Powerful Methodologies/Powerful Pedagogy: Autoethnography and Dialogic Interviews in a WGS Empowerment Self-Defense Class

• Published in: Qualitative inquiry Vol. 27; no. 6; pp. 689 - 699
• Main Authors: Bloom, Leslie Rebecca, Jones, Amy, Barnes, Samantha, Dwyer, Michaela, Garcia, Giselle, Garcia, Janessa, Hadid, Haneen, Johannessen, Alexis L., Kricke, Elizabeth, Mendoza, Yelitza, Turkovich, Margaret, Wangensten-Oye, Karen, Wofford, Shanica, Zou, Jessica
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-07-2021; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Academic disciplines; Autoethnography; Classrooms; College students; Colleges & universities; Empowerment; Gender studies; Interviews; Learning; Qualitative research; Reflexivity; Research methodology; Scholarship; Self defense; Student writing; Teaching; Women; methodologies; autoethnography; ethnographies; critical pedagogy; empowerment self-defense; pedagogy; feminist qualitative research; dialogic interviews; feminist methodologies
• ISSN: 1077-8004; 1552-7565
• DOI: 10.1177/1077800420948102

Autoethnography and dialogic interviewing are valued qualitative research methodologies across multiple disciplines. However, their use in college classrooms as a focal point of student writing, learning, and empowerment is less documented than its use in research studies despite being powerful learning tools. I describe my use of these methodologies in a women’s and gender studies course. Grounded in compelling examples from students’ autoethnographic papers and dialogic interview reports, I analyze how these methodologies enhance engagement with new academic knowledge and skills, guide meaningful self-reflexivity, foster evocative writing, encourage peer-to-peer learning, and create strong classroom relationships.