One of the real pleasures of my job is the chance to supervise students doing lengthy doctoral and masters theses. I have a number of students doing different project, and they seem like the epitome of the kind of close personal relationship at the heart of learning and teaching. I had pause to reflect yesterday on an experience with one of my students who is looking at the way that biomedical discourses have come to dominate the way we think about cancer. He's using the writings of Michel Foucault to guide his thinking and, having no real appreciation for Foucault, he's made really good progress. Throughout his project he's grappled with his own belief that environmental and … [Read more...] about Learning to think otherwise
Three theses on gender and physiotherapy
Gender is an issue that has become increasingly important in physiotherapy scholarship in recent years. The first time research by a physiotherapist that specifically addressed this question was a paper by Anne Parry with what must still be the best title for any research paper ever written: Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did backwards and in high heels (pdf). The paper still resonates strongly with me and has some important things to say about our professions gendered history. Anders Ottosson's seminal work on the 'feminization' of physiotherapy in 19th century still stands as one of the most important works on the subject, but there are other important works too, and these … [Read more...] about Three theses on gender and physiotherapy
How to write a thesis
This post, which originally appeared here, reviews and celebrates Umberto Eco's book How to write a thesis, which is now in its twenty-third edition in Italy and translated into seventeen languages. If you are thinking about engaging in a thesis, are already doing one, or have students working through their doctorates, the new English translation of Eco's book might be just for you. The passing of time and technological developments have altered the way researchers engage and interact with their source material. In light of this, Eco’s How to Write a Thesis becomes increasingly significant and even more when one considers the publication has not been edited or revised since its release … [Read more...] about How to write a thesis
Idea 19: Set up a reviewer network (4 mins)
Every day during September we will post up an idea for you to vote on. The most popular ideas will become the things that the inaugural Organizing Committee of the Critical Physiotherapy Network focuses on in 2015. So please make sure you cast your vote at the bottom of each post. I've talked to journal editors in the past who have said that one of hardest jobs is to find good reviewers for articles that have been submitted for publication, and the problem is only made worse when the article is qualitative. Unless it's a physiotherapy journal that is familiar with qualitative research, the editor is often completely at a loss to know who to send the article to. They receive a … [Read more...] about Idea 19: Set up a reviewer network (4 mins)