A Trioethnography of Organic Mentoring in the Doctoral Process

ABSTRACT

As three academic researchers resisting the existing recognition order through generative, non-instrumentalizing relationships, we represent a substantive move away from the prevailing developmental model of doctoral student preparation. We highlight the struggle against misrecognition in the academy. Drawing on duoethnographic methods, we explore the nature of doctoral study and effective approaches to mentoring doctoral students as future researchers and university faculty. We contribute to the literature on mentoring non-traditional adult learners in higher education by defining organic mentoring as non-instrumental, relational, and collaborative. Additionally, we extend the use of duoethnography to trioethnography by involving three researchers in dialogic storytelling to illuminate overlapping experiences from different angles. Lastly, we further develop the use of Axel Honneth’s recognition theory by linking it to adult mentoring in doctoral study.

KEYWORDS:

• Adult learning
• duoethnography
• higher education
• mentoring
• recognition theory
• trioethnography

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Carol Rogers-Shaw

Carol Rogers-Shaw, PhD., is an adjunct professor in the Department of Educational Administration at the University of Dayton, having earned her doctorate in Lifelong Learning and Adult Education at the Pennsylvania State University. She taught high school English for over 30 years. Her experiences with learning disabled adolescents, English language learners, and socio-economically disadvantaged students led to her desire to provide increased educational opportunities for marginalized students. Her research focuses on expanding access and inclusion for adults with disabilities, stigma and disability disclosure, identity development of learners with disabilities, distance education, Universal Design for Learning, and graduate study. Her qualitative research projects with marginalized populations center on adults with disabilities and mothers of children with disabilities, and her autoethnographic dissertation presents issues of lifelong learning and disability.

Davin Carr-Chellman

Davin Carr-Chellman, PhD., is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Administration in the School of Education and Health Sciences at the University of Dayton. His research focuses on individual, organizational, and community capacity building, especially within the framework of adult learning and agency. The specific contexts for his investigations include religious organizations, public schools, online education, and doctoral and graduate education. Davin received his Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State University in Adult Education with a focus on ethical development in community-based contexts. His B.A. and M.A. are in philosophy, also from the Pennsylvania State University.

Jinhee Choi

Jinhee Choi, PhD., is a postdoctoral researcher at Seoul National University and an associate editor for Asian Pacific Educational Review. She is interested in investigating diverse sociocultural contexts of adult learning in formal, informal, and non-formal contexts. In particular, she researches how globalization, technology development, and corporatization affect the contemporary learning environment and what adult learning can do to create positive change with a specific focus on the disadvantaged population such as North Korean refugees. Jinhee has published on issues related to (inter-)national lifelong learning policies and practices, popular culture and public pedagogy, culturally responsive pedagogy, and social enterprises.