Guest editors
Dr Saneeya Qureshi, University of Liverpool, UK
Dr Lisa Bugno, University of Padova, Italy

Special issue aims and scope
This special edition will focus on the role of international season schools and similar learning experiences in higher education as contexts for learning and networking, and as research communities that have a great impact on emerging researchers and doctoral students.

In recent decades, a diversity of spaces for learning and networking, beyond formal ones, have been provided for doctoral students. International seasonal schools, intensive programmes, international writing retreats, international research communities of practice and international seminar groups, among others, have been learning opportunities where students have the opportunity to discuss their work with peers, mentors and teachers. These learnings spaces are organised by various facilitators such as universities, scientific associations, and researchers, usually focussing on the same topic. In many cases, these experiences became even more relevant during the pandemic, with some of those activities being maintained in online environments with a significant role as a supportive network to counter social isolation (Cullinane et al., 2022). Now, when the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have been lowered in most countries of the world and people seem to crave to meet other people face-to-face again, it is reasonable to assume that participating in these learning opportunities will become even more popular. 

Previous rsearch points out that these learning environments, such as seasonal schools, are intensive, focused, do not last long (e.g., Dallari, Grandi, & Macchini, 2011), and are an efficient way of learning and developing expertise. Besides offering a context for learning the subject matter, methods, research ethics and the like, these international contexts have the potential to enhance networking opportunities among participants. Networks can play an important role in development and establishing an academic career by offering social support and career enhancement, to name just some of the gains for participants (e.g., Heffernan 2021). 

The purposeful design of educational spaces that foster both formal and informal learning is critical in enabling doctoral students to draw significant connections between a variety of research-related tools in their respective interests, and to take ownership of their own learning. This SI aims to explore the impact on doctoral students’ experiences of and opportunities for holistic learning when “they demonstrate through their writing, presentation, discussion, and even demeanour, that they have undergone a change in the way they understand their learning and themselves as learners” (Kiley, 2009). Moreover, the aim is to discuss the value of international learning and social experiences, such as participating in summer schools, in doctoral students learning pathways as opportunities that may drive “learning leaps” and contribute to the robustness of their research (Wisker et al., 2010).

Brief description of the publication opportunities this CfP provides for academics:
We welcome papers focused on international learning contexts such as season schools, summer schools and others, for doctoral students and emerging researchers in higher education. Typical lines of inquiry authors may follow (though they should not feel restricted to these only) are:

All articles must be written in English and must follow the instructions for authors at https://ojs.up.pt/index.php/esc-ciie/autores. All articles will undergo a blind peer review process.

Note: We very much welcome contributions by academics and doctoral candidates on the themes above and high-quality papers co-authored by academics with master’s and undergraduate students.

For additional information about this special issue, please contact the guest co-editor, Dr Satu Perälä-Littunen (satupera@gmail.com).

Cullinane, A., McGregor, D., Frodsham, S., Hillier, J., & Guilfoyle, L. (2022). Transforming a doctoral summer school to an online experience: A response to the COVID-19 pandemic. British Journal of Educational Technology, 53, 558–576. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13195
Dallari, F., Grandi, S., & Macchini, V. (2011). Expanding the higher education experience: International summer schools in tourism. Almatourism: Journal of Tourism, Culture and Territorial Development, 2(4), 24–36. https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2036-5195/2478
Heffernan, T. (2021). Academic networks and career trajectory: “There’s no career in academia without networks". Higher Education Research and Development, 40(5), 981–994. doi:10.1080/07294360.2020.1799948
Kiley, M. (2009). Identifying threshold concepts and proposing strategies to support doctoral candidates. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 46(3), 293–304.
Whisker, G., Morris, C., Cheng, M., Masika, R., Warnes, M., Trafford, V., Robinson, G., & Lilly, J. (2010). Doctoral learning journeys (final report). https://www.brighton.ac.uk/_pdf/research/education/doctoral-learning-journeys-final-report-0.pdf

 

About ESC journal
ESC is an open access, peer-reviewed journal, published three times a year by the Centre for Research and Intervention in Education (CIIE) of the University of Porto, Portugal.
Seeking to establish and expand the dialogue between cultures and interdisciplinary perspectives and to contribute to qualifying the public debate around educational and social problems, ESC welcomes submissions of original work based on empirically grounded research and supported by a strong theoretical and methodological component.
Publication in this journal is completely free of charge for authors, and there are no submission, processing or publication costs or fees.
An overview of the journal is accessible at https://ojs.up.pt/index.php/esc-ciie.
Submission guidelines are available at: https://ojs.up.pt/index.php/esc-ciie/about/submissions.