In November, we were delighted to welcome Commonwealth Alumnus Dr Terri-Ann Gilbert-Roberts to speak at our 65th Anniversary Impact Showcase Reception. Here, Dr Gilbert-Roberts reflects on her scholarship experience as part of the bigger story of Commonwealth Scholarships.
What makes a good story?
Some of your favourites may be pure fiction – suspense, conflict, tension, characters grappling with big challenges, before reaching some measure of resolution. Yet, there is something equally compelling about a factual, well-researched biography, historical account or scientific finding. Those kinds of stories authentically reflect the human experience and inspire changes across the world.
I am delighted to celebrate just such a non-fiction account as I reflect on the story of Commonwealth Scholarships. It’s a huge headline, capturing multiple shorter narratives, written over 65 years, and woven together into a compelling account of success! There are over 31,000 characters who have been on a quest for deeper knowledge and understanding about our flawed and fragile, but promising world, and who share a common objective to heal our ailing planet and improve people’s lives.
That’s the essence of the success story of Commonwealth Scholarships as evidenced by the diverse narratives of impact exemplified by Scholars past and present.
The narrative of my own journey as a Caribbean Scholar began more than 17 years ago, and my story continues as I draw on invaluable lessons from my UK experience in my career and life. Here are three lessons that I’ve taken from my part in this bigger story.
Firstly, I learned to appreciate rigorous research as a form of development activism.
Research is one of the best tools we have in promoting development change. Uniquely, the Commonwealth Scholarships scheme maintains an explicit focus on tackling international development challenges and contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. From the point of application, throughout the period of doctoral study, the CSC framework was preparing me to assume the role of an activist researcher.
The UK environment helped to prepare me – it was here that I gained access to some of the best libraries in the world to explore exceptional resources on global and regional governance that added value to my earlier grounding in Caribbean perspectives on international affairs. Indeed, my appreciation of the UK library system is proven by the fact that my University of Sheffield coffee mug with the slogan ‘I love my librarian!’ has remained at all my workstations throughout my career in international development!
It was here that the UK model of doctoral schools helped to train me to communicate effectively academic findings to a broader audience of stakeholders, so that my research skills could help me take action in my community, country, and region and now to influence policy at an international level.
I believe those experiences have borne fruit – I’ve used the evidence from my research to advocate for and design more inclusive and effective governance structures in the Caribbean community. I’ve used it to create new opportunities and mechanisms for young people’s views to be heard and influence decision-making. I’ve published research which ensures that the experiences of people in the small countries of the Global South are included in global dialogues on peace and development. Throughout my various assignments, as an adviser on political affairs, programme manager, researcher, university lecturer, I’ve employed research in activism and built the capacity of others to use data for development.
Dr Gilbert-Roberts at the CSC Fellows Connect event in 2017
Secondly, I learned that real change is driven by connection.
Connections across disciplines, nations, and generations are invaluable to the translation of research into local and global impact. Solutions to the global challenges we face will not emerge from a single perspective but from the aggregate of the diversity of research being undertaken in every part of the world. I have greatly appreciated and am indebted to the Commission and the UK government for the multiple opportunities afforded me to connect with other Scholars and Fellows in inter-disciplinary, international, and inter-generational dialogue. I’m still connected to many of those Scholars and Fellows today and they help me apply interdisciplinarity in my service with the Commonwealth Secretariat.
I draw on evidence and techniques from multiple sectors of development to inform social policy and its intersections with political, social, cultural, environmental, and technological issues. I facilitate knowledge exchange and communities of practice which help us to learn from experiences across the 56 Commonwealth states. Interdisciplinarity was also at the heart of my teaching methods in development studies for a decade at the University of the West Indies. I helped my graduate students to develop skills in inter-disciplinary collaboration by undertaking joint research projects in response to real-life challenges of ordinary people at local, national, and regional levels – rather than writing an individual theoretical paper that focused on a narrow perspective on development. Now, group projects were not always popular with students; but our graduates attest to how critical collaboration was and continues to be in making impact in their respective careers.
Finally, the CSC experience instilled in me a long-term commitment to the Commonwealth story and to its sustainability.
The Commonwealth represents over a third of the global population and comprises varied cultural and development contexts. It is therefore one of the most relevant testing grounds for research and innovation. Supported by shared values, language and scholarship experience, the CSC story doesn’t end when Scholars complete their programmes of study and return home. New sub-plots emerge in a continuing saga of collective work towards peace, democracy, and development.
Even today, the CSC network helps me to keep an eye on the future by staying up to date with the latest impressive research. I have mentored current Scholars, helping them to navigate life in the UK, maintain connection to home, and prioritise development impact in their career planning. The Development in Action webinar series is a staple of my professional calendar, and informs my work at the Secretariat, as I learn about exciting applications of Scholars’ post-graduation work in a wide range of areas – promoting sustainable development and the protection of our land and ocean environments, quality education, health and well-being, greater equity and justice, accelerated digital access for all, and improved governance. Every day, and in every place, alumni continue to work towards Commonwealth values and help to build more resilient societies.
These three experiences – learning to be an activist researcher; valuing cross-boundary connections; and remaining committed to a resilient and sustainable Commonwealth – have made my career more impactful and convinces me of the enduring value of Commonwealth Scholarships. It is critical that we continue to support the emergence of new individual narratives of development change which can be woven together to create a tapestry of deepened understanding, greater connectedness, inspiring innovation, and tangible solutions to real-world problems that help us meet our development goals today and into the future.
The Commonwealth Scholarship scheme is a great story of success. I’m honoured to be a part of it and I ask now that we continue to tell it, together, in the succeeding 65 years.
Dr Terri-Ann Gilbert-Roberts is Research Manager, Social Policy Development in the Secretary-General’s Office of the Commonwealth Secretariat. She is a 2007 Commonwealth PhD Scholar (University of Sheffield) and 2016 Commonwealth Academic Fellow (University College London) from Jamaica.
