1st Edition
Transformative Moments in Qualitative Research Method, Theory, and Reflection
Have you ever wondered if through your research you could make the world a better place? Have you ever wanted to know more about how others conduct their research? In this groundbreaking book, Anna CohenMiller, multi-award- winning author and educational leader, eloquently fuses powerful stories of research with methodological insight and theory. Each chapter offers a clear, practical and engaging exploration of qualitative inquiry, emphasizing the power of research to foster equity, inclusion and justice-centered practice (e.g., social justice, economic justice, environmental/ ecological justice).
Through a collection of captivating and thought-provoking stories from a diverse set of emerging and established scholars, the chapters inspire, challenge and empower readers to consider their own work and practice from research design, to fieldwork, analysis and interpretation, to sharing findings and coalition building and advocacy. The nuanced approach of this accessible text tackles complex issues, inviting readers to reflect on their own research practice and embrace transformative learning, shining a light on the work and experiences of marginalized communities often overlooked in academic discourse. In bringing together creative storytelling modes and methods, such as poetic inquiry, dialogic conversations and reflections across decolonial practice, Indigenous research, participatory youth action research and ecopedagogy, the stories provide a rich tapestry of experiences and perspectives.
This book is an invaluable resource and testament to the profound impact of qualitative research for graduate students, practitioners and researchers to enhance their research and praxis. It will appeal to audiences across disciplinary backgrounds including social sciences, educational sciences, humanities and STEM and health fields, encouraging us to embrace the power of research to shape a more inclusive and just world by creating positive change within ourselves, our practice and our research.
Chapter 1: Knowing Ourselves
with Jennifer Wolgemuth, Sara C. Johnson, and Alevir P. Pido
Chapter 2: Creating a Foundation in Qualitative Inquiry
with James M. deLeón Salvo and Jasmine Ulmer, Hong H. Tran, and Aurelia Dávila de Silva
Chapter 3: Seeking a Critical Perspective
with Patti Lather, Tineke Abma, and Imene Zoulikha Kassous and Zyra Evangelista
Chapter 4: Recognizing Failures and Potential Risks in the Research
with Maria Grazia Imperiale, Chiemeka Onyeze-Joe, and Dustin De Felice
Chapter 5: Noticing Potential for Change
with Donna M. Mertens, Nadia Dresscher-Lambertus, and Roxanne Henkin
Chapter 6: Learning from Others
with Pengfei Zhao, Anne Lou M. Hendriks, and Francis Akena Adyanga and Norma R. A. Romm
Chapter 7: Creating Balance in Qualitative Inquiry
with Giovanna Fassetta, Nupur Samuel, and Sally St. George and Dan Wulff
Chapter 8: Building Meaningful Relationships in Qualitative Inquiry
with Patricia Lethole, Mphaṱheleni Makaulule and Norma R. A. Romm, Elizabeth Visedo, and Eleanor Chapman and “Sumaiya”
Chapter 9: Developing Self-Transformation
with Meagan Call-Cummings and LeAnne Beardsley, Andrea Enikő Lypka and Christy Williams, and Gary Padgett
Biography
Anna CohenMiller is a TEDx speaker and multi-award-winning qualitative methodologist and educational leader who uses transformational research and leadership to address issues of equity, inclusion and justice in higher education internationally. She specializes in arts-based research to facilitate and amplify the voices of marginalized, overlooked/misheard and colonized communities, focusing on guiding and empowering early career researchers and demystifying justice-centered research. For inquiries, she can be reached through her website: www.anna.cohenmiller.com.
"A timely, innovative, and empowering call to action, CohenMiller's voice is one we've needed for years. Every qualitative researcher should read this book."
James M. deLeón Salvo, Founding general co-editor of the Qualitative Research Methods division of Routledge Resources Online
"This book is a welcome addition to our field of Qualitative Research. It continues to move our field forward and illuminates our history more fully and our legacy for future researchers. CohenMiller is an elegant writer with a global world view that saturates this text. Anyone who wants to know more about the transformative moments we experience in our qualitative research work will appreciate this book. The individual stories in each section are brilliantly used by CohenMiller. These stories punctuate her themes of critical self-reflection, vulnerability in research, and ultimately transformative justice-centered understanding. This is a sweeping work of imagination and the stories powerfully captured with words, photography drawings, and more. I feel a great sense of hope, compassion, and joy come through every page and every story."
Valerie J. Janesick, Professor Emerita, Author of "Stretching Exercises" for Qualitative Researchers and Contemplative qualitative research: Practicing the Zen of research
"This book is unique in the burgeoning field of books on qualitative inquiry. Seamlessly marrying methodological advice, narrative, personal reflections, philosophy, psychology, and a kind of mystical artistry, it provides an endlessly rich reading and learning experience. It can be read from beginning to end or delved into episodically.
While engaging with important concepts in qualitative methodology, adult education, critical reflection, decolonialization, justice and empowerment, it is never jargon-heavy. One of the contributions of this work is that it renews the concept of social justice, which has become strident and dogmatic in some discourse. Here we find rich, human conceptions of social justice, of what it means to be critical, of willingness to learn and grow in relation to these ideas, and of the role of qualitative research in this endeavor. The power and honesty of the researcher stories in each chapter is stunning; they are truly stories of reflexivity, learning and transformation. The stories, and their accompanying artwork, offer expansion and illustration of the wise, well-grounded and rather lovely writing of Dr. CohenMiller.
Transformative Moments in Qualitative Research is not just another qualitative methods book. It is a method, a philosophy and a profound reflection on life, growth and research. Highly recommended."
Deborah Court, Author of Qualitative Research and Intercultural Understanding
"Transformative Moments in Qualitative Research is a gift to the field of qualitative research and to each researcher who takes up positions of insight and introspection as portals to research validity, introspective researcher learning, and human transformation. CohenMiller shows us how researcher storytelling that engages the visual arts contributes to the growing field of justice-centered qualitative research through creating the conditions for greater access and inclusion. The book illuminates the generative value of critical self-reflection and researcher vulnerability for deepening awareness and transforming learning. Through an interdisciplinary lens that integrates Indigenous inquiry with decolonial research and emancipatory adult education, CohenMiller breaks boundaries and offers us a view of qualitative research anew. This book is a love song and story of liberation to the field."
Sharon M. Ravitch, Author of Qualitative Research: Bridging the Conceptual, Theoretical, and Methodological
