Search Results (35)

The content in this autoethnography manuscript is significant because it takes a different angle than the typical discourse surrounding sport-based youth development (SBYD). Typically, the discourse on SBYD focuses on the positive outcomes of improved social–emotional learning and academic achievement. In using an autoethnographic approach, I share stories from my personal experience as a practitioner in the field to illustrate a new perspective on how to think about the impact of sport-based youth development on young people. Though those outcomes are positive and impactful, they fail to capture the continued inequity in the quality of youth sports programs in underserved communities compared to others. I utilize research in SBYD to analyze each story as a practitioner in the field to thoroughly reflect on my personal experiences and their relation to social justice. The stories are also a tool for making the connection between the individual work of various organizations pursuing sport equity. Through storytelling, reflection, and analysis, I connect the mission of each organization I worked with to the concept of social justice youth development in a more personalized way than numbers and data can illustrate. Additionally, this autoethnography highlights non-traditional sport spaces and advocates for a way to fuse social justice into them. This manuscript seeks to simultaneously refresh the way equity in sport has been looked at, while also illuminating the ways it is already being examined. The paper presents new questions that can be used to better analyze the presence of social justice in youth sports and provides a potential pathway forward by grounding in a definition of quality SBYD programming. These questions imply that the measures of the impact and potential benefits of SBYD may need to be redefined to better match the real lived experiences of individual youth participating in such programs. Full article

This autoethnographic study intertwines personal experience with scholarly inquiry, inviting a deep exploration of the lived experiences and realities of a female physical education (PE) teacher. Wonderings about identities, conformity to masculine norms, and proving oneself to staff and students led to a review of relevant literature, journal entries, and meaningful conversations with critical friends. Through analysis and coding of emotions and reoccurring events, five themes emerged: male teaching partners and colleagues; student interactions; interactions with parents; administrative and peer support; and outside organizations. The results acknowledge the intricate interplay between self, society, PE environments, and culture. It is our hope that these reflections and realizations will connect with other women (and men) in the PE field and ignite further contemplation, conversation, and action. This, with the goal of contributing to necessary efforts to strive towards more inclusive and empowering experiences for female PE teachers. Full article

This article explores the question, ‘What is distinctive about doing theology as an evangelical?’ It takes an autoethnographic approach, recounting how this practical theologian has wrestled with how evangelical conviction should shape the stance for practicing theology. This article will work with the findings of the writer’s own empirical studies to develop an argument for how two stances create a distinctively evangelical practice of interpretation. First, the stance of biblicism is explored in terms of how it functions for evangelicals carrying out theological reflection. Second, the article discusses how evangelicals practice theology as though divine revelation is on-going, as Andrew Root writes, ‘Jesus still does stuff’ (2014). This leads to a stance of expectancy that God is still at work in the world and ‘talks back’. This article concludes that the implication of the stances means that practicing theology entails hermeneutics and research which decentralize the self. Full article

Recent research underscores the significance of data-led and collaborative reflection in enhancing teaching practices and professional development of teachers. While video-based reflections have been extensively studied, the potential of corpus-based methods remains underexplored. We address this gap in two ways. Firstly, we describe a research and development project in which we employed a corpus linguistic tool to analyse and reflect on our own lectures, with the ulterior aim of promoting a corpus-based reflective practice (CBRP) model that would help other teachers do the same. Secondly, we introduce collaborative micro auto-ethnography (CMAE) to illustrate how our model can facilitate the noticing of different aspects of teacher talk and lead to, what we call, snowball reflections (i.e., a sequence of reflective talk that extends a topic and spreads from one participant to the next). Our approach shows that corpus analysis, coupled with collaborative reflections, has the potential to not only enhance language use but also stimulate broader and deeper pedagogical discussions on and insights into teaching styles and student engagement, going beyond analyses of single words and lexico-grammatical patterns in teacher talk. We argue that there should be institutional support for developing new corpus-based professional development initiatives and that researchers can benefit from using ethnographic data together with detailed analyses of interactions. Full article

This article describes and reflects upon the work of a co-research team on the Healthy Ageing in Scotland (HAGIS) ‘COVID-19 Impact and Recovery’ study (January 2021 to November 2022). The co-research team (seven older adults and three academics) was constituted near the start of this project; the team contributed to the development of recruitment materials and research tools and undertook qualitative research and analysis with older adults living across Scotland. This article provides a collaborative autoethnography about the activities undertaken by the team, the impact of the co-research process on the individuals involved, and the research findings and reflects the realities of co-research during the COVID-19 pandemic. Team members describe benefits, including increased confidence, new skills, and social connections, and reflect on the increased validity of the findings through their close involvement in the co-creation of knowledge. The process of team building and the adoption of an ‘ethics of care’ in our practice underpinned the success of this project and the sustainability of the group during and after the challenging circumstances of the pandemic. Full article

