2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣5️⃣ It was the year Keir Starmer called FE his 'defining mission', skills moved to DWP, reforms to apprenticeships and cuts in adult education Here is our editor's review of 2025 and what's to come in 2026 feweek.co.uk/2025-review-...

#ResearchAdvent Day 15 Place Not even sure I’ve found it. More likely to feel out of it. Have definitely been put in it. Felt I don’t deserve it. Occasionally won it. #academicsky #phdsky

#ResearchAdvent Day 13 Friends: I’ve the most wonderful friends, few but special. It’s a privilege to navigate life with them. Day 14 Scholarship: I’ve met and made some of those friends in scholarship. They are fellow thinkers, researchers, PhD buddies. We navigate liminal edu spaces together.

#ResearchAdvent Playing catch-up Day10 Meth: podcast as method, Listening Guide and Practice Architectures, mash-up. Day11 Excitement: is how I’ll feel at a future beyond the stress! Day12 Thinkers: Kemmis, bell hooks, & 2025’s Reith Lectures with Rutger Bregman have been top notch. #academicsky

#ResearchAdvent Day 9 Publication. I’m not in mainstream academia so no requirement for me to publish. However, I’m super proud of my ✍️ to date.This co-writing from last year still brings me joy. www.bera.ac.uk/blog/what-ar... The only writing between now and summer 2026 is PhD. #phdsky

#ResearchAdvent Day 7 Read and Day 8 Challenge Handily I tackle these together as actually, the reading has been a challenge! Also, the challenge of constant guilt - about not reading enough. #PhDsky

#ResearchAdvent Day 6 Joy Joy as a practice. Cultivated through intention and attention. Easier to say than do, for sure. Hence the word practice. Think bell hooks.

#ResearchAdvent Day 4 Hope Day 5 Engagement I hope that hunkering down, sparkly lights, and big hugs await you. I hope that your writing is productive, and your thinking clear. Engagement - funnily enough, this advent is bringing some unexpected engagement 😃. #phdsky

#ResearchAdvent Day 3 Appreciation for the people I have not met irl across different platforms who have provided momentary anchors in chaos. Appreciation for the people who leave me feeling brighter, lighter, understood and that it’s possible - PhD supervisors and PhD pals. #phdsky

#ResearchAdvent day 2 Values and ethics These are the beginning, middle and end. It’s not a process in research. It’s being. It’s authenticity. It’s truth. #phdsky

Day 1 #ResearchAdvent Final year PhD exploring professional development for teachers in sixth form colleges and practitioner enquiry. Using podcast as method in amongst some other creative meths. Voice, agency, professionalism. #phdsky

Here we go! Are you ready? 2025’s #ResearchAdvent A prompt each day. Respond using the hashtag so that I can find you! #ResearchAdvent

My visit to Edinburgh Futures Institute in early August was fantastic! A writing retreat run by CDN. 👏👏👏 Of course I also got to enjoy some of the Edinburgh Fringe.

Such an active, fun and impactful day with Mark @ictevangelist.bsky.social. Helping us build skills and confidence with AI. Staff have been buzzing and super busy, putting learning into practice. Great conversations about meaningful and safe use of AI. #BeCurious #MyYearOfLivingDigitally #fesuk

If anyone places anything on this table now… 🤬 #noclutter #myspace #academicsky #phdsky

My weekend in 4 photos. Yours? I decided to set up a new writing space but that one job turned into juggling several🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️😂 inc repotting plants, dog grooming, laundry & some mopping. So that’s going well … Also collected the antique chair that I’ve had reupholstered. She’s looking mighty fine. #phd

Goodness, I’ve been away from BlueSky for a while. New phone and forgotten passwords … I’m back! I want to check out what PhD buddies have been up to. My highlight from the last few months … LSRN (and here’s the latest Research Round-Up www.linkedin.com/pulse/resear...) #fesuk #phdchat

Celebrating a milestone! 8000! For such a niche little podcast, we are thrilled to bits. Big thanks, on behalf of every podcast guest, if you are reading this and you have ever listened to an episode. #FESUK #Podcast #Research #PhDchat www.instagram.com/reel/DIhY3RE...

I’m on a mission to capture sunrise and sunsets at the moment. Lovin’ it.

The best of times. A conference followed by a writing retreat. What more does one need? #LSRN #phd

Well that was a long old drive! Arrived Kings Lynn. #fesuk

#Digifest25 is a wrap and what a thrill to be on the big stage talking power of communities & networks - how they support us professionally- with fellow Jisc Community Champions inc buddy @puiyin.bsky.social. Also a spot of podcasting, of course 😀, with new champ @bryevetthackfort.bsky.social 👏❤️🎙️

Some fantastic folk on this panel from both FE and HE. Sharing how they have collaborated and learned from others: we can all benefit from others’ expertise! @puiyin.bsky.social, @jofletchersaxon.bsky.social, Jacinta Jolly, Richard Beggs, Louise Woodhead, Chris Melia #Digifest25

#amplifyFE #FESUK

Both a privilege and fun to create this with buddy, entrepreneur Michelle Brown for #internationalwomensday and KirkleesTV Podcast Network . kirkleeslocaltv.com/news/its-not...

