Today was another good day regarding research and networking/contacts. I met with Katrina Godfrey, who is the Head of Resource Allocation Division of the Department of Education in Northern Ireland (DENI). I consider getting the opportunity to speak to such a high placed individual in DENI to be extreme luck on my part (thanks to Kieran Mannion - fellow Fulbright buddy who performed to challenging task of actually securing such a plumb contact) as well as a Godsend!
Earlier, in the beginning of November, I still had not had the opportunity to touch base with my academic contact in the Institute of Governance - Sally Wheeler (aka., the Scarlett Pimpernell) so I emailed my Fulbright Commission contacts for advice. I had already been in Belfast for three weeks and was beginning to panic. I think my contacts at the Fulbright Commission were able to glean my fragile state of mind through my emails and sent me Kieran's contact information. What resulted was the fortuitious 'hooking up' with Kieran Mannion for a chat. He not only quelled my fears over the process but gave me some great information regarding my research topic and said he would try to get me in contact with Katrina Godfrey.
Katrina and were originally supposed to meet on Tuesday but our meeting had been rescheduled for this afternoon due to challenging weather conditions (i.e., approximately 1 inch of snow). By Friday, the weather had warmed up a couple of degrees so it was rather balmy considering the previous two weeks. I arrived at the Student Union at around 12:45 for our 1:00 meeting -- making sure I was there in plenty of time (yes, for those of you who know me well -- you're probably in a state of shock over that possibility -- for those of you who actually fainted, you may now pick yourselves off of the floor). There has been an increased amount of activity on campus -- mostly centered around the Student Union -- due to the graduation ceremonies being performed all over campus. So, there I stood in anticipation of meeting Katrina Godfrey, watching the steady traffic of excited students, proud parents, and fidgety children parade past me in both directions. I rather enjoyed the activity, the excitement in the air, the pomp and circumstance, and all of the wildly colorful sashes and (for the ladies) extremely high heels in a variety of colors. I had been keeping up with emails from NSU regarding the upcoming graduation ceremonies and feeling a bit gloomy at the prospect of not being able to be a part of the festivities. Being able to observe the graduation 'goings-on' at Queen's helped ease my glum mood.
I learned much regarding the structure and function of the DENI as well as the education system in Northern Ireland which involves nine non-departmental public bodies as well as statuatory and voluntary groups and organizations that work closely witih the DENI (one being Comhairle na Gaelscolaiochta whose CEO, Sean Ocoinn visited with me earlier in the week). Each contact provides yet one more piece of the puzzle that will form the final picture of this research study. Katrina also brought me up to speed regarding her divisional responsibilities in the areas of: the school finance branch; the allocations, finance, and governance unit; and the school administration branch. Additionally, she provided a couple of contacts from the School of Education at QUB, the General Teaching Council of Northern Ireland, and the Northern Ireland Curriculum organization. If that were not enough, she also promised to pass on information regardign a couple of upcoming seminars/meetings and lectures that will take place in the area in the next couple of months. I feel as if things are just beginning to fall into place and I'm on the downside to my time here - with the days passing by much too quickly. As I stated earl.ier, being able to meet with Katrina was an extremely fortunate opportunity for me. She is definitely well versed (and well placed) to provide a great deal of information to me. Now to transcribe !
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