GiLE Journal of Skills Development
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125 research outputs found
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Do Academics\u27 Views on Leadership Align with the Literature, and How Does This Impact Their Teaching of Widening Student Participation?
Full text linkThis article offers an interpretative reading of research interview data gathered with seven academics in a small English university that caters predominantly to widening student participation. The original interviews aimed to explore the most effective ways academics can support students in developing leadership capability. For this article, the author revisited the digital recordings of those original interviews and conducted an interpretive reanalysis of the data. This reanalysis aimed to ascertain the extent to which the conceptions of leadership that the academics hold align with the academic literature on the concept. Leadership is notoriously an ill-defined concept, and so, for this article, the author used Yukl’s (2012) taxonomy of leadership behaviours drawn from a systematic review of the literature as the basis for comparative analysis. The literature indicates that developing students’ leadership capability is a desirable educational outcome, but this presupposes that academics understand what the term leadership means. This article explores this by evaluating how well the academics\u27 understanding of the concept of leadership aligned with the literature presented in Yukl’s (2012) taxonomy and considers the implications of this for their teaching. The article concludes with recommendations for adopting a coherent framework for academics to work within, especially for institutions that serve widening student participation. This article contributes to the knowledge of teaching practice by evaluating how well academics understand a concept they are (implicitly or explicitly) expected to teach and recommends further research to develop the scholarship
Generative AI Robs Students of the Joy of Learning
Full text linkRapid developments in the field of Generative AI have caused businesses, educators and politicians to consider how best to accommodate and utilise these new technologies. This article explores the implications of using AI, particularly Large Language Models (LLMs), in the writing process. While accepting that artificial intelligence has many valid and valuable uses in other spheres of human existence, this article argues that using LLMs at any stage of the academic writing process beyond grammar-checking is detrimental to student learning. This article explains the importance of students mastering each stage of the Basic Model of Learning to Write Well (learning, thinking, writing), identifies higher-order thinking as the key objective of education and reminds readers of why learning is one of the most joyful activities a human can experience
Mastering Academic English in Hungarian Higher Education: Fostering Grit, Emotion Regulation, and Motivation among Doctoral Students
Full text linkPursuing a doctoral degree is an intellectually and emotionally demanding journey. In this context, the concept of grit, defined as perseverance of efforts and passion for long-term goals despite adversities has become a key factor influencing doctoral students’ persistence, emotional resilience, and sustained motivation when navigating academic challenges. In today’s globalised higher education, mastering academic English is also essential for academic and professional success, which can pose significant challenges, particularly for those who use English as a foreign language. Thus, this paper explores how grit interacts with emotions, emotion regulation and motivation in mastering academic English within Hungarian higher education. Adopting a qualitative approach, the research involved nine doctoral students specialising in linguistics from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The data collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews were thematically analysed and validated by co-coders. Findings revealed that highly gritty PhD students were driven by various internal and external sources of motivation, primarily by passion for learning and professional development as teachers and researchers. While the students’ curiosity and enjoyment grew in insightful academic environments, their challenges with academic writing, negative feedback, extensive readings written in complex English, and unengaging classes led to anxiety, frustration and mixed feelings with fluctuations in motivation. The participants shared various strategies, including cognitive change and social support, to navigate the challenges. This study contributes to understanding the role of grit and emotion regulation in supporting doctoral students by emphasising the effective use of strategies. The research offers practical insights into integrating necessary training into graduate programmes aimed at developing grit, emotional resilience and wellbeing, sustained motivation and linguistic proficiency essential for academic achievement and long-term career paths
Women Scholars Pilot E-mentoring Peer Program: An Exploratory Study
Full text linkDespite a growing body of research exploring e-mentoring among women, literature on e-mentoring in peer teaching between women scholars is limited. Women scholars often face challenges which hinder their academic progress. These challenges include gender bias, limited access to professional networks, and difficulty in balancing work and family responsibilities. Aiming to foster an inclusive research community for women from diverse backgrounds, this exploratory study examined the experience of six women scholars in a 6-week Pilot E-mentoring Peer Program hosted by the Ronin Institute Women’s Interest Group. The objectives of this pilot program were to empower women scholars by offering professional and psychosocial support from their peer scholars. Participants were asked to create a participant profile followed by a self-matching process to find their peer-mentor. Participants were expected to communicate at least one hour every week for six weeks via an agreed digital communication method with self-directed mentoring goals. A survey, including Likert scale, open-ended and close-ended questions, was designed to explore participants’ experience of the program. We conducted basic text analysis on the open-ended responses and used a descriptive approach to present the results. Our findings evidenced the presence of professional and psychosocial support between participants, achieving the aim of this pilot program.
