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Graduate researchers constitute an important part of academia. However, they often feel disconnected from their peers due to the individual nature of graduate research. Research has suggested that feeling part of a community enhances the student experience and fosters a range of soft skills that complement the technical skills developed through research. When supported by their institutions, graduate researchers can contribute to creating a nurturing and stimulating environment for themselves and their peers in various ways, one of which includes developing and leading community-building projects driven by their needs. In this chapter, we reflect on our experience as graduate researchers who designed, developed and delivered professional development projects for our peers, with the aim to build a stronger intellectual community at our institution. Additionally, we offer practical guidance for graduate researchers who wish to develop their own project to strengthen graduate research communities.

Supervisors play an important role in the educational life and progress of graduate students. Having a positive and supportive working relationship with one’s supervisor is important to student wellbeing and contributes to graduate students’ ability to thrive within higher education. In this chapter, the authors examine the impact of supervisors on graduate student wellbeing and thriving within the context of higher education. Students with highly autonomy-supportive supervisors tended to report higher thriving. Findings indicate that the quality of interactions, the type of support provided by, and the quality of student–supervisor relationships are important factors and considerations for graduate student thriving. This study advocates for the recognition of the critical role that supervisors play in the thriving and languishing of graduate students and calls for more structured and wide-reaching professional development programs that work to create an environment where autonomy-supportive and compassionate supervision are seen as the standard for graduate faculty.

This chapter focuses on student wellbeing, particularly supporting graduate students during their internships. The authors will consider the Okanagan Charter, promising practices from undergraduate, and factors impacting graduate student wellbeing to explore how higher education settings can support graduate student wellbeing during internships. The chapter also contemplates practices that graduate schools may implement to support graduate students and offers recommendations in support of graduate student wellbeing.

This chapter analyses the structure, content and development trends of the system of postgraduate teacher training in Russia. It is shown that the system of postgraduate training in Russia has a long history and consists of postgraduate and doctoral levels. The trends that influenced the dynamics and essence of the modernisation processes of Russian postgraduate education are revealed. The content, logic and shortcomings of the not quite successful attempt to standardise the process of training higher-qualified personnel in postgraduate studies are substantiated. Changes in the nomenclature of scientific specialties, which are used to award academic degrees in pedagogy, are revealed.

The main part of the material is devoted to the general characteristics of the current pedagogical postgraduate programmes in Russia. It describes the peculiarities of the admission procedure and the organisation of training for graduate students, the nuances of the choice of supervisor, the definition of the thesis topic, and the current, intermediate, and final certification of graduate students. The essence of co-doctoral studies as a form of dissertation preparation is revealed. The requirements for the preparation, design and defence of candidate dissertations in pedagogy are outlined. The form of advanced training of scientific and pedagogical staff for the preparation of doctoral dissertations is briefly described.

As the author reflects on her journey of becoming the first African American female to receive tenure and promotion to the rank of full professor beginning at the rank of lecturer, to assistant professor, associate professor and then to full professor and retired as Professor Emerita, she is amazed at the stamina that she used to achieve such milestones. “If I can help somebody, as I pass along,” has been the author's mantra for helping others. Therefore, this chapter begins with a synopsis of the author's career goal that was set early in life as an educator. The chapter continues by sharing stories that are embedded in: (a) the author's personal story at Texas A&M University; (b) a mentoring framework; (c) advantages of mentoring, and (d) lastly, her 4 Cs (communicate, create, collaborate and change) and 4 Ps (politics, power, policies, and prayer) to encourage the next generation of African American faculty members.

This chapter explores the critical relationship between doctoral faculty advisors and their students. It examines the varying interpretations, historical significance, roles and responsibilities, and structural and psychological factors that affect this relationship. Understanding these elements is essential for creating an environment that supports positive outcomes and wellbeing in doctoral faculty advisor–student relationships. The recommendations outlined in the chapter could serve as enablers or guidelines for purposeful advisement or mentoring in doctoral faculty advisor–student dealings.

Education is essential, reading is fundamental, and education is freedom. These are not just hollow clichés, but truisms, probably more so today than ever. Education is freedom, in author's opinion, genuinely reflects the lives of Blacks in this society. The author believes there is no more noble profession than being a dedicated educator but given its current relatively modest status, lives such as Douglass' can emphasize to present and future educators how important their dedication is to the liberation of our youth, particularly youth who are subjugated and possibly experience special needs. The structural obstructions in this society are very real, but the author found the greatest obstacles were psychological, e.g., learning to reject the stereotypes and to pursue her goals, despite the subtle as well as explicit efforts to sabotage. The author shares her early development, which helped shape some personal strategies especially helpful for remaining on course. The author learned the important role of love and passion to enhance her work. The author learned to minimize the negativity, to recruit assistance as needed, to enjoy her students, and to grasp opportunities that presented itself. The author also learned to seek and appreciate the many valuable sources of goodness. Most of the author's battles were within rather than against perceived adversaries, but author did learn to take a stand when external forces appeared to jeopardize the essence of her educational purpose and the constituency, the author was most committed to serve.

This chapter will explore the main historical trends of the continuous teacher education development in Russia since the 18th century till present. Continuous teacher education in Russia has been a historically changing problem. Its roots lie in the end of the 18th century but its further formation relates to the emergence and development of open comprehensive schools and the spread of general education and opening the universities throughout the country in the 19th century. At the same time neither in the 18th nor the 19th centuries, teacher education in Russia could not be considered as a system, since its structure did not yet have orderliness, stability, constancy and integrity, even at a minimal level (various educational institutions were abolished and closed, teacher education was just beginning to appear in the regions). Thus, the formation of teacher education as a system fell on the border of the 19th–20th centuries. The topic of continuous teacher education in the USSR received impetus since 1986, when the requirements of scientific and technological revolution determined the task of creating a unified system of continuous education in the Soviet Union. At the same time, the continuous education was not recognised as a guiding principle of the teachers' professional development, although de facto it already existed in the 1920s. The phenomenon of continuity in teacher education, understood as the totality of means and forms of obtaining and deepening teacher education throughout life, existed as early as the beginning of the 20th century.

There has been limited work to solicit feedback and recommendations from international students concerning how their most significant problems might have been solved in a manner that adequately addressed the challenges they have faced. Drawing from research on select African international graduate students’ educational backgrounds, adjustment needs and challenges, and the host institution’s support programs and efforts, the author outlines ways to foster international students’ wellbeing and success using appropriate institutional support programs and strategies. This chapter offers recommendations regarding the institutional support programs and strategies to promote the wellbeing and success of international students.