Academic literature on the topic 'Auto-ethnographical study'

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to investigate the symbolic meaning attributed by women in academia to workplace artifacts. Design/methodology/approach – The research approach is that of auto-ethnography, whereby the authors, as researchers and participants, explore symbolic meaning from artifacts in their working environment. Findings – Three themes emerged on the symbolic meaning from artifacts for women in academia. The theme of “affect” revealed women as uncomfortable in their surroundings; “representation”, renders women invisible within the institution; and women felt themselves to be under “surveillance”. Research limitations/implications – The investigation is limited to one university, which limits generalizability. The implication is to replicate this auto-ethnographical study in other institutions of higher education. Practical implications – This paper implies that architectural, institutional and personal artifacts play an important role in defining women’s workplace identity. Social implications – Women in academia identify themselves as “outsiders” in the workplace because of the symbolic meaning they attribute to artifacts. Originality/value – This study on women in academia is original as it is the first auto-ethnographical study on artifacts in an international institution of higher education.

This article analyses cooking videos recorded at home by means of the practice-theoretical approach. It employs two conceptualisations of the elements of practice that have stood out in recent applications of practice theories in sociological consumption and food studies. The first conceptualisation comprises understandings, procedures and engagements and the second materials, competences and meanings. To study cooking as a situationally performed mundane practice, auto-ethnographical videos of cooking were filmed using the first author’s family. To analyse the practice of cooking as a composition of doings and sayings, the videos were coded with a video analysis program, Interact, into visual charts, and the discussions related to cooking performances were transcribed. The analysis suggests that the cooking practice involves interplay among the elements of the two conceptualisations: procedures join materials with competences, engagements link competences with meanings and understandings connect meanings with materials. This is visualised as a triangle in which understandings, procedures and engagements represent the sides of the triangle between the apexes of materials, competences and meanings. By combining an auto-ethnographical perspective with a video method and by analysing the practice of cooking as a situational and embodied performance, the study contributes to the current understanding of the elements of practice and introduces a novel empirical application of practice theory.

<p>This study explored a contemporary counternarrative of Drama Club, a transformative culture of teaching and learning for disenfranchised Black youth who had been systematically funneled out of classrooms and into the school-to-prison pipeline. Auto/biographical and auto/ethnographical data were collected and assembled as a metaphor of the teachers’ and students’ experiences in Drama Club and their understanding of the teaching and learning process and of themselves within it. The collective story of Drama Club was analyzed through the lens of culturally responsive pedagogy theory and critical race theory in education. Implications for future research and teacher education that set out to impact disenfranchised students are included.</p>

Through the methodology of auto-ethnographical case study, this research includes a review of the entrepreneurial nature of the current U.S. workforce and explores the experiences and insights of a micro-entrepreneur to identify challenges faced by many freelance, gig workers, and other micro-entrepreneurs in the current economy. The study consolidates the challenges faced by the micro-entrepreneur into four key areas: formulating and executing strategy, constructing a value web, utilizing mentors and negotiating ambiguity in business. These unique challenges center on the start-up, development and operation of a small business, and are used to provide curricular and pedagogical recommendations for higher education to better serve this burgeoning sector of the workforce.

This article aims to provide auto-ethnography for self-growth and individuation through the experience of applying sandplay therapy to school counseling of 11 professional teacher-counselors and professional school counselors, changes in the counseling effect, and the counselors’ own sandplay therapy and dream symbol analysis. The auto-ethnographical research has mainly been about the experiences of one or two researcher(s)-participant(s), but in this study, 11 researchers-participants participated in the study to express and inform their common experiences in school counseling. The researcher-participants have experience of school counseling from 2 years and 5 months to 11 years and 5 months, and they are all female counselors. Research data include dreams and dream associations, sandpictures and association about sandplay pictures, related life events and experiences, contemplation, recollection, insights, observations of researchers/research participants, sharings by group SNS, individual interviews have been used. The four common themes are found: 1. dreaming of becoming school teacher-counselor/school counselor, 2. frustration: self-blame and resentment, 3. searching for breakthrough: finding identity, 4. accepting incompleteness, which is still in progress. Among them, searching for breakthrough: finding identity has two sub-themes: sandplay and dream: encounter with the inner world and wrestling with regrets for children.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reframe transformative and culturally sustaining leadership for a diverse global society by addressing the need for educational systems to better serve people of color, situated in the urban Auckland area of Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ), who have been marginalized by the societies to which they immigrate. Design/methodology/approach Grounded in an applied critical theoretical framework, this qualitative inquiry uses raw auto-ethnographical data gleaned from a case study featuring the voice of Deva, a Malaysian Punjabi woman educator, who is also an aspiring school leader. In aspects of her auto-ethnography, she candidly shares experiences of racism, discrimination, and oppression germane to her professional educational experiences in Aotearoa NZ. Findings Findings inform practice and policy to foster more inclusive school improvement in a bicultural and increasingly multicultural context that has historically recognized Maori (indigenous to Aotearoa NZ), Pakeha (of European descent), and Pacific Islander (e.g. Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Niue, Cook Islands) achievement in a national context. Global and international implications are included. Originality/value This contribution presents a unique perspective showcasing Deva’s direct experiences with acknowledgment of and professional positioning around Te Tiriti o Waitangi – The Treaty of Waitangi, the principles of which are now being applied not only to the rights of Maori and Pakeha, but also Pacific Islander and immigrants to the country.