Earners from Native American communities in the U.S. experience unfamiliar curricula that are designed and implemented by educators from the dominant culture who are often unprepared to meet the needs of diverse leaners. Consequently, teacher education programs have a responsibility to equipe preservice teachers with knowledge and skills essential to integrating culturally relevant contents. Therefore, this collaborative autoethnography conducted as a teacher-educator professional development program, explored the perspectives of Native Peoples on preferred pedagogical approaches for Indigenous learners. Data were collected through autobiographical notes, written reflections, focus groups, interactive activities with study participants, and structured interviews. A thematic analysis resulted in two findings, that is, importance of contextually appropriate curriculum and the value of community-based collaborative learning professional development activities in supporting authentic culturally responsive lessons for teacher educators. Among other recommendations, the data support the enactment of teacher education programs that support intentional culturally collaborative Community-Based Professional Development activities between educators and Indigenous Peoples. Full article

This paper presents a study of the experiences of five individuals who explore their unique relationship between music and spirituality. Each participant critically narrates their faith and beliefs and explores how these relate to their experiences with music. The paper begins with a brief exposition of the literature concerning music and spirituality and the linkages between the two. The methodology combines narrative and auto-ethnography, underpinned by a phenomenological approach to reflection on experiences. Using deep self-analysis, the five authors derive and discover lessons concerning their own relationship between faith, spirituality, and music. These are then analysed to produce common themes concerning the intertwining of spirituality with music. Finally, the conclusions present a novel contribution which includes lessons on how through self-exploration, one can use music and spirituality to repair and ultimately enrich the soul. The paper exposes the interplay between faith, spirituality and music, which will be of general interest and provide inspiration to those who intend to use music to enrich their lives and heal themselves. Full article

I employ autoethnography to undertake a broader scholarly inquiry on intergenerational relationships and transnational care shaped by global migration and aging. Specifically, I reflect on the dynamics of my relationship with my mother, beginning with my departure from my home and spanning a period of 40 years, 8 in China and 34 outside China. In doing so, I contemplate theoretical models of intergenerational solidarity, ambivalence, and role ambiguity. I also challenge cultural assumptions of filial piety. The geographical distance, passage of time, and acculturation process have profoundly influenced my perception of filial piety, which differs markedly from my mother’s. However, this divergence in consensual solidarity—marked by variations in attitudes, beliefs, and values—does not translate into weakened affectual solidarity, characterized by positive sentiments and emotions. Furthermore, aided by advancements in transportation and social media technology, I have been able to extend crucial emotional and some “instrumental” care to my mother, along with financial support if needed, despite limited hands-on care. Nevertheless, I must negotiate my care for my mother and navigate a delicate balance in coordinating my care efforts with those of my non-migrant siblings. Full article

This article is a self-narrative of our 18-year research into the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK)-guided professional development of teachers in ICT-enhanced mathematics learning. Using autoethnography as the methodology to elucidate our transformative personal evolution in implementing the TPACK model, we describe how we conceptualized and enacted the TPACK framework across three distinct phases of our research trajectory. In the first phase, our efforts focused on offering afternoon seminars and workshops on using educational software. Mathematics teachers attended the seminars and workshops voluntarily. In the second phase, we concentrated on designing programs guided by the principles of adult education, which emphasize the importance of learner autonomy and relevance, and socio-constructivist views of teacher professional growth, which stress the role of collaboration and reflection in learning. In the final phase, we adopted a systemic, school-based approach to investigating and expanding TPACK for mathematics and other STEM/STEAM teachers. At the end of each phase’s description, we delve into the profound lessons learned and how these led to a paradigm shift, expanding our perspective on TPACK as practitioners and researchers. Finally, we present a set of recommendations for future research and practice aimed at facilitating the sustainability of STEM/STEAM teacher professional learning initiatives. Full article

This article focuses on the use of a practitioner enquiry (PE) course to develop teacher education for inclusion, particularly when referring to continuous professional development (CPD). The article aims to answer the following research questions: How does this PE course compared to other experiences of CPD? To what extent is this model of CPD a way of promoting teacher education for inclusion? The data presented in this article were generated by three student-practitioners and a course tutor who engaged in a practitioner enquiry course offered in a higher education institution in Scotland during the academic year 2022–2023. Data were generated through autoethnography, and all authors individually reflected on their experiences of CPD, namely this PE course. The data were then analysed through a thematic analysis process that combined individual and collaborative tasks, including the writing of this article. This article concludes that long-term CPD with a constructivist alignment allows student-practitioners to develop their agency as inclusive educators. Engagement with research, both by critically analysing ‘global’ academic research and by designing and implementing a ‘local’ PE, provides lifelong tools for teachers to identify and remove barriers to ensuring that all learners can access, participate, and succeed in education. Full article

