{"title":"Student ‘Characters’ in Qualitative Research","authors":"R. Hunt","doi":"10.1080/1358684X.2022.2082382","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Qualitative practitioner research undertaken by teachers in schools is a vital means of developing pedagogy and practice, one that is under-valued in today’s educational climate. This essay explores representations of students in qualitative studies, which, I argue, necessarily transform student participants into ‘characters’ within the practitioner-researcher’s written narrative. Through exploration of an excerpt of student interview data, I highlight the importance of open, respectful interpretation of students’ words which maintains an awareness of the practitioner-researcher’s subjective position. This includes the need to disrupt reductive narratives of ‘hero’ teachers and ‘victim’ students which deprive young people of agency and respect. I suggest that such considerations of representation are relevant to teachers’ day-to-day practice in schools.","PeriodicalId":54156,"journal":{"name":"Changing English-Studies in Culture and Education","volume":"29 1","pages":"335 - 350"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7000,"publicationDate":"2022-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Changing English-Studies in Culture and Education","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1358684X.2022.2082382","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
ABSTRACT Qualitative practitioner research undertaken by teachers in schools is a vital means of developing pedagogy and practice, one that is under-valued in today’s educational climate. This essay explores representations of students in qualitative studies, which, I argue, necessarily transform student participants into ‘characters’ within the practitioner-researcher’s written narrative. Through exploration of an excerpt of student interview data, I highlight the importance of open, respectful interpretation of students’ words which maintains an awareness of the practitioner-researcher’s subjective position. This includes the need to disrupt reductive narratives of ‘hero’ teachers and ‘victim’ students which deprive young people of agency and respect. I suggest that such considerations of representation are relevant to teachers’ day-to-day practice in schools.