On Former Students
I have just returned from Thailand. Normally as such trips, exciting in prospect, get closer, the burden of immediate responsibilities, email, meetings, unfulfilled promises gets more oppressive, until the actual mechanics of travel drive them from the mind. In many cases, after the travel, I am uncertain whether the trip had been an indulgence, rewarded only with a stack of unanswered messages and jet lag. Not so with this trip. Thailand is, of course a beautiful country with a rich culture, a fascinating religious art and architecture realised in breathtaking temples, great food and a friendly people. No opportunity to go there would be wasted. On this trip however, I gained much more than simply a stamp in my passport, some snaps in my iphone and jet lag.
My visit was principally to attend a conference at which I was honoured to be a keynote speaker. It was combined, by good fortune, with scheduled get-togethers with three of my former doctoral students, each now teaching in Thai universities. It was the time spent with these students that was the unquestioned highlight of the visit and during which I learnt some important personal lessons. I will try and share these.
No supervisor can meet his or her former doctoral students without, I think, a sense of paternal or maternal pride. While studies are ongoing the supervisor-student relationship is always clouded by tension between friendship and shared interests on the one hand and the necessity of providing, sometimes harsh, critical feedback, on the other hand. Often too, the need to inculcate independence can leave students feeling unsupported. Lastly, as research proceeds, the technical shortcomings of the supervisor are revealed and the student's knowledge and confidence grows, changing the previously prevailing dynamic of the relationship. After a successful viva, hopefully, the relationship changes again. It becomes more than that of close colleagues but one whose character is determined by shared growth and fellowship.
Many of our doctoral students now come from overseas and from countries with very different cultures and educational systems. The life experiences of these students are not the same as those of their supervisors. Most will return to their countries of origin and many to work in university systems very different from those in which they received their doctoral training. Seeing my students on this visit made me appreciate in an immediate way what this means.
Most supervisors will obviously be aware of the practical difficulties that students face settling in a different country and will attempt to provide some guidance in this. I was perhaps less aware of the profound personal adjustment that may be required for students living independently in a very different environment. Many supervisors are ill equipped to deal with this, certainly I am, but they must acquire a sympathetic understanding of what it means.
The transition to critical study is a difficult one for all students, but more so for students whose prior educational experience does not prepare them for it. It takes time to inculcate. The process can be unsettling but more than that, the sense that something, generally unarticulated, is expected by the supervisor, which the student is not delivering. There is a real need here for time and patience. Perhaps rather than assuming that the necessary intellectual skills will be mastered during the research process itself there is a need for explicit coaching and for much more support as the student takes their first tentative steps towards critical independence.
More than anything my experience has led me to understand the importance of preparing students for the roles they will have to play in their own countries. It is important to appreciate that these are leadership roles - the education we provide is expensive and a major investment in less developed countries - and our graduates assume key positions. Our graduates will be required to perform research that has both international quality and local relevance. They will have to do so in a context in which they cannot necessarily expect much by way of practical support. They will have to build the research networks, champion their particular agenda and secure the physical resources without the pre-existing base from which to work. They will also have to assume educational leadership roles in transforming their institutions - particularly challenging in a region such as Asia where so much is changing so quickly. Finally they will be asked to assume punishing administrative and teaching loads coping with the consequences of economic growth and widening educational opportunity. A research education that purely focusses on a narrow vision of scientific attainment and not on a broader understanding of what skills are required to support an academic career is not appropriate and in the longer term will mean that we are not supporting the independent development of our disciplines in a global context.
All of these reflections are a rather abstract outcome of the warmth and hospitality of my former doctoral students. It was a pleasure to share with them their professional development, their achievements and to learn from them.