An Introduction to Critical Autoethnography and Education: The Vulnerable Researcher

Critical autoethnography is a research methodology that combines critical pedagogy, autoethnography, and critical ethnography to conduct research in vulnerable communities without establishing hierarchical systems. It requires reflection and introspection, interrogating and problematizing words and actions, and surpassing chronological and objective recounting of autobiography. It negates hierarchical thinking and believes all collaborators co-construct equally valuable knowledge and meaning. This book is accessible to diverse audiences and would be appropriate in graduate qualitative methods or foundations courses, introductory or advanced levels, and undergraduate courses preparing students to conduct research in vulnerable communities.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 175 pages
Publication date: 30 March 2023
Publisher: Stylus Publishing

Critical autoethnography is a research methodology that combines critical pedagogy, autoethnography, and often critical ethnography to conduct research in vulnerable communities without establishing hierarchical systems. Researchers who work collaboratively with participants in these communities can provide a means for often-unheard voices to reach wider audiences. This methodology requires reflection and introspection, as researchers examine the Self and the complexities of their cultural perspectives, whether visible or invisible, hidden beneath layers of socially constructed beliefs and behaviors. This interrogation and problematization of words and actions surpasses chronological and supposedly objective recounting of autobiography, leading to a deep understanding of the sociocultural, socioeconomic, political, and historical beliefs that created their ways of understanding and navigating the world. Traditional research situates researchers as experts, pushing against existing norms, critical autoethnography negates hierarchical thinking, believing all collaborators co-construct equally valuable knowledge and meaning. This book is accessible to diverse audiences and would be appropriate in graduate qualitative methods or foundations courses, at introductory or advanced levels, and as a good addition to any undergraduate courses preparing students to conduct research in vulnerable communities.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781975503161