And we are off again - Week 1 (53) of #52WeeksofEdD and it's been a...
Ulrike Vogel@flyingbirdWales
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Apr 12, 2026
~11 min read
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And we are off again - Week 1 (53) of #52WeeksofEdD and it's been a topsy turvy week with some struggles and a case of writer's block, a good 10 mile hike in Waterfall Country cleared some of this and the head's feeling all the better for it....
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Week 2 (54) of #52WeeksofEdD has been a rollercoaster, thankfully started emerging from my deep valley of despair and making headway again with my assignment and things slotting in again... another good 13km walk today as well to help cleanse the busy brain
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Week 3 (55) of #52WeeksofEdD and assignment number 3 was submitted on time 🍾 and then some gentler reading to finish off the week, and of course another walk to conclude the week with
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Nothing better than an early morning walk up Arthur's Seat to finish Week 4 (56) of #52WeeksofEdD!
Another residential weekend completed, and it's getting real now, starting to consider propsals. Very thought-provoking event at QMU Edinburgh yesterday too
Another residential weekend completed, and it's getting real now, starting to consider propsals. Very thought-provoking event at QMU Edinburgh yesterday too
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Week 5 (57) of #52WeeksofEdD and there has been a lot of reading (3 full books) and subsequent thinking going on, also a sense of being given another 10 000 jigsaw pieces to the existing ones without knowing the picture 🤔 and another 28km added to the walking total...
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Week 6 (58) of #52WeeksofEdD and not too bad of a view for a bit of mid-ramble reading... lots of thinking and discussion this week, but also made a start on bringing some structure into my thoughts for my research proposal
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Week 7 (59) of #52WeeksofEdD, got our results for the last assignment and it's another box turned green. Plenty more reading to prepare for the week ahead at the EERA Summer School. Let's see if this man outside our hotel room window will feature in discussions 😉
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Week 8 (60) of #52WeeksofEdD and it has been a busy one! Currently headed back home after some insightful conversations and keynotes at the EERA Summer School in Chemnitz, lots to digest and well worth a week of nerd-holiday!
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Week 9 (61) of #52WeeksofEdD and it's been an interesting one where the stack of to be read books has continued to grow but the brain has been feeling a bit empty, guess still processing all the information from last week. A good long walk today helped digest some things
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Week 10 (62) of #52WeeksofEdD and I've finally started putting pen to paper on a few things that are stacking up, not a lot of progress yet but the page is no longer empty! Outdoor office view today, cold drink waiting for me at the bar later on 😉
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Into week 11 (63) of #52WeeksofEdD and more reading this week, as well as continuing to think about my research proposal, with a few more words on the page, and prepping for our final study block next week...
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Week 12 (64) of #52WeeksofEdD and we had our final study block of part 1, which feels surreal. First meeting with supervision team this week too, so it's all go and I definitely need to get a plan together to get the proposal done by end of August....
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Week 13 (65) of #52WeeksofEdD and I'm very grateful for the AC in my local coffee shop... weekly targets set until end of July and on track for this week. Some interesting reading this morning which contradicts other literature 🤔 - back down the rabbit hole I go! 📚📚
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Week 14 (66) of #52WeeksofEdD and it's been a busy one with our postgrad research conference - very productive conversations and lots untangled, at around 1000 words on the page for the assignment, Pen y Fan this morning and now lunch (with a peruse after) @Bookishcrick
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Week 15 (67) of #52WeeksofEdD and we ended on the costal path yet again, after a long week of untangling various strands, another 2000 words written and progress made on presentations, slow and steady - but progress nonetheless!
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Week 16 (68) of #52WeeksofEdD and I have managed to pull a first draft of my proposal together, a few more bits of thread got untangled, a little break yesterday, and back to it today, paired with a walk around Dyrham Park
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Week 17 (69) of #52WeeksofEdD and it's been a busy one, some really constructive pointers this week from supervisors on methodology, so proposal V2 coming along... also did another long (15.5 miles) walk to clear the head
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Week 18 (70) of #52WeeksofEdD with lots of reading and thinking, after finishing V2 of assignment draft, though not looked at it again, just made notes and untangled some more knots with that reading, helping to sharpen up some bits
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Week 19 (71) of #52WeeksofEdD and didn't get as much done as hoped as it's been a busy week in work, but made a start on the final item on the to be written list. Also managed to show a visitor around Wales this weekend
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Week 20 (72) of #52WeeksofEdD and research proposal has been handed in 💪, now (patiently) waiting for the results due at the end of September, whilst keeping busy with writing an article in German 🤯, also another 15km added to walking total today
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Week 21 (73) of #52WeeksofEdD and I've continued to keep busy with trying to find the appropriate German words for my article, interspersed with some sightseeing in Paris, including some philosophical inspirations....
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Week 22 (74) of #52WeeksofEdD and the focus has been on getting this article as finished as possible, slowly getting there though my German does sound rather English these days, also picked up presentation prep again for the week after next, good distraction waiting for grades!
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Week 23 (75) of #52WeeksofEdD, very fruitful conversations across the week helping to fine tune my presentation for tomorrow, with a bit more to do later, but also some sightseeing and culture today in Vienna, and grades for final assignment due soon too 🫣
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Week 24 (76) of #52WeeksofEdD and it's been a busy one! 2 conferences in the books and presentations done, grades back (little disappointed but not the end of the world), glad to be back home and give me brain a rest from processing German 🫣
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Week 25 (77) of #52WeeksofEdD and a concious break for the first part of the week. Reallt helpful call with my DoS on Friday that slotted some really obvious things into place, started with CP1 draft and a slightly different type of ramble ("only" 12 books bought)
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Week 26 (78) #52WeeksofEdD and the final conference of the year is wrapped up, no technical hick ups for a change, really good discussions this week and first draft of CP1 somewhat completed, it felt like a really good week!
