Critical Co-Constructed Autoethnography: Reflections of a Collaborative Teaching Experience of Two Black Women in Higher Education

Abstract

Within this paper, two Black women teaching at a predominantly white institution of higher education utilize critical co-constructed autoethnography to reflect on their experiences of using a Womanist approach to co-teach two capstone courses during a global pandemic. Womanism is an epistemology focused on the experiences and concerns of Black women. Using this collaborative inquiry technique, we explore how forms of systemic racism within predominantly white institutions affects our ability to teach and grow as researcher in our specific fields. Critical co-constructed autoethnography is a methodology steeped in critical theory, critical pedagogy, and critical race theory that reflects the tempo, uncertainty, and complexity of research relationships that creates spaces for collaborating researchers to work across differences. We conclude this paper by highlighting the value of using co-constructed autoethnography as a method of articulating the voices of those who have traditionally been underrepresented in academia. This method also allows for the congruency of voices, which is a limitation within traditional autoethnography.