Date of Degree
2-2021
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Program
Urban Education
Advisor
Konstantinos Alexakos
Committee Members
David Bloomfield
Deborah Shanley
Subject Categories
Educational Sociology | Humane Education
Keywords
Authentic Inquiry, Autoethnography, habitus, field, reflexivity, Event-Oriented Inquiry
Abstract
The focus of this autoethnographic dissertation is the exploration of habitus and how it consciously and unconsciously influences our perceptions, emotions, values, and actions. I describe this dissertation as an autoethnography to highlight my subjective approach to research and to dispel any claims of objectivity. Through my experiences as a daughter, mother, administrator, and teacher-educator, I explore three internal conflicts, highlighted by intense emotional reactions, and deconstruct how my past and present contexts inform my values, beliefs, and actions. In each chapter, I describe several events that led to a greater understanding of my emotional responses and how I adapted my practices to better support my family, students, and staff. This work is informed by a bricolage of theoretical frameworks that help structure and illuminate the experiences discussed in each chapter. I include methods and methodologies that support my interpretation and reinterpretation of past and present experiences and utilize event-oriented inquiry to analyze specific moments by answering the following questions: What happened? Why did it happen? and, What more is there? Authentic Inquiry is presented as an overarching framework and guides the emergent and contingent nature of this work.
Recommended Citation
Abreu, JoAnn Rintel, "Embracing Conflict and Contradiction as a Path to Awareness" (2021). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4139