The quality assurance of research articles is based on a widespread reliance on peer review, which has gradually become black boxed, as the way to do it. By opening the black box, it turns out that this form of quality assurance varies a great deal. This article looks at the comments offered by peer reviewers and treats them as an important but overlooked element of the methodological circle and science production. Based on an auto-ethnographical study of one manuscript that undergoes peer reviewing in three different journals the article examines how the review comments affect the author and hence promote/inhibit the becoming of a research article. The article offers a transmethodological look at peer review by employing concepts from actor-network theory. This allows for a theoretical move from notions of single authorship to notions of writing as a performance of relations between heterogeneous actors. The analysis aims to identify the connections that are established between the manuscript and other actors such as scientific standards for good research, journals’ aim and scope, universities’ requirements for staff publication, peer reviewer’s personal academic interests etc. which all become part of a peer review network. In conclusion, the article suggests acknowledging the relational and co-productive aspect of peer reviewing as an important part of quality assurance of scientific knowledge.

This paper proposes a new method for distributing votes in democratic elections in such a way that allows for the public to put their trust in independent candidates or those from small political parties. Using the case of a party founded by the authors called The Pluralist Party the paper presents primary data to evaluate the effectiveness of the method – called delegated transferable voting (DTV). Using an auto-ethnographical empirical study in which one of the authors plays a significant role as anthropologist, the paper finds that DTV is more likely to lead to the election of independent candidates over party political ones. Pluralism advocates the election of those who are independent of political party whips in order to best represent the people. The election of independent candidates or small parties is a model of pluralism that can achieve this. The empirical study, through investigating the campaigning methods used by The Pluralist Party, shows that putting effort into an election – whether money, materials or labour and however funded – can improve outcomes for political parties. Making use of official government data in addition to the collected data showed that a higher number of votes for the Pluralist Party was associated with a higher education level, more rooms in a household, a lower number of people not in education, employment or training, and a lower ‘knol,' which is a unit for measuring brain activity.

Logo diiktiraf sebagai satu bentuk komunikasi visual untuk mewakili individu, organisasi dan perusahaandalam bentuk tanda grafi k (tanda), simbol atau jata. Dalam bidang reka bentuk grafi k, “Reka bentukLogo”, adalah bidang penting serta cabaran yang paling sukar untuk disempurnakan. Oleh itu, untukmerekabentuk logo, pereka memerlukan proses reka bentuk yang sistematik untuk menghasilkan logoyang berkualiti. Oleh kerana keperluan ini, proses reka bentuk logo sebagai siri langkah atau perumusanyang bersesuaian yang direka oleh pereka dalam mewujudkan reka bentuk ‘logo berfungsi’ telah dikajisecara meluas oleh ahli akademik dan profesional reka bentuk. Dalam makalah ini, penyelidik sangattertarik dalam reka bentuk grafi k, penyelidik juga telah mencadangkan proses reka bentuk kreatif untukreka bentuk logo, dikenali sebagai “Five-I Logo Design Process”. Penyelidikan ini ditulis berdasarkanpendekatan penyelidikan etnografi auto dalam membincangkan proses reka bentuk kreatif yang memberitumpuan kepada amalan reka bentuk logo. Kertas ini ditadbir dalam tiga bahagian. (1) Semakan danperbincangan mengenai proses reka bentuk logo (2) Cadangan “Five-I Logo Design Process” untuk rekabentuk dan pembangunan logo. (3) Kajian kes pelaksanaan “Five-I Logo Design Process”. Diharapkankertas kerja ini akan memberikan gambaran mengenai pemahaman proses reka bentuk kreatif khususnyauntuk amalan reka bentuk logo. Logo is recognized as a form of visual communication to represent an individuals, organizations andenterprises in a form of the graphic mark (sign), symbol or emblem. In the fi eld of graphic design, “Logodesign”, is an important area as well as most difficult challenge to perfect. Therefore, to design a logo,designers need a systematic design process to guide them to reach an effective and efficient solution.Due to this requirement, logo design process as a methodical series of steps or formulation that designersemploy in creating ‘functional logo’ design has been widely studied by design academia and professionals.In this paper, to respond on the research scholarly interest in graphic design, the researcher has madean attempt to propose a creative design process for logo design, known as “Five-I Design Process”.The research is written based on auto ethnographical research approach in discussing creative designprocess which is focused on logo design practice. The paper is organized in three sections. (1) Reviewand discussion on logo design processes (2) Propose “Five-I Logo Design Process” for logo design anddevelopment. (3) Case study on implementation of “Five-I Logo Design Process”. It is hoped that thispaper will provide insights into an understanding of creative design process implementation particularlyfor logo design practice.

