Hmmmm, not sure… But I have been spending November answering many questions, some posed by my students, others posed by my research.
I have completed my seminars I am teaching. I have to say I have enjoyed it and, now they have had such expert tuition, I’m sure they will all go on to wonderful things! In all seriousness, I was impressed by their brightness and ability to engage with issues. But we shall see how much they have taken in soon. I have to co-mark the assessments over the next few weeks! I’m happy to have a Monday that hasn’t been dominated by teaching however today.
I have had my teaching peer-reviewed by my supervisor. While I over use the whiteboard she was happy with the relaxed atmosphere in the seminar, which made for good contributions by the students. I certainly think that I have found a style of teaching which I am comfortable with, keep it relaxed. But despite me not being too rigid, the students do seem to respect me and have asked me lots of interesting questions. Some I could answer well, others not so well. So I clearly don’t know everything, and I should freely admit that rather than dig holes for myself when I get caught out next time!
As for research questions, I have been busy working on my methodology over the past couple of weeks. Resolving some of those issues, like why am I doing my research?! What use is it?! Why am I going to Portugal?!? I have to say I think I’ve got some pretty decent answers to those and I think my methodological approach is starting to seem much clearer to me now.
Some things I just don’t know, but I’m learning. The finer points of opening a Portuguese bank account for example, not a nice headache to have! In fact, it seems like such a long time ago that I did my year abroad and first arrived in Lisbon, but soon I will be able to relive those hectic first couple of weeks of a steep learning curve and resolving bureaucratic issues in another language and being far from home and on my own! While I am prepared for a stress, that was so enjoyable and a defining moment of my life. While I don’t have all the answers, at least I can draw upon experiences of a few years ago!
Christmas is getting closer now, and that means many things… It means time at home again to eat, drink and be merry. It means the Politics Postgrad Society Christmas lunch (which I have organised!!!) is not far away. It means having to sort out all the issues regarding my fieldwork before I leave Newcastle and before I fly to Lisbon. And it means lots of assessments deadlines for me plagiarism check and my own students’ work to mark.
So I better get back to resolving these methodological issues. But at least I will have some help with that… On Thursday I am presenting my work to the other PhD students in Politics. I am hoping that they will ask me some useful questions. If I don’t have the answers, at least it won’t be too late to think about them before I go off to Lisbon!