Reflecting, Seeing, Learning: Using Autoethnography to Critically Interrogate Racism, Classism, and Selfhood

Abstract

The purpose of this self-study was to engage in autoethnography that focused on the interactions of the auto (self) and the ethno (culture) components of this qualitative method of study. In an effort to be more culturally aware of my selfhood within the classroom, I sought to "story" pivotal moments in my personal history where class, race and privilege intersected. I aimed to interrogate these intersections and their role in shaping and informing my identity, while also harvesting new knowledge and understanding through the very act of retelling. I argue that the act of autoethnography was influential in dismantling unproductive visions of myself as an educator, while at the same time propelling me productively through Helms' (1990) White identity model. As a preservice educator, I share my own work with autoethnography, which is honest and personal, in the hopes that other preservice educators might engage in such self-reflection.