By Abigail Green
When I learned that I had been selected to present at the UALL/SCUTREA Tilda Gaskell Emerging Researcher Symposium, I was genuinely surprised. The award, jointly hosted by UALL (the Universities Association for Lifelong Learning) and SCUTREA (the Standing Conference on University Teaching and Research into the Education of Adults), recognises early career researchers whose work demonstrates originality, critical engagement and a meaningful contribution to adult learning. It also celebrates the legacy of Tilda Gaskell, a scholar known for championing inclusive, critically reflective and socially engaged approaches to lifelong learning.
Receiving the invitation meant more to me than simply having the opportunity to present my research. As a child, I was often made to feel that I wasn’t “particularly academic”, and although I have spent many years teaching in higher education, those early messages never disappeared completely. Like many learners, I carried them quietly into adulthood, occasionally questioning whether I truly belonged in research. Being invited to present alongside researchers whose work I admired already felt like an achievement. Winning the award was something I simply hadn’t imagined.
The symposium itself was exceptionally well organised and offered a welcoming space to exchange ideas with researchers from universities and adult learning institutions across the UK. Presenters were invited to share work that demonstrated innovation and change, and I felt honoured to present alongside four other talented emerging researchers. Throughout the event, I was struck by the generosity of conversations, the willingness to engage with new ideas and the genuine encouragement shown towards early career scholars. At the gala dinner, the winner of the Tilda Gaskell Emerging Researcher Award was announced. Hearing my name was completely unexpected, particularly given the breadth and quality of the presentations delivered by my fellow finalists.
My presentation, “Art Isn’t Easy”, explored how principles of motor learning might inform and enhance the andragogy of undergraduate Musical Theatre singing. Using musical theatre lyrics as section titles, I introduced the theoretical foundations of my study before focusing on a methodological question that has become central to my doctoral research.
Motor learning theory has been widely applied in fields such as sport, physical education and rehabilitation, yet its application within Musical Theatre singing remains relatively underexplored. My research examines how these principles might inform singing pedagogy while remaining grounded in an interpretivist approach. Rather than testing motor learning principles experimentally, I explore how students experience practice, feedback and motivation within a redesigned curriculum. This has led me to grapple with an important methodological question: can ideas developed largely within positivist research traditions function as sensitising concepts within an interpretivist study concerned with meaning‑making and lived experience?
Sharing this methodological tension prompted thoughtful discussion with the panel and audience. Rather than viewing the different research paradigms as incompatible, the conversation explored how interdisciplinary thinking might enrich educational research. For me, this has become one of the most intellectually rewarding aspects of my doctorate: learning to navigate complexity rather than searching for simple answers.
The judges commented on both the originality of the research and the clarity with which complex theoretical ideas had been communicated. Their feedback was unexpected and deeply encouraging. What made the award particularly meaningful was their recognition of the interdisciplinary nature of the project. Musical Theatre andragogy often occupies the space between artistic practice and educational research, and bringing together insights from motor learning, adult education and performance training has become one of the most rewarding aspects of my doctoral journey. Having that synthesis recognised by established scholars in lifelong learning felt significant, not only for my own research, but also for the wider visibility of Musical Theatre education within educational research.
I remain immensely grateful to my supervisors, Dr Sarah Chicken and Dr Laura Manison, whose encouragement, thoughtful challenge and unwavering support have been instrumental throughout my doctorate. Their guidance has helped me navigate the complexities of practitioner research while giving me the confidence to trust my own thinking, even when it crossed traditional disciplinary boundaries.
Receiving the Tilda Gaskell Emerging Researcher Award is something I will always treasure, not simply because of what it acknowledged, but because of what it represented. It marked a point in my doctoral journey where curiosity, criticality and interdisciplinary thinking converged in a way that surprised even me. For someone who once believed she wasn’t clever enough to belong in academia, this award has become a powerful reminder that we are not defined by the stories we are told about ourselves. Research has certainly changed the way I think about teaching and learning, but perhaps its greatest gift has been changing the way I think about myself. More than anything, this experience reminded me that research is not only about generating new knowledge; it is also about becoming comfortable with uncertainty and allowing ourselves to be transformed by the process of inquiry. I will continue to work with ECRG on this journey.
