This week began with a visit to Orchard Meadow Primary School with our project lead and impact advisor. The opportunities to speak to the headteacher of the school directly, hear from a year 6 teacher about the impact of the sports intervention on her pupils, and meet some of the students themselves was very valuable. What struck me particularly was the stark difference in aspiration, socioeconomic backgrounds and opportunity between central Oxford and an area just a 20-minute bus ride away. Our conversation with the headteacher helped to elucidate some of the barriers to participation in enrichment activities - an eye-opening one was the possibility of domestic trauma. These findings will be pivotal in helping us discuss our results in greater depth in the forthcoming weeks.
Looking back, one way in which I contributed to the success of our group was asking questions at the school visit, in particular when speaking to one of the year 6 teachers - a primary stakeholder in our research project whose insight is crucial. I also arranged a meeting with my group to discuss our plan in creating the stakeholder map and allocate different parts to each member. I aim to use the remainder of the week as opportunities to further develop leadership skills through participating in the powerhouse games at Iffley sports centre and volunteering at Leys festival. Following on from Anjali's talk on leadership, I reflected on what I think makes a good leader; for me, this is someone who has a commitment to their purpose, is effective in delegating tasks and sustains trust with those they are leading.
One way in which I would like to improve for next week is by thinking more critically about our findings and using these to develop discussions further and add nuance, e.g., brainstorming ideas using mind maps. I would also like to start putting data organisation/analysis into practice using the IT sessions we have attended over the past two weeks. This will make it easier to locate and reference sources as the project progresses. I look forward to receiving data from our project lead and begin our analyses.
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Hi Muskaan,
Thank you for another excellent reflection. I enjoyed reading it because it combines observations from the week with thoughtful reflection on your own development as both a researcher and a leader.
One aspect I particularly liked was that you reflected on your own contribution to the project. Identifying the questions you asked during the school visit and the initiative you took in organising your group's stakeholder mapping demonstrates a growing awareness that effective teamwork relies on individuals taking responsibility, not simply completing assigned tasks. That self-awareness is an important leadership quality.
I also appreciated your observations about Orchard Meadow. Your reflection on the differences in opportunity across Oxford, despite the relatively short geographical distance, highlights how educational inequality is often much more local and complex than people assume. As your project progresses, I'd encourage you to continue asking why those differences emerge and how schools and communities seek to respond to them. Those underlying explanations are where much of the most interesting research lies.
Your discussion of leadership was another strength. I liked your emphasis on purpose, delegation and trust. One additional question you might consider is how leaders build trust. Trust rarely appears automatically—it is often developed through consistency, fairness, competence and the way leaders respond when things become difficult. Reflecting on examples of this within the schools and organisations you encounter could provide some fascinating insights over the coming weeks.
Finally, I appreciated your honesty about wanting to think more critically about your findings. That willingness to recognise where you can improve is itself a valuable research skill. As you begin analysing the data, I'd encourage you to keep asking yourself not only what the findings show, but also why they might have emerged and what alternative explanations could exist. That habit of probing beneath the surface will strengthen both your analysis and your confidence as a researcher.
I'm looking forward to seeing how your analytical thinking develops as your team begins working with the data.
Best wishes,
Ben