Interview P09 (pseudonym) | SYNTHETIC | Topic: PhD researchers who teach
Participant: PhD student, human geography, second year | INT = interviewer

INT: Thanks for joining. What teaching do you do at the moment?
P09: I run map-work practicals and help on the first-year field
     course.
INT: How do you feel about the pay and the hours?
P09: The stipend doesn't stretch far enough, so I teach and I also
     work in a café at weekends. It's a real financial strain, and I'm
     tired all the time.
INT: What do you get out of it?
P09: Students thank you, and that feels good. I've found I'm better at
     explaining than I thought.
INT: How were you prepared for teaching?
P09: I did the short course the graduate school offers. It was fine,
     but it didn't prepare me for a room of sixty people.
INT: What support do you get from the module leader?
P09: The module leader is approachable, but the practical materials
     are years out of date and no one has time to fix them.
INT: How does teaching fit with your own research?
P09: Teaching takes the best hours of my day, when I'm freshest. The
     thesis gets the tired evenings.
INT: Would you teach again next year?
P09: I'd like to, but I might have to drop the café job first.
INT: Is there anything else you'd like to add?
P09: I'd like the teaching to count towards something, like a teaching
     qualification.
INT: Thank you, that's really helpful.
