Speakers
KEYWORDS
Autoethnography, CAE, qualitative, university
ABSTRACT
In this poster presentation, two university-level English language teachers will share the progress of their collaborative auto-ethnography (CAE) project, a qualitative study reflecting on their teaching and professional lives during the 2024 academic year.
As foreign faculty situated in the Japanese higher education context, we reflected on where we had autonomy and agency to make decisions as teachers and where we faced constraints in our respective teaching environments. This project aimed to explore our perceptions relating to our autonomy and agency as teachers, and how these factors influenced our motivation and engagement.
Our CAE process involves independently producing narrative-based data, then sharing and examining it through peer dialogue. This approach allows the researchers to have agency over their professional development by fostering self-awareness and self-efficacy, and generating practical ideas. Emerging themes include adapting to shifting student expectations, refining feedback practices to align with pedagogical goals, and balancing professional and personal priorities.
We will introduce the concept of CAE and demonstrate how this reflective process can cultivate agency and autonomy among educators. By engaging with the audience, we aim to explore how this method can be used as a tool for self-directed growth and informed professional decision-making.
| TITLE | Understanding Agency and Autonomy through Collaborative Auto-Ethnography |
|---|---|
| RELEVANT SIG | Teacher Development |
| FORMAT | In-person interactive poster session |
