Willing to Be Disturbed: Softening Reflexivities in Co-Researcher/Parent Interviews on School Choice

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  In Roundtable Session: Getting Better at Qualitative Methods

Abstract

This paper explores the productive discomfort three co-researchers experienced while reflexively interviewing one another about their experiences navigating school choice. As mothers/interviewers with personal convictions and lived contradictions about school choice, the positionality of participant-researcher is complex. Hence as researchers, we engaged in reflexivity by going through the same narrative interview process as our participants in a larger study on school choice. This uncomfortable reflexive process was significant because it helped us push through differences, see them as strengths, providing an opportunity to challenge and expand the depth of our thinking as researchers. Furthermore, engaging in such critical transparency was crucial to better understanding our current and future participants’ viewpoints.

Authors

• Christy Wessel Powell

• Regina Marie Weir, Indiana University

• Bita Hazel Zakeri, Indiana University - Bloomington