Recommendations for future improvements include extending the mentoring period, expanding participant networks, and offering continued support after the program finished. The practical implication of such programs has the potential to create inclusive academic environments that support underrepresented groups
What the Literature Tells Us About the Transition of Second-Career Academics Into Higher Education
Full text linkWith the growth and evolution of the higher education sector in recent decades, universities have drawn on more diverse sources from which to recruit academic staff. One such route is for universities to recruit professionals from non-academic backgrounds to teach and research. The transition of career professionals becoming second-career academics is a growing phenomenon, but one that is under-researched in the literature. This paper summarises the findings in the literature on this topic from the last twenty-five years, drawing on forty-four academic articles. Common themes are discussed and presented in a chronological format from the decision-making process prior to transitioning, through the challenges and opportunities commonly experienced by second-career academics making the transition, concluding with a summary of the recommendations presented in the research. In the discussion section that follows, the author draws on their own experience as a second-career academic to summarise pertinent points and offer an additional perspective on the recommendations offered in the literature. The purpose of this article is to offer a summary of what is currently understood in the literature with a view to supporting further research into the transition of second-career academics as an important skills development issue for the higher education sector. The review finds that several recommendations are common in the literature (mentoring schemes, development of academic skills and agency, introduction of reference materials and cultural change) and the viability of these is discussed before recommendations are made for individuals considering transitioning to a career in academia
Maintaining Skill Development of Newly Qualified Physical Education Teachers: Mentorship After Graduation
Full text linkHigh percentages of newly qualified teachers drop out during their first 5 years of teaching in the classroom. Often, formal support systems are put in place to overcome ‘practice shock’. Yet this practice shock is generally associated with traditional academic subjects such as mathematics, humanities and science. The often-marginalised subject of physical education can be largely neglected when newly qualified teachers are considered. One strategy to reduce practice shock is that of an established mentoring program. The large volume of literature on mentoring across an array of education subjects suggests that mentoring is a valued skill. However, while mentoring is acknowledged as an essential prerequisite for successful teacher induction, its effectiveness in physical education may vary depending on the mentor’s quality of support and the mentee’s initial professional beliefs. This article draws on a structured analysis of research-based articles on mentoring for newly graduated physical education teachers and explores the discipline between mentee and mentor to make more valid inferences about the roles, responsibilities and outcomes of mentoring. The need for clarity around a physical education teacher’s role as a mentor and associated responsibilities relative to the provision of emotional support and guidance are examined along with suggestions for explicit transmission-oriented mentoring approaches to support beginning teachers’ professional development
Life is Too Short to Be Serious All the Time: Donald Duck Presents Unconventional Motivations for Publishing in Academia
Full text linkIn this food for thought article, we introduce the ‘Donald Duck Phenomenon’ to consider ten of the more unconventional reasons for publishing in academia. These include (i) symbolic immortality, (ii) personal satisfaction, (iii) a sense of pride, (iv) serious leisure, (v) cause credibility, (vi) altruism, (vii) collaboration with a friend or family member, (viii) collaboration with a hero, (ix) conflict or revenge, and (x) for amusement. The article was inspired by the lead author’s social media search for a co-author with the surname ‘Duck’. Through LinkedIn, the lead author, Associate Professor William E. Donald, who is based in the UK and specialises in Sustainable Careers and Human Resource Management, found a collaborator, Dr Nicholas Duck, who is based in Australia and specialises in Organisational Psychology. While the collaboration may appear to be somewhat ‘quackers’, per one of Donald Duck’s famous phrases “Life is too short to be serious all the time, so if you can’t laugh at yourself then call me… I’ll laugh at you, for you”. We hope that this article offers some interesting insights and acts as a way to stimulate conversation around unconventional reasons for publishing in academia
The Digital Bridge Project: Strengthening Cognitive Resilience in Ukrainian and EU Students
Full text linkThe events in Ukraine in 2022 had a devastating effect on its population. The authors of this paper considered whether it would be possible to strengthen both Ukrainian and other young people’s cognitive resilience in the face of different forms of conflict if they were put into contact with students in other countries. One potential means for building this resilience that could be explored in a classroom setting was the provision of a platform through which to compare perspectives with fellow students of other nationalities while gaining exposure to and practical experience with a set of cognitive tools for understanding and addressing challenging situations. The Digital Bridge Project (DPB) was designed to improve these students’ English and critical analysis skills through direct exchange with their counterparts in other parts of the world via five online interviews in which they explored decision-making tools proposed by a variety of authors. The following case study describes how the Project was conducted. Three Ukrainian universities and the University of Europe for Applied Sciences in Iserlohn, Germany participated in this study. The results of the Project indicate that it is a model that can be applied effectively in a variety of subject areas. The authors recommend that schools and universities wishing to emulate the model discussed here should adapt the format to their specific needs. The results of the student surveys from both countries involved indicate that the method can empower students to address a wide range of disruptive forces in business and society with tools that are part of a 21st century skill set for both enhancing managerial decision-making and encouraging participatory democracy
Research Writing, Peer Review and Academic Publishing: Benefits of Individual, Institutional and Journal Mentoring
Full text linkWriting academic research papers acceptable for journal publication is not often taught in graduate programs let alone in undergraduate studies. Students and early career researchers (herein known as students for both categories) usually undergo a trial-and-error period to learn how to navigate the publication submission process—a long and daunting task. However, E-mentoring, or electronic mentoring, has proven to be beneficial for students. E-mentoring opportunities can be found by a pro-active student seeking out published researchers in their fields and requesting if they can mentor them. Colleges, universities or other academic institutions may have formal or informal research or peer review programmes, internship, field experience or practicum courses for-credit. Academic journals may also host student mentoring programmes for peer review, editing, and/or research writing hands-on experiences.
Mentoring students in research writing and the journal publication process should start as early in one’s academic career as possible. Age or academic status should not be seen as a deterrent or disadvantage when mentored by a patient, experienced and enthusiastic research mentor. Such e-mentoring experiences can be offered by individual researchers, at the institutional level or from the academic journal—the latter being the most ideal model worthy of advocacy and replication