Rumbling on performativity_Frits Simon
Rumbling on performativity_Frits Simon
Rumbling on performativity_Frits Simon
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pers<strong>on</strong>s and organizati<strong>on</strong>s are retraceable. Moreover, given the generally societal<br />
prestige of science ethical awareness is adamant.<br />
However, from what I read in auto-ethnographic articles (Alexander, 2014; Boylorn,<br />
2013, 2014; Hao, 2014; Johns<strong>on</strong>, 2014; Mingé, 2013; Mingé and Sterner, 2014; Morella-<br />
Pozzi, 2014; Pathak, 2013; Yomtoo, 2014) I notice that ethical accounts of involving<br />
other pers<strong>on</strong>s are missing despite the articulated guidelines (Tullis, 2013) and the<br />
criticism <strong>on</strong> this point (Tolich, 2010). Frentz (2008) is a rare excepti<strong>on</strong> by stating that<br />
he used pseud<strong>on</strong>yms. Whether the involved participants are informed and in which<br />
way the researcher has taken care of the c<strong>on</strong>sequences of the publicati<strong>on</strong> remains<br />
unknown in almost all publicati<strong>on</strong>s. As far as I am familiar with auto-ethnographic<br />
research sometimes the proclaimed ethical awareness sounds a bit hypocrite.<br />
Even if the ethical accounts are missing in auto-ethnographic publicati<strong>on</strong>s I still see no<br />
reas<strong>on</strong> to abstain from them in my own research.<br />
About my narratives: informed and process c<strong>on</strong>sent<br />
Talking with <strong>on</strong>e of my colleagues about my research the colleague assumed that my<br />
thesis after being finished would be a bestseller within the UAS. At <strong>on</strong>ce his resp<strong>on</strong>se<br />
again faced me up to the fact that an ethical account for my research is important.<br />
Unintenti<strong>on</strong>ally I can harm people within or interests of the UAS. At the same time I<br />
realize that from my experience things are as they are. I cannot undo things; the <strong>on</strong>ly<br />
thing I can do is to take resp<strong>on</strong>sibility for the way I took care of informed and process<br />
c<strong>on</strong>sent, and the way I write about it.<br />
A basic c<strong>on</strong>siderati<strong>on</strong> is to make a very strict distincti<strong>on</strong> between the narratives and<br />
the analyses and reflecti<strong>on</strong>s up<strong>on</strong> the narratives. The analyses and reflecti<strong>on</strong>s are<br />
mine, meaning that they are <strong>on</strong> account of me as a researcher participating in the<br />
learning group. They are sometimes read by some of the people involved, just to<br />
inform. The <strong>on</strong>ly pers<strong>on</strong> to be held resp<strong>on</strong>sible for the analyses and reflecti<strong>on</strong>s am I.<br />
In a general sense my research was authorized by the President of the Board. With<br />
him I discussed beforehand what kind of research this would be – as far as I understood<br />
this at the beginning of my research – to get his approval. During the research<br />
he read my narratives and reflecti<strong>on</strong>s, not to correct them, but to read what I was writing<br />
about the UAS. In principle he had the possibility to prevent to publish about<br />
some issues. It never occurred.<br />
The narratives as such are read by the specific people involved. Before starting to<br />
write about them I informed them about my research, I asked their approval of being<br />
written about and promised that they would be able to read and to comment <strong>on</strong> the<br />
narratives. In discussing the narratives - sometimes in pers<strong>on</strong>, sometimes by e-mail - I<br />
emphasised that the narratives were my percepti<strong>on</strong> of the situati<strong>on</strong> and in the event<br />
of disagreement I would correct the narratives as far as the disagreement was about<br />
2. Research from a complex resp<strong>on</strong>sive process-approach | 57