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Week 27 (79) of #52WeeksofEdD and the tweaking of the CP1 has continued, some really fascinating conversations this week and a deep dive into pragmatism 🤯 though I feel (for now) I've somewhat got it wrangled into submission, though doubt that feeling will last...
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Week 28 (80) of #52WeeksofEdD has been more reading and intense conversation and another long walk, having a friend visit over the weekend where we spotted this on our explorations out and about
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Week 29 (81) of #52WeeksofEdD and with a new month a new notebook got christened and my lit review is under way, 4 different colours to write notes in, 🤯 spinning but 🧩 connecting, will just have to be disciplined and work through the list, only a short 5km today...
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Week 30 (82) of #52WeeksofEdD and I've fallen down a few academic rabbit holes 🫣 but it's been a productive week. As of today a bit of a change of scenery for the next week, hopefully will be helping with digesting all the reading
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Week 31 (83) of #52WeeksofEdD and the reading has continued, whilst doing a lot of thinking and walking, bit more writing to be done this evening on CP1 form but the change of scenery helped, and some amazing concerts too!
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Week 32 (84) of #52WeeksofEdD and it's been a challenging one. Had a good call with my supervisors this week but other than that I've been taking it a little easier and let my brain do some sorting without stuffing further information in. Onwards....
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Week 33 (85) of #52WeeksofEdD, can't quite believe it's already been another week! I've started to ease myself back into academic thinking with some insightful conversations, and am almost ready to start reading and writing again. The break was definitely needed!
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Week 34 (86) of #52WeeksofEdD and I've picked up reading again, delving deeper into case studies as a method and with the thinking space of the last few weeks, some bits feel like they're slotting into place. Very helpful lit review insight session this week too!
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Week 35 (87) of #52WeeksofEdD and I've flipped it to reading a paper that's critiquing my intended approach and getting the counter arguments lined up. Very interesting reading group this week too. Small steps...
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Week 36 (88) of #52WeeksofEdD and the conversations have continued, the writing hasn't been flowing quite so much, but we'll get there...
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Week 37 (89) of #52WeeksofEdD and even with a little break over the bank holidays I've been able to continue chipping away with more reading, talking and a bit of writing too! Also a crisp 10km walk yesterday helped blow out some of the cobwebs.
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Week 38 (90) of #52WeeksofEdD and it's been reasonably productive, deeper dives into discourse analysis and form back with supervisors ahead of next weeks catch up. Quite a bit of walking and talking this week too.
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Week 39 (91) of #52WeeksofEdD and things are continuing to head in the right direction, good chat with supervisors this week, as well as some prompted reflection on what we were looking at a year ago - interesting to track how thinking has evolved since then!
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Week 40 (92) of #52WeeksofEdD, ended up climbing a literal mountain, and got my planned analysis section re-written (which seems to be an even bigger mountain). One foot in front of the other! Also lots of helpful conversations with fellow students this week.
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Week 41 (93) of #52WeeksofEdD and another (very wet and windy) walk, lots of reading and further tweaks to be made to finalise research proposal for submission, plenty more rabbit holes to fall into...
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Week 42 (94) of #52WeeksofEdD and more thinking and digesting this week, and also picked up some more books in German to further delve into educational philosophy and supplement some of the anglophone literature - onwards!
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Week 43 (95) of #52WeeksofEdD and it's been a bit of a topsy turvy one, lots of reading and thinking this week, some interesting pointers already emerging from the German books I picked up...
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Week 44 (96) of #52WeeksofEdD and my form has gone in, awaiting official sign off, also made a start on my ethics. It's felt like quite a productive week, made some new connections and more books picked up in the library 🫣📚
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Week 45 (97) of #52WeeksofEdD and the weekend has brought a change of scenery. Ethics first draft is pretty much done, lots of walking, talking and philosophising over the past 3 days, which has been really invigorating and was much needed!
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Week 46 (98) of #52WeeksofEdD and things are still settling from a memorable few days away last weekend, more reading on narrative inquiry done and digesting loads of bits. Another 10km walk today as well with a pretty cute traffic jam
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Week 47 (99) of #52WeeksofEdD and my research proposal has been officially accepted, so ethics next and then the mere task of doing the research and writing 60K words...🤯🤯🤯 reading has continued, and a few things have slotted into place after floating around a bit, progress!
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Week 48 (100) of #52WeeksofEdD and I've continued working through ethics and delved further into narrative inquiry, as well doing some non-academic reading, which has actually been really helpful as well!
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Week 49 (101) of #52WeeksofEdD and some more tweaks done to Ethics documents, hopefully ready for submission this coming week. Also, got the first 2 paragraphs committed to paper, obviously subject to likely significant change 🤭 and also another 13km walked...
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Week 50 (102) of #52WeeksofEdD and some more words added to the writing, more pages read, and more books aquired during a very fruitful visit to Hay-on-Wye
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Week 51 (103) of #52WeeksofEdD and ethics has been submitted, awaiting approval now. Writing has continued though, so has reading, here a little glimpse of my rather eclectic reading stack, well, one of them. It's felt like a productive week, sunshine also helped!
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Week 52 (104) of #52WeeksofEdD and lots more reading, some brilliant conversations that uncovered some significant aha moments and more books aquired 🙈🫣🥴📚. So much has shifted and refined over this last year and am excited about what's ahead!
