Autoethnography as Engaged Pedagogy: Putting Voice Back into Academic Writing

Abstract

We are what we write, so why are we taught to write ourselves out of academic writing? If we use autoethnography as a form of engaged pedagogy in the classroom, it will yield results where students feel more in control of their writing and have a better relationship to writing overall. This also allows for better relationships between teachers and students. Scholars have explored this method in the undergraduate and graduate level, but there is a significant gap in using this method in the high school classroom. Using bell hook’s theory of engaged pedagogy and Jerome Bruner’s constructivist theory as a contextual background, allows for a conversation to happen between autoethnography and engaged pedagogy which gives educators the opportunity for practical application in the high school classroom. Applying these theories by integrating them into a course construction and assignments creates an autoethnographic-centered classroom. This classroom environment empowers students to cultivate a love for writing while using their lived experiences to influence their writing choices.