How do I disentangle my “Self” from within my roles as researcher, artist, mother, activist (educator), and daughter? If activism is also educator, how do I internalize this work in a way that respects the participants of my project as well as a larger audience of reader; and my own mothering experiences. In this painting I thought about this reflection period and the protectiveness I feel about respecting both the participant mothers’ stories, and my story in this process.
For Freire, reflection and action must occur at the same time. Neither is privileged. He also argued that sometimes, using methods of abstraction:
[H]umans perceive reality as dense, impenetrable, and enveloping, it is indispensable to proceed with the investigation by means of abstraction. This method does not involve reducing the concrete to the abstract...but rather maintaining both elements as opposites which interrelate dialectically in the act of reflection (Freire, 2006, p. 105).
Integrating Freire’s theories within the context of research with participants—that is ensuring that they are Subjects within the project and they have opportunity to reflection and action, I hope to negotiate within the requirements of ethics and my dissertation in an academic context whilst still maintaining my integrity as an activist and through activism—educator.
How do I disentangle my “Self” from within my roles as researcher, artist, mother, activist (educator), and daughter? If activism is also educator, how do I internalize this work in a way that respects the participants of my project as well as a larger audience of reader; and my own mothering experiences. In this painting I thought about this reflection period and the protectiveness I feel about respecting both the participant mothers’ stories, and my story in this process.
For Freire, reflection and action must occur at the same time. Neither is privileged. He also argued that sometimes, using methods of abstraction:
[H]umans perceive reality as dense, impenetrable, and enveloping, it is indispensable to proceed with the investigation by means of abstraction. This method does not involve reducing the concrete to the abstract...but rather maintaining both elements as opposites which interrelate dialectically in the act of reflection (Freire, 2006, p. 105).
Integrating Freire’s theories within the context of research with participants—that is ensuring that they are Subjects within the project and they have opportunity to reflection and action, I hope to negotiate within the requirements of ethics and my dissertation in an academic context whilst still maintaining my integrity as an activist and through activism—educator.
