Blog post Part of special issue: Beyond ‘navel gazing’: Autoethnography as a catalyst for change

Editorial: Beyond ‘navel gazing’: Autoethnography as a catalyst for change

Chiying (Gigi) Lam, Lecturer of Community Music and Social Justice at University of Southampton Liliana Belkin, Senior Lecturer at University of Roehampton 14 Feb 2025

Autoethnography holds significant relevance as a methodology in social justice work within educational research and practice (Boylorn, 2006; Ellis, 2002; Skousen, 2022). It is defined as a research approach that uses personal experience in various ways to systematically analyse cultural experiences through multiple lenses (Ellis et al., 2011). Autoethnography often defies traditional approaches to research and ‘treats research as a political, socially-just, and socially-conscious act’ (Ellis et al., 2011). Key facets of autoethnographic approaches include personal narrative, writing and storytelling, which resonate with many of our practices among the membership.

In April and July of 2023, the BERA Social Justice special interest group (SIG) held an event titled ‘Beyond “Navel-gazing”: Autoethnography as a Catalyst for Change’. This event brought together educational researchers, practitioners and students to discuss the possibilities afforded by autoethnography to advance social justice in education. Following the webinar, participants were invited to contribute to this BERA Blog special issue.

This special issue consists of a range of applications of autoethnography when it is used as a methodology to illuminate social justice issues in education and as a tool for deepening one’s research skills. The author contributions reflect themes of amplifying voices within their respective settings, sharing personal experiences to deepen intersectional perspectives, and advocating for change.

‘This special issue consists of a range of applications of autoethnography when it is used as a methodology to illuminate social justice issues in education and as a tool for deepening one’s research skills.’

The special issue opens with Mel Greene’s blog post, in which she elucidates the value of storytelling in advancing understandings of social realities and challenging academic discourses of ‘rigor’ and ‘objectivity’. She demonstrates the power of autoethnography for liberation from oppression through self-reflection.

Kate Hanrahan continues this theme in her blog post emphasising the power of autoethnography for individual and broader social change. She discusses using autoethnographic methods in her research to connect personal narratives to larger social issues, highlighting reflection and reflexivity.

Sylvia Ikomi then uses autoethnography to highlight the significance of personal narratives in examining how adultification bias impacts Black girls before, during and after their time in local authority care.

Abiola Odunro’s blog post explores his experiences as a Black male teacher, using autoethnography to examine discourses on teacher diversity amid disproportionately low numbers in English schools.

In her blog post, Claire Tupling showcases her research which challenges claims of inclusiveness in higher education through autoethnography. She highlights how autoethnography deepens understanding of equity and access, illustrating its role in creating a socially just educational environment and discussing the marginalisation caused by supposedly accessible technology for faculty and students with non-normative speech patterns.

The special issue concludes with Marianne Talbot’s blog post, which likens autoethnography not to ‘navel-gazing’ but to ‘star-gazing’. She shares her experience using autoethnography to explore her journey as a mature postgraduate researcher.

Thanks to all our contributors for their presentations and posts. They profoundly open themselves up, inviting engagement with the personal and professional in educational research. They inspire us to deepen our thinking and challenge us to engage in intense self-reflection to advance social justice in education. We hope this BERA Blog special issue encourages readers to reflect deeply on their work, research and experiences in education, and that it opens up discussion about the power of autoethnography as a research tool.

References

Boylorn, R. M. (2006). E pluribus unum (out of many, one). Qualitative Inquiry, 12(4), 651–680. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800405282798

Ellis, C. (2002). Being real: Moving inward toward social change. Qualitative Studies in Education, 15(4), 399–406. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390210145453

Ellis, C., Adams, T. E., & Bochner, A. P. (2011). Autoethnography: An overview. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-12.1.1589

Skousen, J. (2022). Social justice leadership: Coming to know another possibility through autoethnography. Cogent Education, 9(1). 1–19. http://dx.doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2022.2041385

Chiying (Gigi) Lam, Dr

Lecturer of Community Music and Social Justice at University of Southampton

Dr Chiying Lam is a lecturer in Community Music and Social Justice at the University of Southampton. She also serves as the deputy director of Southampton Centre for Music Education and Social Justice. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Dr Lam completed her doctoral studies at the Royal College of Music, London. Her research focuses on musicians’ pedagogical practices and post-colonial discourses of power and identity within the music practitioner community. She holds a Bachelor of Education (Honours) and a Master of Arts in Music Education from the Education University of Hong Kong. Currently, she is the convenor of BERA’s Social Justice special interest group (SIG). Dr Lam is a trustee of the European Piano Teachers Association (EPTA) and a former trustee of Soundmix, which provides music and art workshops for refugee and asylum-seeking children and young people. She also co-founded Little Bean Theatre, a bilingual family and early-years theatre that promotes the importance of...

Liliana Belkin, Dr

Senior Lecturer at University of Roehampton

Dr Liliana Belkin has a PhD in Educational Leadership, Administration and Policy from New York University and earned a US–UK Fulbright Core Scholar Fellowship in 2019–20. She is a senior lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Roehampton teaching on the MA Education Leadership and Management programme, the MA and BA Education Studies programme, and is the programme convener for the National Award for SENCOs. Her research interests centre on social justice issues for marginalised groups of youth to access education. This includes research focused on the overlaps of education and youth and criminal justice policy and practice, prison education in the US and UK, alternative provision settings, and public sector organisational learning and change. Her research experience includes policy and practice reform in school and youth justice systems, research on parole and prison education, and organisational change in policing and schools.