Self-Inquiry of a Gatekeeper: Tending to the Connections Between Research and Reflexivity

• In Event: Taking Responsibility: Autoethnography as Reflexive Practice in Social Studies Research and Teaching

Abstract

Self-inquiry of a gatekeeper is an autoethnographic study which emerged as a result of a larger qualitative multiple case study inquiring how middle level social studies teachers planned, tailored, and enacted curriculum and instructional methods to meet the needs of their gifted students. As a middle level teacher of an inclusive gifted student population, attentiveness to my own experiences and approaches to differentiating social studies curriculum and instruction was an essential step in necessitating authentic data collection and analysis processes (Johnston, 2006). Supported by Thornton’s (2005) curricular-instructional gatekeeping theory, the process of examining how I tended the decisions I made to modify curriculum and instructional methods in my classroom was essential to understanding pedagogical preferences and routines. Furthermore, I also utilized gatekeeping when acknowledging the decisions I made as a researcher to authenticate the experiences of my participants and detach from my own instructional experiences. Through various forms of reflection, including researcher reflective journaling, artifact collection, and self-inquiry from previous classroom experiences, I was able to uncover personal perceptions related to the differentiation of social studies curriculum and instruction that individualized learning for academically gifted student populations.

One of the primary themes that emerged from both teacher and researcher reflexivity was the deeper connections made between gatekeeping and the pursuit to provide students with meaningful learning experiences. Defining my own interpretation of how I tended the curricular-instructional gate was essential: It was imperative that I remained present-minded, flexible, and confident. Another primary theme that emerged from this autoethnography was a better understanding of how teacher fears can stifle purposeful instruction. By contending with my own fears as a teacher, I was able to find the power ignited through my own gatekeeping to implement new instructional methods, employ innovative teaching tools and curriculum resources. I was also able to face moments within my own teaching experiences where I avoided purposeful instruction.

Author

• Teresa Bergstrom, University of South Florida