ABSTRACT
In this chapter Valerie Hall draws on her experience as tutor to the taught doctoral programme in education at the Bristol School of Education, the first such ‘EdD’ to be offered in the UK, to investigate the particular conflict and difficulties experienced by senior professionals as they embark upon, and engage with, intellectual study at the highest level. Interestingly, she contrasts the experience of the programme’s participants with that of its tutors who are, in their own way, also seasoned teachers cast in the role of learners, as they attempt to adjust their teaching styles and expectations to new formats, levels and clients. Valerie explores the concept of ‘resilience’, the quality that enables an adult learner to ‘bounce back’ from frustration or disappointment, and shows both how this is spontaneously manifested by learners at this level, and how its development can best be supported. The chapter exemplifies particularly well the book’s concern to bring together sociological and psychological perspectives.
