The place of personal writing in a PhD thesis: epistemological and methodological considerations

This paper reports on a particular approach to doing a doctorate in which the first author has used personal writing to increase the relevance, autonomy and quality of her learning and to allow her to present her study, her personal reactions to the study and the experiences that have led her to the study in one thesis. The personal writing consisted of reflective and critical journal and letter writing through which Mary dealt with the affective, social and moral factors she believed to be an integral part of deep learning in a social science. The paper describes how, as well as having consequences for her research on improving autonomy, motivation and learning in Year 8 science students, this has led her to present her PhD thesis on two levels: science education and narrative.