Growing Pains: The Entanglement of Emotion, Vulnerability, Voice, Ethics, and Power in Becoming a Qualitative to Post-Qualitative Researcher in a “Rational” World
Location
3032
Format Type
Event
Format Type
Paper
Start Date
January 2018
End Date
January 2018
Abstract
In this paper I share my exploratory, reflective, and reflexive lived experiences in becoming a qualitative, and bending toward post-qualitative researcher within the heavily cognitive and rational world of science education research and academia in general. My process of becoming is an emotional one, as I learn about the deep entanglement of emotions, vulnerability, and voice as they relate to important ethical and political moments within my own context and the various contexts of my research participants. The process of becoming is made more complex, but nonetheless valuable, through my awkward challenges to existing power structures and dominant epistemologies. Gathering initial support through journaling and responding to others’ journals within a feminist reflexivity group, I document my intersubjective and reflective growth through three empowerment-focused research projects: YPAR and photovoice with ELL students, exploring the identities of science teachers who privilege student voice, and YPAR with young girls who have experienced trauma. I offer no easy solutions or a definitive how-to guide, but rather an opportunity to peek inside the complexities of my intensely emotional journey of becoming a reflexive qualitative researcher within a culture of rationality.
Growing Pains: The Entanglement of Emotion, Vulnerability, Voice, Ethics, and Power in Becoming a Qualitative to Post-Qualitative Researcher in a “Rational” World
3032
In this paper I share my exploratory, reflective, and reflexive lived experiences in becoming a qualitative, and bending toward post-qualitative researcher within the heavily cognitive and rational world of science education research and academia in general. My process of becoming is an emotional one, as I learn about the deep entanglement of emotions, vulnerability, and voice as they relate to important ethical and political moments within my own context and the various contexts of my research participants. The process of becoming is made more complex, but nonetheless valuable, through my awkward challenges to existing power structures and dominant epistemologies. Gathering initial support through journaling and responding to others’ journals within a feminist reflexivity group, I document my intersubjective and reflective growth through three empowerment-focused research projects: YPAR and photovoice with ELL students, exploring the identities of science teachers who privilege student voice, and YPAR with young girls who have experienced trauma. I offer no easy solutions or a definitive how-to guide, but rather an opportunity to peek inside the complexities of my intensely emotional journey of becoming a reflexive qualitative researcher within a culture of rationality.
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Breakout Session B