A Personal Reflection

As a researcher, I bring several aspects of my identity to the research process. Up to quite recently, I was not aware that my life experiences would have an impact on any research I conducted. However, my position on this has changed. I grew up as an Irish Catholic and attended a Christian Brothers’ school. While my experiences and recollections of my schooling were for the most part positive, there are certain aspects which remain with me for the wrong reasons. For example, I remember large class sizes, where didactic teaching approaches were used. Knowledge was considered absolute without room for student participation or voice. On one level, this system worked and served me well when it came to doing exams, which consisted merely of regurgitating facts from teacher centred lessons. I

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have become very interested in the area of student voice in research, particularly in relation to disability. I have come to understand that this interest emanates from my own experience as a student where, as I have outlined, children did not have a voice.

It may be argued that it is an impossible task to see outside of our positions as “no simply neutral or value-free position is possible in social science (or, indeed, elsewhere)” (Silverman, 2010, p.352). As a young person, I started to ask questions and like Takacs (2002), I began to try to stand outside of my own experiences, trying to gain a foothold from which to look at me. I became interested with how we are taught growing up about norms and acceptable ways to live our lives and that to diverge from these norms, was almost regarded as objectionable. These norms are created by society though “there are some who claim societal norms are largely independent of what people achieve together” (Corcoran and Billington, 2015, p.33). In particular, I noticed how adherence to mores in areas such as education, along with the level of education attained, influences one’s social identity and place in the world. These norms surround us and are perpetuated through family, colleagues, politicians and friends (Takacs, 2002). Though I followed these norms in many respects, I was struck that, for many disenfranchised people, this wasn’t even an option. For example, children with identified disabilities did not attend mainstream schools and children from poorer backgrounds were generally not expected to pursue a college education.

Social forces, such as television and advertising, which help to shape our world view and self- perception, often cater for people for whom norms “work”. Moreover, if these norms do work for people, they do not even need to be aware that they are subject to these norms (Takacs, 2002). However, when they don’t work and they don’t fit, things become questionable and uncertain. This may be especially true in the case of those young people in

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our education systems who are not enabled to participate and whose voices are not valued in a narrowly constructed view of education, with its huge emphasis on traditional school assessments as a measure of worth and ability.

This reflective process has undoubtedly influenced my interest in student voice, social justice and the social model of disability, which is based on the premise that we as social beings construct these norms. I have also come to see that it is important to be aware of how my positionality could bias my epistemology (Takacs, 2002). Recognising this is important as a way to start to understand other opinions and listen to other voices in order to work towards a more equitable world (Takacs, 2002).

As a teacher educator, I may need to examine my position as I am the one who gives the mark. Also, because of the power I have in the lecture room, my ontological and epistemological assumptions are less likely to be challenged and if I am not careful, my students’ voices may not be heard (Takacs, 2002). I may need to be cognisant of the fact that the students I teach also have a position, which is influenced by experience. As their lecturer, my assumptions may contribute to how they position themselves as current and future researchers (Takacs, 2002).

This process of self-reflection with regard to positionality is highlighted by Milner (2007) who has a particular interest in researching race and culture. He asserts that researchers need to be reflective and reflexive in order to understand “issues, perspectives, epistemologies and positions”(p.395). They need to constantly ask themselves questions such as “What is my cultural heritage?” “In what way does my cultural background influence the way I see the world?” and “What are and have been the contextual nuances and realities that help shape my cultural ways of knowing, both past and present?” (p.395). Wellington (2000) supports

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this and contends that it is important for researchers to examine positions and “assumptions which are often taken for granted (p.44). Researchers need to pose questions such as “What’s my own position in relation to this research?” What are my relevant past experiences and prior knowledge?” and “Am I carrying a bias, a prejudice, or insider information which will affect my role as researcher?” (p.44).

The next section pertains to power in educational research, which is particularly relevant to this study as young children are the participants. The insider-outsider debate is highlighted along with key theories which have resonated with me as a qualitative researcher. These theories which emphasise participation and the negotiation of meaning through dialogue, have given me an insight as to why I have chosen to embrace the interpretive paradigm and the use of focus groups.

4.7 POWER IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH