A couple of students have enquired about my
research so I thought I would share what it is about and what it will mean for
my students.
I am currently doing a Professional Doctorate in Education,
exploring how students with mental health challenges can be empowered to be
independent learners in the online learning environment. My choice of investigation
was prompted by reading the research of Richardson (2015) which found that
distance learning students with mental health challenges were significantly
less likely to complete and pass their modules than other students. This
concerned me as an Associate Lecturer who wanted all her students to reach
their full potential, but also as someone who has bipolar disorder; I, too,
dropped out of my first degree when I had a mental health crisis 25 years ago.
I want to understand the barriers these students face and how they might be
overcome so that I can support my students in their learning journeys.
Whilst there is some research into the barriers
faced by these students, there is also an assumption that it is up to academics
to decide how to overcome the challenges. But my knowledge of health and social
care tells me that we need to go to the service user for their expertise on
their needs. I am doing emancipatory action research study with an emphasis on
student voice to explore the lived experience of students with mental health
challenges, using case study interviews to plan, implement, evaluate and
reflect on the support needs of these students, alongside data analytics to
identify students at risk and intervene as necesary. It uses the affirmative
model of disability, an inclusive and collective approach emphasising positive
social identities, to develop relationships and deliver individual and
proactive support. Participants are offered an initial telephone interview to
discuss their experiences of studying with mental health challenges, the
barriers they face, the resilience they bring and to negotiate the support they
would like to receive from their tutor. The follow up interview happens at the
end of the module when we evaluate and reflect on the experience of studying
and being supported.
Doing research with my own students brings up
ethical dilemmas that needed addressing. For instance, my research needs to be
fair to all my students so I am careful to reassure that any student can have
an interview about their support needs; they don’t have to take part in my
research to be supported in their studies and whether they take part or not
will not influence their assessment. My sample of students also needed
approving by the Student Research Project Panel to ensure that students who
have opted out of research invitations or have recently been invited to take
part in research were removed from the sample. This means that not all my
students will have received an invitation to take part. Taking part is
voluntary and all students who participate are provided with information about
the study and are required to sign a consent form detailing the purpose of the
research and the use of data. The issue of consent is revisited throughout the
research.
What I hope to achieve from my research is a
greater understanding of the experiences of students with mental health
challenges and the support they would like in achieving their learning goals.
This is an exciting opportunity to influence how student support is provided
and I look forward to working with my participants in developing new knowledge.
Annie
