You’ll excuse me for falling in love with Sheffield. There’s something about it: the creative people, the leafy suburbs, the protective presence of the Peaks…
I was lucky enough to spend three fascinating months at The Wave, with the iHuman / WAARC team; an opportunity made possible through an ESRC-funded academic placement.
Having parental responsibilities necessitated a weekly trip, rather than one long one. The best part of this was that I got to have a different room at Jonas Hotel every week, and it turned out to be a great game of ‘Guess what wall-art I got this time?’ I managed to capture every week on camera (as shown in the image below), but my favourite was the Les Paul (guitar) week! The trips were extra exciting when I drove the A-roads cross-country (Wales, Whitchurch, Nantwich, Leek, Buxton, Bakewell, Sheffield!). This also meant I could bring my own guitar a few times.
The purpose of an ESRC placement is to support PGRs to build academic networks, contribute to knowledge exchange and, generally, immerse oneself in a different institution’s culture. Naturally, I was honoured to be under the temporary supervision of Prof. Dan Goodley and Dr. Lauren White, and grateful for their encouragement and support in said immersion. I was encouraged to contact as many academics as possible to arrange ‘coffee-chats’ and was invited to many events and workshops throughout my stay. I began my visit, however, by delivering a presentation of my PhD study, entitled ‘Utilising the principles of Inclusive Research in SEND Student Voice’ to academics from the WAARC project and the School of Education.
As I had been following iHuman on Social Media, I had heard that some of the WAARC funding was to go to co-creating an Inclusive Research Methods module. I hoped that there would be an opportunity for me to contribute to the development of this, and so I offered to create teaching resources around ‘Supporting Interviews’ and ‘Supporting Informed Consent’. These resources were informed by my MASR and PhD fieldwork and my approach to accessible research participation. In addition, I was offered the opportunity, by the Participatory Research Network (PRN), to facilitate a workshop on a mapping technique I had been developing as part of my studies – ‘Moving Maps’.
Through having the opportunity to attend WAARC workshops and events, led and co-led by disability groups, I have deepened my understanding that accessible communication tools (i.e. easy-read/ video format / tangible activities / alt-text etc) need to be equally available in every stage of the research process to support comprehension and access. Prior to this placement, I had focused mainly on access for people with cognitive disabilities. I am now more careful when posting images on social media posts to always use alt text, and mindful to offer non-PDF versions of resources to support the use of text-reading software. All the above will help ensure my work is as accessible as possible, but I know I still have a lot to learn.
I come away from Sheffield with increased confidence in not only my identity as a researcher, but in the importance of my work to date, and how it may support other researchers and practitioners to adopt more accessible and creative practices. I come away with something else too – a desire to get to know my own university better. I have been a ‘distance learner’ for many years; I did an Open University degree over six years and my MEd over three years, and I had been treating my PhD the same way – just visiting the campus for my monthly supervisions. Being ‘away’ in Sheffield, being an on-campus PGR, sitting in a room filled with other (wonderful – I mean, just look at them!)) PGRs was alien to me, and when I was asked to compare Sheffield with Birmingham, the main difference I felt was that I was ‘in’ Sheffield – I was actually there! And so, I made it my 2025 new year’s resolution to frequent the campus and the PGR room of the University of Birmingham’s School of Education on a weekly basis. I’m so glad I did – and I think my husband is too (I now have other ears to bend regarding coding cycles!). I have already met some lovely PGRs, also in their final year, and been on campus to catch an inspirational inaugural lecture. And I am also planning to facilitate another hybrid mapping workshop, with UoB School of Education staff and students this time.
In this age, where it is growing increasingly easy to opt out of in-person events and meetings (and yes, that can be a very good thing indeed), here’s me being reminded of the magic in ‘being with’, ‘toiling with’ and ‘celebrating with’ – all thanks to Sheffield, so you will excuse me for falling in love with the place.
I close with a fitting quote from the late and great Terry Pratchett:
“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colours. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”
― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky
