Critical autoethnographic inquiry for culture-sensitive professional development

Authors: de F. Afonso, Emilia¹; Taylor, Peter Charles²

Source: Reflective Practice, Volume 10, Number 2, April 2009 , pp. 273-283(11)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

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Abstract:

A question asked by a Year 10 student - 'What is a Mozambican chemistry?' - constituted for me, a school teacher at the time, a matter of wonder and subsequently a key focus of interrogation for my professional practice. This critical event shaped my one-year research journey in which writing about my own lifeworld experience was a way of inquiring into science teacher education in Mozambique. A critical autoethnographic methodology enabled me to represent and interrogate some of the complexity of learning and teaching science in Mozambique. I drew on my evolving professional perspectives - trainee teacher, science teacher, science teacher educator - to generate multiple narratives intended to engage myself and my reader in pedagogical thoughtfulness. In this paper, I reflect on the research process, especially how autoethnography enabled me to explore and reflect critically on the sensitivity of my professional practice to Mozambican culture.

Keywords: autoethnography; critical; narratives; decolonization; methodology

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14623940902786404

Affiliations: 1: Universidade Pedagogica, Mozambique 2: Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia

Publication date: 2009-04-01

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