PhD Research Talks at the University of Glasgow

You may recall when I gave a talk on my PhD Research to date at the University of Glasgow... well, these talks have continued even during Covid, although now, they're on Zoom. My former office-mate and friend Rebecca gave her talk this past week. Her main research question is, "How do north Karnatakans [India] in resource-poor contexts engage in the project of school development governance and how do they reinterpret child rights discourses?" Rebecca has visited India twice to gather her research, under two very different circumstances/conditions. It was fascinating to hear about her trips. It was also illuminating to hear how the educational system works in India. People with any sort of means send their children to private institutions. In the public school system, teachers are considered government employees, hired for life. That, and other complications, can lead to apathetic teachers in less than ideal teaching environments, which led to this slide with a cartoon about the system and how hard it can be for poorer students to get ahead (click the image to see it larger). It's a truly fascinating study, and lots of us showed up to support Rebecca, who is one of the nicest people I know on this planet. With permission, here we all are. There are so many countries and time zones represented here... Scotland, England, Canada, USA, Lebanon, Eritrea, China, and some others I don't know about (I didn't recognize everyone, but think Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, and Germany might also have been represented). I woke up early to attend at 7:00am US time, but participants in China were attending in the evening. We all came together to love and support our friend, who did a bang up job! We're proud of you and proud to know you, Rebecca!