and research-led teaching and learning, with students as co-constructors of knowledge. The move underlines the vital role that mid-career researchers play in research productivity. The requirement that staff obtain PhDs can create pressures (Harley 2002), where staff have to become ‘ringmasters’, juggling the various institutional roles they have to play (Toews & Yazedjian, 2007). It also can lead to ‘creeping credentialism’, where a PhD is seen as essential in academic life but might be a troublesome extra demand on a professional with qualifications in their own profession (Griffith 1995; Harley 2000; Harley & Lee 1997; Henkel 1997; Henkel 2000).
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    Threshold crossings and doctoral education: learning from the examination of doctoral education
    (AFRICAN SUN MeDIA, 2016) Wisker, Gina; Kiley, Margaret; Masika, Rachel
    Introduction: Doctoral supervision has been identified as a key factor in timely PhD completion. Therefore, this chapter sets out to explore what can be learned from doctoral examinations to support doctoral education and supervision. Applying the lens of threshold concepts theories it reflects on findings raised in previous research reports. We argue that threshold concepts theories, in addition to providing useful insights for doctoral examining, also inform supervisory approaches and enhance doctoral students’ learning and completion. We show that understanding conceptual threshold crossing at different stages in a doctoral student’s learning journey, and the learning, teaching and supervision which support this, can lead to more effective learner strategies, focused guidance and student preparation.