The study is focused on understanding identity construction through combining my own experience with the theoretical underpinnings of postcolonial theory, social identity theory and through the examination of two films. The central question that I am interested in is understanding the identity construction and formation process especially as it relates to individuals who have crossed borders and immigrated or moved to countries other than their home countries. The methodology I am employing is auto-ethnography; I am integrating this by using two films as sites of inquiry. Through this introspective, reflection combined with the theoretical framework of identity I uncover themes of identity. These themes include nation, foreignness, community, and home.

The early millennium saw the rise of an educational system in Australia where unchartered private educational provider institutions teach degree courses via contractual arrangements with parent universities. This study examines an incident where students at several such institutions collectively declined to submit a required online assessment piece to the possible detriment of the successful completion of their degrees. The research questions that arose from this incident were; what went wrong; how can we understand what happened here; and, what does this mean for me personally? Students’ perceptions of an online assessment piece are examined in the study of this incident. The study covers identical units offered at six private providers in three different Australian cities and the parent university. The students at the private institutions were all international students; those at the parent were a mix of international and domestic students. The assessment piece, a mandatory requirement for completion of the degree, was given to a collective cohort of approximately 400 students. The majority of students from four of the private institutions declined to submit the assessment piece. Initial research indicated that the students were uncomfortable with the format of a new blended-learning delivery introduced that year (2009). Upon deeper investigation, it was revealed that the declination to submit was, in fact, a complex situation involving conflicts, cultural clashes, social upheaval, and legislative misunderstandings that combined to create an environment where the students felt they had no option but to openly protest against perceived injustices. The author of this work is also the educator at the centre of this event, thus the thesis has been written in an auto-ethnographical method, viewed through the educator’s lens. To protect sensitive information, pseudonyms have been used and identifying details removed. The parent university at the centre of the event, named Newgarth University, is fictitious. Auto-ethnography has been used to present the empirical data (quantitative and qualitative), and the reader will be taken through a “detective story” that reveals various characters, plots, and protest. The study documents a previously unrecorded incident in the international student education industry in Australia. The study offers explanations as to why this incident occurred and adds to the cumulative knowledge of the international student education industry in Australia by offering suggestions to prevent such incidents occurring again. The study demonstrates that when a group of students are placed in an unfamiliar uncomfortable environment with little or no access to pastoral care or welfare services, they will create support groups of allegiance to protect their interests. These allegiance groups will employ tried and tested methods of communal resistance practised by the dominant culture of that field of endeavour.
Doctor of Philosophy

