On becoming a coaching practitionerresearcher: A duoethnographic study

Abstract

Using a duoethnological approach, this paper synthesises the perspectives of two coaching practitioner researchers exploring questions of the epistemological and ontological foundations of coaching as an academic discipline and domain of professional practice. Initially, focus is centred on reflecting on the authors’ responses to two questions (1) How do my research interests and questions arise from my practice experience as a reflective coach or coach educator? and (2) How can I contribute to the development and impact of the coaching profession by integrating coaching practice and research expertise? Engaging with these questions through duoethnography, understood as a collaborative research methodology that promotes introspection and critical reflexivity, six themes were conceptualised as follows: (1) Pre-commencing the duoethnography process; (2) Beginning the duoethnography process and first phase of meeting; (3) Reflections on ontology of self and development; (4) The phenomenology of emergence in the coaching context; (5) Clarifying a personal coaching research agenda; (6) Reflection and commitments to forward/future action. These themes support an argument for an existential-humanistic conceptual framework that contributes towards establishing coaching as an academic discipline and domain of professional practice. The article concludes by arguing that by personally engaging with questions of the ontology of self and ways of knowing oneself and others, duoethnography dialogue can contribute to the personal development of coaching psychologists and the professional evidence base of coaching practice.