Understanding and Encountering the Ethics of Self and Others in Autoethnography: Challenging the Extant and Exploring Possibilities

Authors

Niroj Dahal, Kathmandu University School of Education, NepalFollow
Bal Chandra Luitel, Kathmandu University School of Education, NepalFollow

Abstract

In cultural and institutional contexts, autoethnography examines personal and professional experiences. While conducting and representing autoethnography, these considerations raise ethical challenges for self and others. This expository paper examines and explores the various forms of the ethics of self and others in autoethnography in South Asian contexts. Furthermore, ethical positions in an autoethnographic inquiry are presented and explored by challenging the extant and exploring the possibilities. Moreover, ethical standards are maintained based on the first author's experiences. We also realized that the emerging challenges of the ethics of self and others in autoethnography are ongoing and real. Likewise, we brought the first author’s lived experiences of conducting autoethnographic inquiry in his personal, professional, and cultural contexts (i.e., South Asian contexts) as a guiding principle. Above all, following the foundational understanding of ethics in autoethnography, one may engage with others in the account of self-experiences. The paper concludes by highlighting possible procedural and situational ethics pertaining to Dharma and Karma in autoethnography as a transformative educational research methodology (Luitel & Dahal, 2020) that might be demonstrated while conducting an autoethnographic inquiry.

Keywords

personal and professional, autoethnography, ethical, self and others, Dharma and Karma, transformative educational research

Author Bio(s)

Niroj Dahal, Ph.D. scholar in STEAM education, works at Kathmandu University School of Education. Prior to that, he was working as a visiting faculty member of Kathmandu University School of Education (KUSOED) and Kathmandu University School of Arts (KUSOA), Hattiban, Lalitpur, Nepal in M. Ed in mathematics education, MPhil and bachelor programs. In addition, he also worked as a visiting faculty member of Nepal Open University (NOU) under faculty of social sciences and education, Manbhaban, Lalitpur, Nepal in M Phil programs. Areas of his research interests are ICT in education, qualitative research, mathematics education, open, distance & e-learning, STEAM education, and ICT & e-Research. He has been teaching graduate and undergraduate students for over a decade. He has also been continuously participating in more than a dozen national and international conferences, workshops, and seminars. He has published articles and book chapters in a variety of national and international journals and publication press in the field of mathematics education and STEAM education. He may be connected by e-mail niroj@kusoed.edu.np.

Bal Chandra Luitel, PhD, has been working with a number of Nepali STEAM teachers and teacher educators to engage with a host of transformative research methods together with new analytics arising from dialectical, metaphorical, poetic, and narrative thinking and representation as a means for conceiving, expressing, and implementing visions of inclusive and life-affirming STEAM education in Nepal. Currently, he coordinates a transformative education project called Rupantaran that aims at engaging master’s and doctoral students to bring forth intimate narratives unfolded during the process of their immersion in a school transformation process of public schools in Nepal. Please direct correspondence to bcluitel@kusoed.edu.np.

Acknowledgements

Sincere thanks go out to everyone who helped us edit and improve our article on behalf of the authors. We are thankful to Bruce Lilyea, PhD, senior editor TQR, for invaluable assistance in revising our article. We are indebted to the Kathmandu University School of Education for providing a research-based environment, direction, and ongoing support. Likewise, we thank the University Grants Commission, Nepal (https://www.ugcnepal.edu.np), for a PhD Fellowship and research support [Grants Number: PhD-77/78-Edu-05] to Niroj Dahal. Funding: This work is funded by University Grants Commission (UGC) Nepal with UGC Grants Number PhD-77/78-Edu-05.

Publication Date

12-4-2022

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2022.5572

Recommended APA Citation

Dahal, N., & Luitel, B. (2022). Understanding and Encountering the Ethics of Self and Others in Autoethnography: Challenging the Extant and Exploring Possibilities. The Qualitative Report, 27(12), 2671-2685. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2022.5572

ORCID ID

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7646-1186

ResearcherID

https://publons.com/wos-op/researcher/AEK-2733-2022