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“Were You There?”

Critical Autoethnographic Reflections on the Researcher-Participant Relationship

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Re-Telling Our Stories

Part of the book series: Imagination and Praxis ((IPCC))

Abstract

While conducting qualitative research in an English as a Second Language classroom in a high school, the author increasingly struggled with her researcher position as she interacted with JanCarlos, a 15-year-old research participant from Honduras.1 In this chapter, the author shares the discomfort and resistance that she felt when JanCarlos subverted the researcher-participant relationship by asking her questions about her own school experiences, namely her memories and feelings about the tragic school shootings at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007. She critically examines this moment, raising questions about ethics, researcher-participant relationships, school violence, and the positioning of students in research and actual school spaces.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Transylvania University, Lexington, Kentucky, USA

    Jennifer Sink Mccloud

Authors
  1. Jennifer Sink Mccloud
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Virginia Tech, USA

    Gresilda A. Tilley-Lubbs

  2. Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, Mexico

    Silvia Bénard Calva

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Mccloud, J.S. (2016). “Were You There?”. In: Tilley-Lubbs, G.A., Calva, S.B. (eds) Re-Telling Our Stories. Imagination and Praxis. SensePublishers, Rotterdam. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6300-567-8_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6300-567-8_5

  • Publisher Name: SensePublishers, Rotterdam

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-6300-567-8

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