Centering power, positionality, and emotional labor in a Master of Social Work research course: Perspectives from a student and instructor

Abstract

This paper presents a case study of a student and instructor’s experience in a foundational research course in a Master of Social Work (MSW) program at a major university. As part of this course, students are asked to design and implement an original, practice-informed research project. One student had a particularly complex, affective response to her research project. In response to the student’s experience in the course, the instructor reconceptualized the major course assignment, drawing from the feminist concept of emotional labor, so that it would be responsive and relevant to the student’s learning. This instance of educational individualization allowed the student to take inventory of and critically reflect on her enhanced awareness of self, positionality, and power structures personally, professionally, and as a researcher, through an autoethnographic narrative and critical analysis. A central finding of this case study is that attention to the emotional labor of research opens up space for ways of knowing and learning beyond positivist, inflexible, and narrowly imagined competency-based paradigms. Moreover, this case study demonstrates the possibilities of qualitative research in accessing and exploring the affective research experience. Finally, this paper argues that emotional labor is a critical aspect of learning, teaching, and practicing research that ought to be fully considered and addressed across all approaches to inquiry, particularly those concerned with social justice. Recommendations for conceptualizing and teaching social work research courses are offered, including those related to course structure, curricular sequencing and the integration of content on epistemology and emotional labor.