And then he threatened to kill himself: nightmare viva stories as opportunities for learning

Purpose In the UK and countries following similar systems of doctoral assessment, there is little research-based evidence about what goes on in vivas. However, “doctoral assessment ‘horror stories’”, abound. The purpose of this paper is to report a study focussing on difficult doctoral examining experiences and argue that sharing such stories can provide a useful basis for examiner and supervisor education. Design/methodology/approach The study took a narrative auto/biographical approach. Findings The stories participants told show that doctoral examining is relational, emotional and ethical work and that viva outcomes are strongly influenced by subjectivities. There was felt to be a need to share stories of difficulties in order to bring them into the open with a view to prompting transformational change. Research limitations/implications Participants were self-selecting and all worked at the same institution. Originality/value There are few accounts of examiners’ experiences of the viva

How do young people 'do' family where there is a diagnosis of dementia?

This article presents data arising from a project that explored 22 children and young people’s experiences of having a parent with dementia. A key theme from the interviews highlighted the implications dementia has for the relationship between children and their parents – specifically, how individuals ‘do’ and display family when their parent’s personality and capacity to function as previously has been undermined. The data illustrate how these young people experience disruptions to existing family practices, and how they perpetuate a relationship with their parent in the face of dementia. It also indicates that these changes in practices – the disruption and acquired significance – contribute to children’s reconceptualisation of their relationship with their parent. This article seeks to add to the literature on family practices (Morgan, 2011) and display (Finch, 2007) by using the experience of dementia to illustrate the importance of family practices when a family experiences ‘crisis’

Hijacked by the project? Research which demands to be done.

In every edition of Research in Teacher Education we publish a contribution from a guest writer who has links with the Cass School of Education and Communities. Currently Pro Vice-Chancellor at Victoria University, Australia, Pat Sikes is Professor of Qualitative Inquiry at the School of Education, University of Sheffield. Pat is currently directing an Alzheimer’s Society-funded project ‘The Perceptions and Experiences of Children and Young People who Have a Parent with Dementia’. Her in-process and recent publications include Goodson, I., Sikes, P., Andrews, M. & Antikainen, A. (eds.) (2015) The Routledge handbook of narrative and life history, London: Routledge; Sikes, P. (ed.) (2013) Autoethnography,Sage Benchmarks in Social Science Series, 4 vols., London: Sage; Sikes, P. & Piper H. (eds.) (2011) Ethics and academic freedom in educational research, London: Routledge; and Sikes, P. & Piper, H. (2010) Researching sex and lies in the classroom: allegations of sexual misconduct in schools,London: Routledge/Falmer. In this article Pat Sikes discusses how a commitment to follow C. Wright Mills’s (1959) imperative to engage the sociological imagination ethically and critically can shape research agendas. She tells two stories from her career about research that she, in her own words, didn’t so much choose to do but which, rather, seemed to choose her to do it