Stitchery me, stitchery do

Abstract

While seeking to understand teachers’ philosophy on culturally responsive practice in the classroom, I used quilt-making to physically manifest my own story and those of my participants as method in an autoethnographic project. The craft of quilt-making became a metaphor for my past, yet spoke so much of my present and my future andprovided something tangible with which we could all connect. Through the crafting and construction of the quilt I was able to explore and connect my experiences with those of my participants, our beliefs and personal philosophies of being Pākehā (descendant of settle ancestors) teachers in secondary classrooms. The craft and autoethnography were in response to the project yet they speak louder than the project itself.