📣 Calling teachers! The inaugural BERA Teacher Network Conference. Link: www.bera.ac.uk/event/resear... #teaching #fesuk #research

Today’s #PGCE featured: Sam Fender’s album People Watching Tish Murtha - social documentary photographer Privilege walk Power Social capital Considerations of Ramadan International Women’s Day Toni Morrison Analysis for action research Academic posters And apparently my outfit was “giving” #ukfe

A lovely trip to Chapelgarth. #phdsky #academicwriting

📣 Calling teachers! The inaugural BERA Teacher Network Conference. Link: www.bera.ac.uk/event/resear... #teaching #fesuk #research

Half term. Today called for a PhD thinking-planning-before-writing walk. Bert wasn’t really up for listening to me outline what I should tackle next. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️✍️💻 #phdsky #phdchat #academicsky

#FurtherEducation @amplifyfe.bsky.social

Run, don’t walk! Booking open. #LSRN25 cwa.ac.uk/store/events... #FurtherEducation #PhDsky #Teaching #Research @drjoycechen.bsky.social

What a stunning turn out for the BERA Teacher Network! Thank you to everyone who participated and for such rich thinking and contributions in the thinking environment round: "What do you think, feel or want to say about educators and evidence informed practice?" www.linkedin.com/posts/jo-fle...

Teachers! Tonight at 5pm. #phdchat #phdsky #teaching #BERA @julianamandra.bsky.social

Coming?

What. A. Week. Thankfully main roads are clear but at home on the hill we still have a thick blanket of snow. I’m ready to say goodbye to it now! Come on sunshine! #snow #yorkshire

This may interest PhD buddies #phdsky

Coming up, the LSRN biannual conference. Watch @drjoycechen.bsky.social feed and #ukfe hashtag to spot when booking opens and then run! Grab your ticket.

Join us for this week's #LTHEchat which will explore ways in which we can meet the challenges of implementing feedback in Higher Education with @profsallybrown.bsky.social and @kaysambell.bsky.social on Wednesday 8-9pm GMT. Read the blogpost at: lthechat.com?p=6877

Met a colleague online to talk all things teacher ed developments and she said very Game of Throne vibes. I don’t know what she means … #jonsnow #electricblanket 😂

Fancy a coffee? We are talking about our favourite topic: the challenges of embedding evidence based practice in school and colleges. We will also be highlighting events coming in 2025 & 2026 and how you can get involved. www.bera.ac.uk/event/teache... #ukteaching #educationslresearch #ukfe

Snow means our teacher CPD morning has flipped to online but I’m still looking forward to hearing from Michael Chiles - powerful questioning, Carl Hendrick - how we learn, Kate Jones - retrieval practice, Sam Crome - leading high performing teams and Michael Surr - SEND.

Me-list: Further & higher ed Senior leader Teacher educator PhD candidate Edu research BERA convenor LSRN editor Scholarly podcasting Professional development Practice architectures Action research Creative research methods Conference & events ‘Super connector’ 👦🏻 🐑 🐶 🐓mum! linktr.ee/JoFletcherSa...

Deep snow up here on the borders between Holme Valley and Barnsley. Had to take the sheep some food.

Welcome to BlueSky, Amanda @silvery-b.bsky.social There’s an FE feed if of interest bsky.app/profile/did:... and to get a post featured in that feed just use hashtag #ukfe or #furthereducation 😀

The FE Research Podcast is the home of conversations with scholars, academics , lecturers, teachers, PhD/EdD with interests in further education. www.podbean.com/pu/pbblog-n9... Find on iTunes, Spotify,Podbean. We are approaching the 8k mark - a wonderful way to round off 2024. #ukfe #phdsky

#phdchat #academicsky

So this is it. #ResearchAdvent We did it. Thank you for sharing thinking, joy, creativity, challenge and support throughout December. Sending appreciation. Day 24: Looking forward to rest, then energy, connection, community, learning, strength, balance, and achievement - in 2025. 🌟🌟🌟

Day 23 #ResearchAdvent Oh my, almost there. In 6 months … I’ll look back and say I’m so glad I established and stuck with a new writing routine that I’m reaping rewards from. I’m beginning to see a way forward. I’m on track.

Day 22 #ResearchAdvent Lots of responses today for themes of headspace, calm, resources and time. I’m therefore going with a time (expanding) machine which may afford some of these for me and fellow PhD-ers who work full time outside of academia and try and wedge PhD study in.