Dr. Amanda Cockayne (Lecturer in Education, University of Reading) has been awarded the degree of Doctor of Education (EdD) from the University of Reading. Her thesis, titled ‘Wolves and whales: A study of school-based mentoring using metaphor to analyse the professional lived experiences and identities of teachers who are school-based mentors in primary schools’, was supervised by Prof. Elizabeth McCrum and Dr. Billy Wong.
On her research, Dr. Cockayne said:
“The study used a qualitative methodology to scrutinise the duality of the experiences and identities of teachers who are school-based mentors. I conducted a focus group and then interviews to gain the perspectives of my participants, eliciting their metaphors to access further insight into their views. The data revealed a disconnect between identity as a teacher and identity as a mentor and my conclusions supported the development of strategies to support the mentors who are so vital to the outcomes of Early Career Teachers.”
Reflecting on her EdD journey, she commented that:
“My EdD journey was long, rather bumpy in places but ultimately very rewarding. Huge thanks to Elizabeth and Billy for smoothing the way for me.”
Many congratulations from all of us here at the University of Reading’s Institute of Education!