Abstract:

Educational research are extremely complex, primarily because of the complexity of research subjects and different theoretical traditions - Continental European tradition viewing this filed as autonomous one and Anglo-American approach to broader notion of educational sciences. Furthermore, the complexity of research derives from searching for the best research method and approach fitting to the research topic and problems. One basic premises of the research rigidity was the strict separation between researchers and research subject in order to achieve the greatest possible degree of objectivity and reliability. With the qualitative methodology and necessity involvement of researcher, the reality of his or her subjective inevitability is acknowledgement, consequently bringing aforementioned positivist tradition in research to the test. In this context we recognize certain possibilities of implementing the autoethnographic method, although it is a method and approach that hasn’t been sufficiently affirmed in education research.

This papers brings preliminary results and it is a part of a broader research aimed to map and analyse the possibilities of autoethnographic method and its contributions in education research by presenting and analysing the current starting points, theoretical foundations, research and implementation of this very interesting qualitative approach to educational research.

Based on our preliminary results, we note the greatest affirmation of autoethnographic approach is in the subfield of professional teacher development. By focusing on mentioned subfield, this conceptual paper primarily discusses issues like whether personal and professional experiences can be a subject of self-study research, why it is important to recognize one's own professional development by valid and objective method of research, and what are the basic requirements for reaching objectivity and validity in the autoethnographic approach. A conceptual point of departure is the view on teacher as a reflexive practitioner who is capable of changing his own practice and, on the other hand, is viewed as a researcher who can, through an auto-ethnographic approach, make the area of his development more scientific.

Since autoethnography is not solely a self-study, but is in some way based on the understanding of itself and its own practice, this paper helps to position the teacher as researcher and the subject of his or her own development.

Keywords:

Educational research, qualitative methodology, narrative research, personal experience, researcher as a research subject, autoethnography, professional development of teachers, teachers' professional identity.