Collaborative Autoethnography as a Pathway for Transformative Learning

Abstract

Through the exercise of collaborative autoethnography, we propose intentional and purposeful dialogue can act as a pathway for transformative learning. We seek to first deepen our understandings of transformative learning, particularly for underserved students in higher education and second to advance autoethnographic methods, a method that incorporates personal reflections on culture. Our own dialogue as biracial women in higher education represents the transformative power of talking out loud in a space created to honor and recognize our race, ethnicity, and gender. Topics that deal directly with identity development can have an enormous impact on fostering transformative learning. Moreover, when nondominant methods such as collaborative autoethnography are practiced, specifically with underserved students, deep relationships and soul work can occur.

This is the real “death-line” AND I am still alive: A collaborative reflexivity about life trajectories

“…Such sense of companionship among us, researchers in different stages of our life course, brings into question the processes of living, aging, and dying. Similar to some ethnographers, the intentional use of interpersonal dialogues and human connection can serve transformative learning processes which open up innovative ways of gaining insight in research (Blalock & Akehi, 2018). Our methodological approach then also resembles that of having participants as co-researchers, where the active role of a participant in providing both information and interpretations is said to improve the credibility of the findings (Boylorn, 2012;Sato et al, 2012).…”

Dydaktyka na scenie. Autoetnografia performatywna performansów studentów i wykładowcy

“…Kiedy spotkałem się z autoetnografią, dostrzegłem jej potencjał dydaktyczny (zob. Boyd 2008;Sykes 2014;Ciechowska 2017;Barr 2018;Blalock, Akehi 2018). Nie zawsze udawało mi się go wydobyć w trakcie zajęć.…”

On becoming a better supervisor: A deconstruction of autoethnography as method for professional development

“…Although the processes of using autoethnography for professional developmental differ between Kinchin and Cabot (2015), Chang et al (2014), Kempster and Iszatt-White (2012) and Grenier and Collins (2016), the interaction between mentor and mentee or interviewer or interviewee is seen as the main contributing factor of the method that facilitates professional development. For all of the methods described, although they focus on the exploration of the professional experiences of one individual and therefore not collaborative autoethnography in the traditional sense as described by Chang, Ngunjiri and Hernandez (2013), the professional development takes place in dialogue with someone else who guides the process (Blalock and Akehi 2017). Therefore, co-constructed, collaborative and framed autoethnography could be nested within the coaching/mentoring model of professional development as proposed by Kennedy (2005), in which the coaching or mentoring relationship facilitates learning and transformation.…”

“…The strength of autoethnography for the use of professional development lies in its transformative nature (Blalock and Akehi 2017). De Rijdt et al (2013) note that one of the shortcomings of professional development efforts is that transfer of learning to the workplace is difficult.…”