There are many forms of traditional health practices in Nigeria, many of which are at odds or conflict with orthodox western biomedical practices. Yet they are hightly patronized, especially by rural dwellers who make up about 80 percent of the country’s population. The objective of this thesis is to consider the traditional health practices of the Kanuri people of Borno, NE Nigeria, and the extent to which they may harm and endanger the lives of people especially mothers and children. The context of the study is the high rates of maternal and infant mortality in the state. I occupy a dual role as both an upholder of the traditions of the Kanuri people (including their health traditions) and a public health professional. The dissonance and paradox inherent in this dual role is illustrated with firsthand examples throughout the thesis. It gave me the motivation to undertake this piece of research with a view to reducing the rhetorical gap between theory and practice which pertains in the state in regard to integrating the two systems, the co-existence and integration of which is promoted by the health policy of the country as a whole. Formal ethnographic research was conducted during a five year period from 1999 to 2005. The philosophy of reflexivity was adopted, drawing on my earlier experiences in an auto-ethnographic manner. Data triangulation was employed due to the complex nature of the research. Focus group discussions, interviews and questionnaire administration were employed with different categories of research subjects – traditional and orthodox health workers, urban and rural mothers. The results show that western-trained health professionals in the state stand between their own culture, which is of course changing, and the global professional identities they have acquired through professional development and training. At the same time the traditional healers can no longer operate in a context separate from official western-based systems which co-exist with the traditional practices and are widely known to the general public in Borno. Historically, the systems have been in opposition. Now there is supposed to be collaboration and overlap.

This is a personal study aimed at exploring why adventure playgrounds (APGs) have had such a fascination for the author for over 40 years. It weaves a critical and narrative ethnography with an affect-based auto-ethnography, resulting in various voices (author as researcher, narrator, participant) and approaches. The research involved an immersion in the author’s own history with APGs aided by a process of mutual recollection via email with five participants who shared that history; (re)visiting APGs in London, Copenhagen and Berlin; and a process of observation and reflection. This performative and auto-ethnographical approach aims to contribute something new to articulating the significance of APGs. Four themes emerged from this iterative and intuitive process: the mindful audacity of APGs, APGs as places of drama and unspoken narratives, APGs as spaces that are alive in many ways, and the hope that arises from this process of sensemaking. The interplay between these themes offers a socio-cultural view of APGs as symbolic places of heterodoxic and cultural possibility, at odds with a developmental and progressive view of children’s lives.

Whether it is from the office-office or the home office, creating a physical work environment is essential for both improving work performance as well as for the physical and mental wellbeing of employees. But as jobs are becoming increasingly less active, and working adults are spending almost a third of their lives in the office, most of their time is now spent sitting behind a desk. This time in sedentary behavior is increasing rapidly on a global scale and has become a great area of concern, as research has proven that this behavior is linked to an increase in all-cause mortality. To reduce the sedentary nature of the workplace, many companies are now replacing the standard desk with sit-stand desks (SSDs). SSDs are height adjustable desks that allow the user to work in either a sitting position or a standing position. Unfortunately, even as more companies are implementing these desks in their workspace, many studies indicate that there is a lack of utilization among working adults, with many only transitioning the desks to a standing position once a month or less.This paper presents a user-centered design project examining how to reduce the long-term sedentary behavior of desk-based working adults by motivating them to utilize their SSDs to make more transitions between sitting and standing. The project involved an agile design approach based on a cyclic process where a range of design techniques and research methods were used to look deeper into the practices and habits of working adults and better understand why this lack of use occurs and how it can be changed. These design techniques and research methods include a literature study, auto-ethnographical research, and 11 interviews with both active and non-active SSD users. An analysis of the differences between active and non-active users,led to the hypothesis that to reduce the SB of desk-based working adults, the use of SSDs in the workplace should be normalized by ensuring that working adults understand the benefits and proper use of SSDs while also offering the key tools: (1) reminders of when to transiting between sitting & standing; (2) social support; (3) awareness of effects on body & mind ; (4) task-based transitions. . This hypothesis was then used to initiate an empirical research through design process. Through this process, the final concept, BMDesk Application and Controller, was created. The BMDesk showcases an interactive digital platform and controller which utilizes the previously defined design opportunities to aid desk-based working adults in becoming more in tune with their physical and mental state while also providing them with the support they need to reduce their long-term sedentary behavior by utilizing their SSDs. The platform provides the user with an interactive tool that (1) gives them control over setting up their workday and defining how many sit-stand transitions they want to make and how long they want to remain in each position; (2) triggers a light reminder indicating to the user when it is time to check in and (3) provides a step-by-step body and mind self-evaluation included in the digital application; (4) based on the self-evaluation, the application provides a personalized tip and option to “learn more” about how the user can alter their position to relieve them of any physical or mental pain they are experiencing; (5) allows the user to choose if they actually want to change position and provides an additional reminder after a preset amount of time in the case they do not switch; (6) uses a two-way LED infrared sensor to automatically track the number of transitions and how long the user is in each position; and (7) allows the user to connect with the coworkers or friends to setup challenges or select times to standup together.