Autoethnographic Case Study Research Articles

Learning to teach in the 2020s: Four teacher candidates’ experiences amid challenging times

While much research in the Covid-19 era has focused on student learning loss, little empirical work has yet been published that examines U.S. teacher candidates' experiences with learning to teach during the current pandemic era, and all of the social and political upheaval of the day. This autoethnographic case study centers four teacher candidates’ practicum and student teaching experiences, during which they collected observational and reflective data throughout the 2021–2022 school year. Together with their teacher educator, and employing a feminist labor theoretical lens, the candidates analyzed data and derived three overarching themes: Learning to teach as emotion work, labor structures as barriers to learning to teach, and an overall uncertainty about teaching as a profession.

Developing writing productivity in a graduate support community

Purpose This paper aims to examine how doctoral students in education and applied linguistics fields successfully navigated graduate writing demands by participating in a support community that catalyzed writing productivity, peer mentoring and feedback. Guiding graduate students’ writing processes based on scholarly interests and providing peer support are vital to scholarly productivity and transition into academia. Design/methodology/approach Following a collaborative analytic autoethnographic case study design (Adams et al., 2022; Chang et al., 2013), the authors narrated major events that impacted their writing and publication experiences. The authors visualized their entire doctoral writing experience based on the frequency of writing events that contributed to writing productivity. In data triangulation discussions, the authors reflected on writing experiences. Findings Findings show that the support community alleviated individual struggles associated with writing a dissertation and high-quality papers. Key factors contributing to scholarly growth included nonevaluative peer support, feedback and shared academic resources. Writing within the periphery of faculty research and predominantly focusing on doctoral milestones led to individual scholarly interests being overshadowed. Without structured guidance, doctoral writers may develop initiatives to alleviate individual struggles and meet academic writing demands in the disciplines. Research limitations/implications The authors recommend including structured guidance on developing writing productivity and a personal research agenda in the early stages of the doctorate. Originality/value This study offers unique examples of how a student group supported writing productivity and socialization into the academic community. It illustrates the multifaceted nature of academic writing influenced by faculty–student relationships, peers and individual initiatives. This paper provides doctoral writers and graduate programs with examples of accomplishing academic publishing goals.

“But Did You Die?”: Intimate Partner Violence as a Social Determinant of Health

Many Black women experience worsening abuse; however, there is a significant number of women experiencing non-physical forms of abuse, what I term hidden abuse. In one in five domestic violence cases, the fatal or life-threatening event was the first episode of physical violence the woman experienced from their partner, suggesting that some Black women die before they receive help. Violence against Black women requires a systems approach that redresses resource inequities. I attempt to expand upon fundamental cause theory, a systems theory used by social science researchers, to show that intimate partner violence is a social determinant of health. I apply this theory to an autoethnographic case study of hidden abuse. Implications for Social Work research, practice, and policy include developing, advocating for, and evaluating programs and policies that increase financial instability, affordable housing, and access to community networks and social support for victims of violence.

Mental health, positive psychology and forgiveness: a positive autoethnographic case study of Everett Worthington

Purpose The purpose of this article is to elicit understanding of how forgiveness, religion and spirituality, and relationships can better our lives. It draws from the life of Everett L. Worthington, Jr, a positive psychologist and Commonwealth Professor Emeritus at Virginia Commonwealth University. He has published almost 50 books and over 500 scholarly articles or chapters. Design/methodology/approach This is a case study, followed by a ten-question interview. The core methodology is positive autoethnography which is embraced by Worthington to reveal life lessons from things he has done. Findings Worthington reveals a life honoring the interwoven lives of people. He has studied forgiveness intensively and finds it to be an essential way of making our way in the world and in a world community that all too often hosts hurt. Research limitations/implications An extensive literature has developed to understand what forgiveness is, how it comes about naturally and how the REACH Forgiveness method can help people who struggle to forgive themselves or others, and do it more quickly, thoroughly and frequently. Forgiving has psychological, social, spiritual and physical benefits to the forgiver. Practical implications This article is filled with practical information on how to forgive and how to pursue eudaemonia, which Worthington defines as virtue for oneself. Social implications Forgiveness has widespread social implications. Good relationships are those that can help form, maintain, grow and repair when damaged close emotional bonds. Forgiveness helps repair, maintain and grow those bonds. Originality/value Worthington has been instrumental in the establishment and growth of the subfield of forgiveness studies and in the study of humility.

Mental health, positive psychology and leadership: a positive autoethnographic case study of Claude-Hélène Mayer

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to meet Dr Claude-Hélène Mayer, Professor in Industrial and Organisational Psychology at the University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa. Design/methodology/approach This is a qualitative positive autoethnographic case study. Mayer uses positive autoethnography to reflect on mental health, positive psychology and leadership across the life span. The first author also responds to ten questions. Findings Leadership can be developed and appreciated in others. Leadership can be a positive and transformative force that can assist and contribute to mental health and well-being. Positive leadership can be supported by developing wisdom, creativity, critical thinking and conflict and emotional management. Research limitations/implications Qualitative research cannot be generalised. Positive autoethnography reflects the views and experiences of the author, in this case a transdisciplinary and transcultural researcher and practitioner. Practical implications Readers will find a range of practical recommendations as to how to develop mental health and leadership and stay positive in challenging times. Academic literature relating to practical recommendations is also shared. Social implications Positive leadership has many social implications. It can be a constructive influence that impacts our lives and benefits our personal development, but also one that impacts the lives and benefits the personal development of other people. Originality/value In this original paper, Dr Claude-Hélène Mayer shares mental health, positive psychology and leadership experiences and recommendations. Leadership skills are of particular value in times of complex change.

Mental health and positive aging: a positive autoethnographic case study of Joyce Shaffer

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to meet Dr Joyce Shaffer, PhD, ABPP, Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Washington. Design/methodology/approach This case study is presented in two sections: a positive autoethnography written by Joyce Shaffer, followed by her answers to ten questions. Findings In this positive autoethnography, Shaffer shares her life story and reveals numerous mental health and positive aging recommendations and insights for us to reflect on. Research limitations/implications This is a personal narrative, albeit from someone who has been a clinical psychologist and active in the field of aging for many decades. Practical implications A pragmatic approach to aging is recommended. According to Shaffer, “those of us who can recognize the beat of the historical drummer can harvest the best of it and learn from the rest of it.” Social implications Positive aging has strong social implications. Shaffer considers that it is not only about maximizing our own physical, mental, emotional and social health but also about maximizing that of others, to make our world a better place for everyone. Originality/value Positive aging can be experienced despite adversity. As Shaffer says, “Adversity used for growth and healed by love is the answer.”

Footed in the information deep: Research frameworks for (re)claiming and (re)storing heritage-based knowledge competencies in information professionals

A vital aspect of the library and information science (LIS) professional's identity involves an ongoing reflective, inquiry-based research praxis that can be considered “the information deep,” where the LIS skillset is enacted as a means of sociocultural restorative justice. In the American context, with the LIS profession's demographics comprised of over 80% white women, professional practices can be problematic when librarians lack an inquiry-based positionality while serving a diverse reading public. Footed is a methodology that advocates for reclaiming and restoring heritage-based knowledge to actualize a justice-based identity and praxis for LIS professionals. An autoethnographic case study from the authors' heritage-based research process is presented to examine how Footed's process informs information-seeking behavior for praxis. Librarians and information professionals can use the Footed method to guide their own heritage-based research to build self-knowledge as a foundation for exacting meaningful, culturally competent information services.

Diversity in White: An Autoethnographic Case Study of Experienced Diversity and (Un‐)Silencing

Drawing on Sara Ahmed’s observation that the one who files a complaint ultimately becomes perceived as the problem, this article exposes the processes of silencing that occur within academia—particularly regarding issues of diversity, racism, and equality, while also exploring how un‐silencing can occur in such a context. Despite committing to diversity and equality, academic institutions and their decision‐making mechanisms are still largely led by white middle‐class individuals with little understanding of intersectional inequalities, thus (re)producing mechanisms that silence those who experience discrimination and inequality. I apply methods such as autoethnography and interpretive textual analysis to challenge dominant (diversity) narratives that perpetuate silencing. Based on memory notes and (in)formal correspondence, the article describes the long process of silencing after an initial experience of discrimination to reveal common institutional patterns and how complainants feel trapped in a labyrinth and consequently forced to “give up.”

