Summary of "Negotiating Positions through Reflexivity in International Fieldwork (Noh, 2019)
https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872817725140 .
Positionality Overview:
Multiplicities of identity explored in relation to each other.
Examines positions such as insider or outsider, researcher or student.
Reflexivity Concerns:
Some worry about reflexivity being too self-focused and used as therapy.
Outsider Impact:
Outsider status can affect openness, depth of data, and acceptance.
Potential consequences include misrepresentation, exploitation, and disempowerment of the researched group.
Balancing Insider and Outsider:
Importance of being open, honest, and sensitive sometimes outweighs being an insider.
Emphasis on using 'endogenous reflexivity' and 'referential reflexivity' to understand mutual influences.
Understanding Social Structure:
Acknowledges that social structure enables and restricts individuals, but individuals can also contribute to changing it.
Positionality Definition:
Positionality defined as the relationship between self and environment.
Reflexivity Types:
Endogenous Reflexivity: Explores how the researcher's experience and preconceptions influence research practices.
Referential Reflexivity: Examines how the self is viewed by others and the mutual influence between the researcher and the environment.
Insider Status Example:
Contextual example: A Korean researcher in Asia might be considered an insider due to shared values as a fellow Asian.
Jacobson, D., & Mustafa, N. (2019). Social identity map: A reflexivity tool for practicing explicit positionality in critical qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 18(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406919870075
Objective:
Develop a Social Identity Map as a flexible tool for researchers to reflect on their social location in critical qualitative research.
Components of the Social Identity Map:
Identification of Social Identities:
Includes class, citizenship, ability, age, race, sexual orientation, and gender.
Acknowledges the fluidity and ever-changing nature of social identities.
Impact of Positions on Lives:
Examines how identified social positions impact the researcher's life.
Details Tied to Social Identity:
Requires reflection and detailing of emotions related to social identity facets.
Aids in identifying influential facets.
Understanding Positionality:
Recognizes the role of power, privilege, and visibility in the research process.
Positionality impacts how researchers approach, interact, and interpret, emphasizing self-critique.
Awareness of social identities, including class, citizenship, ability, age, race, sexual orientation, and gender, is crucial.
Application of Social Identity Map in Research Stages:
Approach to Research/Design:
Analyze motivations and approach in relation to the map.
Reflect on experiences tied to identified categories.
Methods and Data Collection:
Assess how social identity influences research interests, questions, and chosen methodologies.
Reflect on interactions with participants, anticipating dynamics and power imbalances.
Interviews:
Consider overlapping social identities during interviews, being mindful of potential benefits or challenges.
Data Analysis and Interpretation:
Explicitly consider relational social identities using the map.
Enhance understanding of social dynamics influencing data generation and interpretation.
Promoting Social Justice-Oriented Research:
Utilize the Social Identity Map to foster reflection on positionality and promote social justice-oriented research.
Challenges and Considerations:
Acknowledges that it is often easier to explain oppression than privilege due to less reflection.
Emphasizes that the map is a starting point and encourages analysis of intersections among social identities.
Conclusion:
The Social Identity Map serves as a valuable tool for researchers to recognize, analyze, and understand the complexities of their social identities and positionality in the research process, ultimately contributing to more reflexive and socially just qualitative research
Corkett, J. (2018). Butterflies in the knapsack: An exploration of a teacher's identity. In E. Lyle (Ed.), The negotiated self: Employing reflexive inquiry to explore teacher identity (pp. 12–22). Sense Publishers. https://discovery.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=860cc171-d61b-3b94-bba2-e33a045c2086
Identity is complex and influenced by social, cultural, political, and historical contexts, as well as relationships and emotions.
It is constructed and reconstructed through narratives, which can be shaped by theories, attitudes, and beliefs.
Emotions play a crucial role in the formulation of identity, with experiences as a student contributing to the multidimensional construct.
Autoethnographic narrative involves retrospectively and selectively writing about epiphanies stemming from processing emotions associated with student experiences.
The butterfly analogy illustrates the relationship between emotions, self-concept, self-efficacy, and self-esteem, shaping identity as a student and later as a teacher.
Identity is established through relationships, emotions, and experiences, which can both challenge and support self-concept, self-esteem, and self-efficacy.
Overcoming negative emotions and feelings of inadequacy is essential for forming a positive identity, ensuring that one's experiences as a teacher do not replicate negativity.
The goal is to create emotionally nurturing environments for students, helping them overcome fear and develop resilient identities akin to butterflies with strong wings.
All individuals undergo a process of development, akin to butterflies emerging with strong wings, reflecting their resilient identities.
Lyle, E. (2018). Untangling sel(f)ves through a/r/tography. In E. Lyle (Ed.), The negotiated self: Employing reflexive inquiry to explore teacher identity (pp. 1–11). Sense Publishers.https://discovery.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=6a3b85df-9f63-34a8-aaf7-a88293110e62
Academic writing trap: Feels focused on proving rather than exploring, seeks to break free into living inquiry.
Concept of self: Perpetually evolving like art, marginalized by education, fostering space for humanness needed.
Disconnectedness in education: Occurs when students feel detached from their learning, goes through four stages.
To avoid disconnectedness: Education needs to respect identity and integrity of teachers and learners.
Artography: Creates a space to weave the intellectual and emotional aspects of self into teaching life.
Reflexivity: Consciousness of role in research, ongoing critical introspection, humanizing pedagogy.
Letting go: Finding meditative spaces to reconnect with the essential self, reconstructing a disassembled self.
Possibilities for wholeness: Overcoming culture of disconnectedness, exploring authentic educational experiences.
Curriculum as process: Favors dynamic and contextual understanding, encourages movement and negotiation of meaning.
Artography and currere: Invite exploration of lived experiences, engendering pedagogical possibilities in unexpected ways.