Effecting Epiphanous Change in Teacher Practice: A Teacher’s Autoethnography

Abstract

This study comprises of a series of autoethnographic vignettes stemming from Karen’s life experiences that provide a snapshot of her quest for equality and fairness in her personal life, as well as her professional life as a primary school and special education educator. Karen later became a teacher of teachers, keen to share what she had learned with her peers. It was when she began educating other teachers that she became even more self-reflective with the most poignant question being, what causes one to change their beliefs, attitude, or way of thinking? The included vignettes encapsulate significant stories, starting from early childhood, to the motivation behind Karen’s teaching career and then the students that she met who shaped her adoption of the belief of equality and fairness for all. The vignettes provide the foundation for a qualitative study where one teacher’s journey of transformative and epiphanous change are analysed using autoethnography, reflexivity and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The study examines the value of tacit knowledge, and then segues to explore resonance with Dewey’s constructivism, Kolb’s experiential theory, Mezirow’s transformational education theory and Tang’s Synergic Inquiry. While these theories provide a foundation for how learning and personal transformation may occur and attempts to answer the aforementioned question; not one theory captured what Karen was seeking; which is: How does epiphanous, mind blowing, life affirming change occur? The author contends that to shift one's value’s paradigm, one needs to incorporate the essence of all of the above theories to create a new integrated model.

Storytelling in the Classroom: Why it Matters in Event Marketing Education

“…When we reflect on our past experiences, we gain a level of critical distance and awareness (Rod, 2011) of our mistakes, successes, and the process we go through that lead to these mistakes and successes. When we tell these stories, we reveal the impact of our past experiences in our decisions (Barley & Southcott, 2019). Essentially, when we share our stories, we also declare the lessons we have learned from our experiences.…”

“…When we tell stories, we don't merely recount or retell events in its chronological order (Binks et al, 2009). We choose which details to share and which ones to leave out, filtering them through our prevailing perspective or perspectives Lawrence & Paige, 2016. We attach meaning to the experiences that we share to others (Barley & Southcott, 2019;Binks et al, 2009). Through these stories, we make sense of the world around us.…”

Transformative learning in the online classroom: A marketing educator’s autoethnographic account

“…There is value in capturing an educator's transformation. While an autoethnographic account may not be generalized for the general population, it may resonate with others and trigger reflection (Barley & Southcott, 2019). It may lead others, more specifically fellow educators, to examine their beliefs and practices, how these may have transformed, and how the transformation occurred.…”

“…Furthermore, while theory can explain why a phenomenon such as transformation occurs, it does not capture how transformation occurs because "a change in consciousness is difficult to quantify" (Barley & Southcott, 2019). Transformative learning literature often focus on ascertaining whether a change occurs and explaining what causes this change, but rarely does it provide a nuanced description of the transformation.…”

Transformativni potencijal autoetnografije u poučavanju kvalitativnih metoda istraživanja u studiju pedagogije

“…Usmjeravanjem na mikro kontekst, odnosno na detektiranje i kritičku analizu porobljujućih elemenata vlastitih identiteta i praksi, autoetnografija postaje oblikom transformativnoga nastojanja koje se ne zadržava isključivo na makro razini, već istražuje način na koji odnos autortekst-čitatelj može funkcionirati kao pomak prema društvenoj pravdi na mikro razini, pri čemu fokus od razine aktualnog konstantno biva usmjeravan prema onom mogućem (Toyosaki, Pensoneau-Conway, 2016). Sve navedeno vodi prema zaključku o izraženome pedagoškom potencijalu autoetnografije u kontekstu osvješćivanja načina na koji osobna iskustva, uvjerenja i stavovi postaju i bivaju dijelom profesionalnoga identiteta nastavnika i razumijevanja načina na koji se u implicitnoj pedagogiji nastavnika mogu događati transformativni pomaci (Barley, Southcott, 2019). Taj je potencijal još naglašeniji shvatimo li postajanje i bivanje nastavnikom kao biografsku krizu, odnosno kao proces u kojemu se sadašnjost, prošlost i budućnost nastavnika susreću u dinamičkoj napetosti, koji ne može biti sveden na dekontekstualiziranu primjenu profesionalnih znanja i vještina (Britzman, 1991, prema Starr, 2010.…”