On positioning, deafness, and educational research: an autoethnography on deafness and qualitative research

Abstract

Combining autoethnography and disability studies in education, this article is an autoethnographic study of the different ways the author was positioned as abled and disabled by her institution’s review board when reviewing her qualitative research proposal. The author talks back to the prevailing understandings of disability and conceptions of research that emerged as she interacted with the review board. Through the article, the author problematizes the ableism that surfaced and seeks to redefine what it means to be a qualitative researcher in spite of and because of her deafness. She ends by arguing for a more inclusive understanding of what it means to be a researcher and a call for review boards to broaden their understandings of research methodologies for those who do not identify as able-bodied.

Keywords:

• Autoethnography
• deafness
• disability studies
• qualitative methods
• educational research

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sara Kersten-Parrish

Sara Kersten-Parrish is an Assistant Professor of Literacy Studies in the College of Education at the University of Nevada, Reno. In addition to studying how her deafness intersects in educational and research spaces, she does work with multiliteracies and multimodality with young learners and pre-service teachers.