Joining the Math Circus: exploring advanced mathematics through collaborative hands-on activities and performative storytelling

This paper details a qualitative study examining the experience and motivation of participants, facilitators, and organizers of the Math Circus, an event hosted by the University of Arkansas Honors College in Fayetteville, Arkansas, as part of the university’s 150th anniversary celebrations. The aim of the Math Circus was to entice participants to explore advanced mathematical concepts through collective mathematical art creations and dramatic storytelling of comic tales around the history behind mathematics. The study was carried out in two phases; an autoethnographic case study during the event; and a series of deep, semi-structured interviews with participants, facilitators, and organizers. The study examined pedagogical motivations behind the event’s activities and their mathematical content, as well as the experiences of the interviewees. Findings indicate that an interactive and festive event like the Math Circus is likely to encourage confidence to explore mathematical concepts further.

Taming the Dragon of SRL in a translanguaging-oriented classroom writing ecology: An L2 creative writing Teacher's poetic autoethnographic case study

Although studies have shown that Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) is critical to successful language learning, SRL is often treated as a quantifiable and a-contextual trait possessed by certain learners. To personalize, contextualize, and artistically explore SRL, this poetic autoethnographic case study features an L2 creative writing teacher's pedagogical practices and reflections on his multilingual students' journeys of growing as self-regulated L2 creative writers in a Thai university. The inclusion criteria encompassed English-medium-instruction programs with ample classroom-based data. The eight students, four male, four female, came from five countries, i.e., Thailand, Myanmar, China, South Korea, and South Africa, and were all multilingual writers. Data from four students (two male, two female) were analyzed in conjunction with class artifacts and the teacher's fieldnotes. The analysis followed an expanded 5 PT classroom writing ecology perspective, which entails Participants, Products, Processes, Parameters, Past, and Translanguaging. Selected poems were presented and elaborated. The study sheds new light on ways through which the classroom writing ecology interactively activated, sustained, and enhanced the students' agency in L2 creative writing. The author argues that L2 creative writers' SRL can be nurtured through a translanguaging-oriented classroom writing ecology to unleash its decolonizing potential.

A union's and university's responses to violence against a woman professor: Neoliberal restructuring, hypermasculinity, male privilege and hegemonic inequality

AbstractAlthough Eastern Canadian liberal arts universities are portrayed as progressive work environments that cultivate inclusivity and diversity, the corporatisation of these public spaces has transformed them from institutions that once encouraged pluralism and acceptance among all social groups to spaces that unevenly distribute privileges among faculty and students based on ascribed characteristics, social class, and adherence to cisnormative and heteronormative expectations. Under neoliberal reforms, universities and unions adopt their own policies and procedures that legitimate institutional power abuse over marginalised women Contract Limited Term (CLT) assistant professors. Using material evidence from complaints filed with a province's Human Rights Commission and Labour Board, this critical autoethnographic case study explores the institutionalised responses to a disenfranchised woman CLT's discrimination and harassment by a student, departmental chair, faculty and university staff. A theory of genocidal mobbing is developed to conceptualise the organisational processes and practices that maintain the status quo of white heteropatriarchy and disentitle women CLTs to safety, equality and fair representation by their unions. Genocidal mobbing is efficient, because misogynistic administrators only require weaponising one disgruntled student, and effective, because administrators utilise the most fatal and insidious of gendered narcissistic abuse: gaslighting. The current neoliberal climate within academia puts marginalised women faculty at increased risk of genocidal mobbing from those with institutional power and from students with ethnic/racial and/or economic privilege. This article illuminates the union's culpability in the genocidal mobbing of women CLTs disenfranchised by multiple marginalised intersectional identities. Implications for future research and on policy are presented.

Death by a Thousand Cuts: A Microsociology of How University Administration Stifles Solidarity

Abstract This paper investigates how university administration influences solidarity in collaborative research and impact generation. We understand solidarity as the main stratum that makes higher education institutions function, as not to be swamped by their own complexity. Through autoethnographic case study on research impact evidencing and generation from an administrative perspective, we analyse bureaucratic dynamics that hinder solidarity formation by using Michael Lipsky's Street-Level Bureaucrats framework. We uncover how procedural issues, language barriers, and network dynamics hinder solidarity formation. We argue that rigid adherence to bureaucratic protocols and insensitivity to academic realities disconnect administrators from academics, impeding collaboration. We emphasize the importance of personal motivations in fostering collaborative environments. Our findings underscore the need for a paradigm shift toward balancing community welfare and individual well-being within academic institutions. By acknowledging administrative system biases and fostering mutual respect, we can mitigate solidarity erosion and enhance collaborative research for societal benefit.

Being fractal: Embodying antiracism values in course-based participatory action research.

In the winter and spring of 2021, I-a White, female, graduate student-taught a six-month course surrounding the theme: Disrupting Systemic Racism at our University Through Action Research. I was challenged to lead a meaningful course in a two-dimensional virtual space, amidst rising death tolls of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rhythmic beat of calls for racial justice pulsing through our Zoom class periods. This experience opened my eyes as an educator, budding community psychologist, and an antiracist White accomplice. In this critical autoethnographic case study, I recount my experience adapting the community organizing principle of fractalsinto a pedagogical framework that guided my instructional practices in a community psychology course. In doing so, I echo the call for community psychologists to connect our work more tightly to Black, Indigenous, and people of Color social justice organizers and movements to fortify the field's relevance in the struggle for racial justice.

Deplatforming sex education on Meta: sex, power, and content moderation

Public health research has heralded social media as a space where sex education can be delivered to young people. However, sexual health organisations are increasingly concerned that restrictive content moderation practices impede their ability to distribute sex education content on social media platforms. To better understand these experiences, this article uses an autoethnographic case study of my experience navigating Meta's content moderation policies and practices when I promoted the Bits and Bods sex education web series. Using conjunctural analysis, I contextualise Bits and Bods's two experiences of content moderation (when our account was deleted from Instagram and advertising was rejected by Facebook) through policy analysis of Meta's content moderation policies. I then conclude by questioning whether public health practitioners should still be conceiving Meta's platforms as a space where they can deliver sex education to young people.

Like the sea: Living communityship as a form of participatory leadership within the creativity for learning in HE (#creativeHE) community

ABSTRACT The global pandemic has led to an explosion of open learning opportunities for academics to connect, share and develop ideas together. This paper presents a collaborative autoethnographic case study on the educational leadership approaches enacted and experienced in the voluntary Creativity for Learning in Higher Education (#creativeHE) community. The authors reflect, critically analyse and review the leadership of this open peer support community as it is experienced by them using visual metaphors and paired conversations. Insights gained through this inquiry seem to suggest that the leadership within this community is characterised by and experienced as communityship, a highly participatory and democratic way of leading that brings harmony, offers refuge and stretches the leadership team. Their humane and affective bonds as a collective provide a safe and calm working space in which everybody can flourish.

Anti-Adopterism as Resistant Knowledge: An Autoethnographic Case Study of Colorblind Distortions in Transracial and International Adoption

This autoethnography presents my adoption as an object lesson in the normalization of racism. I highlight the epistemological conflict between race consciousness and colorblindness–where in pursuit of being a “good daughter,” I rejected myself to accept my white adoptive family. Clinically, these experiences are diagnosed as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder; however, I locate them as “internalized oppression” consistent with Black feminism. I find that racism is normalized through distorting displacement as placement and through centering my white adoptive family. I also observed “racism as bonding.” I posit, therefore, that adoptees’ anger might function as anti-racist resistance to colorblindness.

Tracking foreign language teacher emotional reactions to student silence: An autoethnographic case study in Japan

While much has been researched regarding English language learner (ELL) perspectives on silence and pedagogical implications, the longitudinal negative effects of ELL silence on foreign language (FL) teachers is an under researched area of study. When considering that (a) Japanese FL classrooms are known to have high levels of silence as compared to the West, (b) FL teachers generally have a negative bias towards student silence, and (c) the fact that FL teacher attrition rates worldwide are reported to be increasing; this is a surprising gap in the field. Using dynamic systems theory, Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological systems theory, Barnlund's (1970) transactional model of communication, and Spilt et al.'s (2011) student-behavior mental representation model as a framework to investigate FL teacher emotional reactions to silence, the researcher conducted an autoethnographic event-based sampling study over a university term in Japan (98 days). In accordance to event-based sampling methodology, the researcher documented "in-the-moment" or "near-the-moment" incidences when emotional reactions to silence occurred. The main findings of this study are as follows: (1) Japanese ELLs are uncomfortable receiving direct FL teacher assistance around their peers, (2) negative reactions to Japanese ELL silence are linked to the establishment or disruption of classroom patterns, and (3) stress pertaining to teacher-teacher silence emerged after teacher-student stress stabilized mid-term. Regarding the third theme, suppressive surface acting and the need for social support were found to contribute to FL teacher stress.

The University and Social Work Under Neoliberalism: Where’s the Social Inclusion for Disabled Faculty?

There is an urgent need to increase the social inclusion of postsecondary faculty with disabilities by reducing the need to adapt to ableist and sanist neoliberal standards. In this article, two social work faculty with disabilities argue that their social exclusion is inevitable under systemic neoliberal priorities of individualism, efficiency, and productivity. We engage in a systems analysis of how educational institutions, namely universities, engage in practices and processes of social exclusion of faculty with disabilities through neoliberal ideologies, policies, and practices. Using an autoethnographic case study method, guided by an intersectional and disability justice theoretical framing, the authors challenge the ahistorical and non‐relational tendencies of neoliberalism in its many forms. Using lived experience as data, the authors elucidate strategies to promote social inclusion aimed at universities and at the discipline of social work. In conclusion, the authors advocate for change at the structural level for the social work profession and for postsecondary institutions.

A Playcentre learning story: Te Whāriki as a framework for reflecting on emergent leadership

Abstract Research into leadership in early childhood education in Aotearoa New Zealand is in its infancy. At this early stage, distributed leadership has been identified as the most common style of leadership used in teacher-led early childhood education and care services. However, as a parent-led early childhood education service, Playcentre uses emergent leadership. Currently, professional development opportunities on leadership in early childhood education are geared towards teacher-led services. Therefore, how can a parent who has experienced emergent leadership identify the leadership skills gained that will form part of their professional practice when they return to paid work? This enquiry uses Te Whāriki as a leadership framework for reflecting on leadership skills gained through Playcentre. An autoethnographic case study method was employed to explore this framework in the context of the leadership skills that I gained while working at Playcentre over a 16–year period. The enquiry concluded that combining Te Whāriki with the early childhood education assessment for learning framework provides a matrix for examining leadership practice, as well as a way of developing insights into personal leadership practices. The use of the matrix provides scope for Playcentre leaders and other early childhood education leaders to reflect and gain insight into their leadership and for developing their own leadership framework of practice.

Instructional design and course delivery as meta-ensemble: Improvisatory responses to COVID constraints in tertiary music ensemble assessments.

This research considers the synchronous creation of a faculty meta-ensemble emergent in the pivot to online music ensembles in 2021. The unit of study outline for Music Ensemble Performance mandates live ensembles in a Kolb-inspired experiential learning model, seemingly impossible to achieve in a pandemic. Eric Ries advocates for necessary change in strategy, where required, without a change in vision. This was also mandated by the published unit of study outline, which limited change possibilities. In this auto-ethnographic case study, faculty created their own co-teaching meta-ensemble to model collaborative musical behaviours. Keller and Appel (2010) note the importance of live embodiment of collaborative music making for sound synchronicity through shared gestures. It was initially unclear how this could be achieved through exclusive online learning. A necessary course pivot during the pandemic showed 1. Ensemble music making is a unique complex adaptive culture, also possible to create in an online environment; and 2. Faculty can model behaviours and structures that are able to mirror ensemble course outcomes. Instructional designers can also embody the courses they teach. This has implications for other teaching and learning contexts.