The adventure of writing my first master’s thesis (Part I)

stay_at_home_dad_126540277First thoughts when I started to write this blog is how should I start, what is the meaning of blogging, how it will help me to improve my language and writing skills. There is a simple answer is just I have to start and try without it I could not feel those emotions such as adrenalin that someone will read this crazy notes and may be it will help someone to have a motivation to start write own thesis. To be honest I still confused in my thesis topic. There are some thought how it will look like and for whom it should be interesting because I really want to write ‘not very boring’ paper which will have value in education area, which even will guide for all the readers and potential audiences.

Let’s see what my thesis is. At the first time as an ordinary student of university with high ambitions and expectations of thesis it was difficult to identify the concise direction of my thesis topic. All my life I really interesting on leadership aspects generally then after enrollment to Nazarbayev University I’ve decided to focus on leadership style of principal at school where the principal play key role at school. I wanted to identify what types of leadership styles are in my school. However, then after talking with my professors and instructors we came to conclusion that it would not have sense only examine principal leadership style it will have sense if I will examine point about teacher’s attitude of leadership skills not styles.

Then it was the time where I read a thousand articles, newspapers and different source where were provided examples about principal leadership skills. Ideally it should not be problematic to collect all my sources and thoughts into research. However, as a young father and teacher of Nazarbayev Intellectual School it is difficult to find some time in order to write the components of my thesis. That is my first blogging where I share my thought about thesis and I think that later I will add more specific of my thesis. I would like to say thanks to davidphillip to collect all of us into this blogging and to wish good luck for all of us. Thank you!

8 thoughts on “The adventure of writing my first master’s thesis (Part I)

  1. The concept of leadership includes different variety of features, especially in education, where people are working under constant changes. The teachers’ perception about leadership skills is considerable sphere of research in Kazakhstan. Our country is experience significant reforms, therefore leadership skills are placed in the spot. Asking people about their principal will discover new understanding in bottom-up approach of stakeholder involvement.

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  2. Dear Oral,

    I really appreciate that you are sharing your thoughts and concerns about your exciting adventure of writing a thesis, especially that you have read thousands of articles and different sources ))). That is a really great job and your study on teachers’ leadership skills, as well as your future findings may bring great contribution into this field of education and, hopefully, our Kazakhstani practitioners will benefit from it. Being in the centre of schooling, they are at the bottom of leadership hierarchy and have to impement decisions and reforms set from above. Teachers’ autonomy is relatively limited at schools what means their leadership skills may be limited as well, whilst, they should be the central element of development and change in school community. I think if you try to answer the questions how leadership is ditributed in the target school and whether it is distributed in ways that are fair to everyone, it will help you to reflect on your issue.

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  3. Dear Oral,

    First may I thank you for sharing your real concerns and thoughts with us on writing a thesis.
    Secondly, regarding the topic you have chosen for your thesis I think it will significantly contribute to the Kazakhstani context in terms of filling the knowledge gap in local setting since to the best of my knowledge, there are not a great deal of studies that were conducted in our country in this field. Thirdly, it is of prime importance to know teachers` attitude towards leadership skills. It is well known that teachers make important and critical decisions on a daily basis in the classroom. Yet outside the classroom, they normally have had little say in the decisions that influence their own profession, its development, and certainly the improvement of student learning.

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  4. Dear Oral,
    You have very interesting topic. I think you may want to explore whether teachers in your school have ability to deliver leadership on their level. And if there are certain constraints within the school or NIS system, then these constraints and issues shall be discovered and discussed among the school stakeholders. I hope that my little suggestion will contribute to the enrichment of your thesis.

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  5. Really appreciate and thanks for sharing your real concerns and thoughts with us on writing a thesis. Since this year all of are writing their papers, I think your post valuable to the extent that it has given all people to look back and think about their own papers and to decide whether the topic is finalised or not. As for the topic of your thesis I think it is quite quite feasible to conduct within Nazarbayev Intellectual school, especially your school, which exist more than 3 years, if I am not mistaken. However, I think that you are not yet quite sure about the methodology. Are there any ideas?

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    1. Dear Dinara,

      I am really appreciate you to give me such valuable advice because you are right I am not 100% sure about methodology part. However, I will invisigate it and try to find some direction to finish all the part of my thesis. Thank you!

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  6. Oral, The large number of comments show a high interest from your peers, firstly in your topic, but also in your personalized approach to sharing your ideas on a blog. Every student at NUGSE is going through this same difficult process and sharing experience is one great way to help each other.

    About your writing, I see some clear overall organization of ideas, but a bit less structure in each paragraph. Even though this is more informal than thesis writing, your writing should follow a clear and structured plan. This post shows more a wandering thought process.

    Also, be sure to proofread:
    Original: “All my life I really interesting on leadership aspects generally then after enrollment to Nazarbayev University I’ve decided to focus on leadership style of principal at school where the principal play key role at school.”

    With edits: “All my life I have been really interested in leadership aspects in general. Then, after enrolling in Nazarbayev University, I decided to focus on understanding the leadership styles of principals at schools where the principal plays a key role.”

    4/5

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  7. Dear Phillip,

    Thank you very much to your objective comment and recommendation. As you already know that English is not my native language and there is a fact that I am not English teacher. I am mostly history or economy teacher in my own language that is why I do and will do my best and always try to find some time to improve my English. I hope that when I will graduate the Nazarbayev University and particular this course I might a little bit improve my English language skill.

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