Triggering the Spotlight: Memory and the Researcher/Practitioner Gaze

• In Event: Embodied/Embedded Spaces Where Memory Resides

Abstract

In this paper, I take a postformal autoethnographic approach informed by critical pedagogy and critical body studies. I examine newly crafted reflective narratives of my experiences with schooling in relation to my prior published research findings about urban education, bringing to the surface the interconnections between my personal memories, participant-observer experiences in urban schools where I conducted research, and my practice as a University faculty member. Using an analogy of a motion-sensor activated spotlight, I demonstrate emotion and physical sensation of embodied memories as triggers for my researcher’s gaze. This work highlights the limitations of notions of “qualitative researcher” as instrument and calls into question assumptions about the purpose of qualitative research in education. It raises possibilities for tapping embodied memories as valuable knowledge for informing researcher/practitioner praxis.

Author

• Tricia M. Kress, University of Massachusetts Boston