Becoming a (Re)Searcher: Negotiating Literacies and Uncertainty

Abstract

In this paper I explore my evolving understandings of literacy and ways of knowing. Using autobiographical narrative inquiry (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000), the first section of my paper delves into the ways I have previously negotiated concepts of literacy as an educator and novice researcher. In the second section of my paper, I turn towards Indigenous scholarship (Antone, 2003; Cardinal, 2010; Young, 2005) as I embrace my conception of literacy as “life lived” in conjunction with Freire’s (1985) concept of dwelling in uncertainty. By engaging narratively with my own literacy and learning experiences during the first year of my doctoral program, I negotiate uncertainty through three threads of learning: slowing down, being open to vulnerability, and walking humbly in good