Abstract:
Like the professional photographer aiming to capture the best shot or series of photographs, choosing and using sound research methods to gather data is crucial to the credibility of qualitative research inquiry. Contemplating ways to represent my doctoral research, I framed my dissertation as an autoethnographic personal narrative of lived experience with Māori culture, portrayed as a metaphoric photograph album, constructed around my work. A personal narrative because I told the story of my experience of the experience; an album because in my mind’s eye there were many ‘pictures’ of my work as a physical education teacher educator in Aotearoa-New Zealand. In this poster I will illustrate how I positioned myself as “researcher as instrument of inquiry” (Piantanida & Garman 1999, 139), using “writing as a method of inquiry” (Richardson 2000, 923), to write a series of descriptive ‘snapshot stories’, derived from field experiences over 11 years of close and prolonged encounters with physical education teacher education (PETE) students in tertiary classrooms, and off-campus four to five day marae stays. My intent is to; provide background to my research process, identify the thrust and influence of relevant qualitative research literature, and narrative discourse; describe my practice of writing as a method of inquiry; illustrate the shape of selected stories; use excerpts to highlight how the stories provided significant data for self-reflexivity; and identify what it meant to be the storyteller of my role as a teacher educator. Piantanida, M. & Garman, N. 1999. The qualitative dissertation: A guide for students and faculty. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Richardson, L. 2000. Writing: A method of inquiry. In Handbook of qualitative research, eds. Norman K. Denzin & Yvonna S. Lincoln, 923-948. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