This paper considers the presence and potential educational impact of national exhibitions within the Auschwitz Birkenau State Museum in Poland. It takes a constructivist, personal-theoretical approach, drawing from autoethnography to explore possible visitor experiences at two of the national exhibits. Through detailed reflection on the French exhibition (Block 20) and the Dutch exhibition (Block 21), the author conducts a thematic analysis on the content in order to consider the constructions and possible intentions of the narratives presented. This is used to consider how the (relatively unvisited) exhibitions might contribute to visitors’ developing understandings of the complex history of the Holocaust. Particularly, the author considers how the national exhibits might contribute to the education of young people at the museum, and, by extension, at other sites, memorials, or educational spaces. The paper concludes that the inclusion of these complex national narratives is vital in young people gaining an understanding of the Holocaust as a multi-layered event. The paper offers a model for enabling inclusive Holocaust Education that embraces: (1.) divergent historical narratives (such as those in the national exhibitions), (2.) young people’s emotional engagement and responses to those narratives, and (3.) the Holocaust (and its representations) as a ‘contested space’ of history. Full article

El Juego is a multicultural community of 30 people that exists as a permanent laboratory of conflict resolution and healing. Two and a half years ago, during the pandemic and after four years of living as nomads, we bought together one hundred and forty hectares in San Rafael, Antioquia, to live in close connection with nature and promote reforestation by creating a natural reserve. In this article, we share some of our reflections and experiences of collective healing. We do so through an exercise in autoethnography carried out by two members of our community following the death of Camelia, one of our horses. We then pull out themes that appeared in the autoethnographic pieces, sharing our reflections on developing a more intimate relationship with nature. In the discussion, we draw on the literature on anarchism and Indigenous ways of knowing and enrich it with the lived experience of the community. Full article

The starting point of the study is the work counselling process taking place in the induction phase of the students’ teaching career. The work counselling process consists of activities that support and strengthen the students’ teacher hood and their primary function as teachers by helping them to analyse their work and to attach to working life as newly graduated teachers. In this study, we use contextualisation and storytelling in the frameworks of positive pedagogy and systems theory to reflect on the students’ growth process as teachers. We also acknowledge the importance of Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development and, related to that, timely learning support (scaffolding) and a solution-focused approach as part of the supervision process utilising the methods of work counselling. In this study, autoethnography was used as a tool to help us reflect on our actions and work. Methods were chosen based on the thought that in the induction period, the students’ experiences function as mirrors for us supervisors, helping us to reflect on our actions and the supervision process and to form ideas and meanings based on the documented discourse data. Full article

I was 13 years old when I heard Judy Collins’ rendition of “Amazing Grace” over the radio. At that time, I thought it was an unusual song to be played over a rock station. Collins sang the first verse with a pure yet moving vocal quality unaccompanied until the second verse when an unpretentious-sounding choir joined her. I was immediately mesmerized by the sound, even though I did not understand the meaning of the text. However, after embracing Christianity, “Amazing Grace” has been a wonderful companion and master teacher throughout my journey. In this transcendent autoethnography, I answer the research question, “What does spirituality sound like?” by using “Amazing Grace”. I describe how this hymn played a role in my early Christian life when it caused me to consider biblical truth. Then, I explore the lessons I learned about biblical grace. From a music educator’s perspective, I discuss my fundamental belief that “spiritual music is relationship” and show how “Amazing Grace” is a model for the sound of spirituality. I conclude with the prose of seven biblical reflections on what spirituality sounds like—a sound that leads us to a profound relationship with God. Full article

This paper aims to explore the nature of Work–Life Balance (WLB) policies offered within a developing country (Gaza; Palestine) by two telecommunication companies. Firstly, the cultural context is described, in which two semi-public companies have developed a particular set of family-friendly policies, which have attempted to serve the needs of employees of a country enduring blockade and bombardment. Then, ideas are developed exploring why the adoption of Work–Life Balance (WLB) policies in these organisations may have taken a particular pathway. Using the value assumptions of an Islamically informed critical realist approach, qualitative studies have been undertaken in which 20 managers and 42 employees (one third female) have been interviewed in two semi-public companies during a time of turbulence (2015 to 2021) in the political economy of Gaza. These interviews have been subjected to systematic qualitative analysis and interpreted from the methodologies of critical realism and auto-ethnography. The reasons for the provision of WLB benefits identified by respondents were often different in kind and degree from those found in studies in Western countries. These assumed reasons also differed between managers and professional employees. Generally, WLB benefits supported women in an Islamic and Arabic culture in ways which were resonant with cultural settings, but which also reflected local political and union pressures, government regulations, and international influences. The reasons for the provision of WLB benefits identified by respondents were often different in kind and degree from those found in studies in Western countries. These reasons also differed between managers and professional employees. Generally, WLB benefits supported women in an Islamic and Arabic culture in ways which were resonant with cultural and religious settings. This study, the first of its kind in a Muslim, Arabic culture deserves replication with both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Full article