Perspectives on Feminist Approaches to Adult Education in International Education and Development Settings

This empirical paper describes the preliminary results of a qualitative interview study about the feminist pedagogy of women adult educators teaching in international and development settings

Playful, intra-active, world -traveling: A framework for teaching adults across national borders in feminist ways

Using poststructural concepts of subjectivities, posthuman concepts of intra-activity, and Maria Lugones\u27 playful world -traveling, this paper theorizes how adult educators might work in feminist ways across national borders

Exploring the Use of Qualitative Methods Embedded in the Practices of Feminist Adult Educators in Transnational Settings

A diversity of scholarship around intentional feminist approaches to qualitative research exists, yet specifics about the ways that qualitative methods may be embedded in feminist educators’ praxis could be explored further. This paper will explore the use of qualitative methods embedded in the practices of feminist adult educators working specifically in transnational adult and higher education contexts. The paper reports on findings from a qualitative interview study on the feminist pedagogy of women adult educators working in transnational settings, wherein educators described using a variety of qualitative methods as teaching activities to support their students’ learning of various topics including writing, learning a new language, and conducting research. These educators described using qualitative research methods such as ethnography, interviewing, duo-ethnography, and arts-based research as key learning activities that were embedded and woven into their feminist praxis. I will explore the ways that feminist adult educators described teaching about and having their students engage with these qualitative research methods as a pathway to building community within the classroom, enhancing critical thinking skills, gaining mastery of particular topics, and developing empathy toward different perspectives and experiences. This paper has implications for educators who are interested in using qualitative methods as classroom activities, whether or not they are teaching qualitative methods specifically

Teaching interviewing in qualitative research: What can be learned from Cinematic Society?

Sociologists Paul Atkinson and David Silverman (1997) coined the term the Interview Society to discuss the use of interviews as a central mode of understanding in late 20th century society. Although scholars have critiqued the over-use of interviews to examine research questions (Potter & Hepburn, 2005) and poorly executed interview studies (Silverman, 2017), interviews are a primary research method to understand the social world. The sheer ubiquity of interviews in contemporary society can blind us to the intricacies of interview interaction, and how interviews are used by individuals and organizations for purposes other than generating information about a topic. Rather than dismiss interviews in popular media as irrelevant to the social sciences, in this paper we explore how teachers might make use of interviews from Cinematic Society (Denzin, 2018) to highlight key issues in research interviewing, including the mechanics of asking questions and following up on what interviewees say, the ethics of representation, and the complexities of interviewer-interviewee interaction. Drawing from literature on fostering critical reflection among adults, we focus on how media interviews might be used to examine qualitative interviews (Brookfield, 1991; Mezirow & Associates, 1991). We argue for an approach to teaching interviewing that facilitates spaces for critically reflecting on others\u27 interview practices, before students apply these skills to their own practice. We explore the different purposes for which interviews are used in cinematic society, approaches to selecting media, resources to explore, and teaching strategies

Contemporary Approaches to Interview Research

Scholars have been writing about interview methods since the 1940s. Although the basic sequence of questions posed by interviewers and answers provided by interviewees holds fast in interview research – theories, methods and practical aspects of this method have been subject to rapid change. In this panel, we discuss innovations in the ways that researchers theorize interview research using new materialist and feminist perspectives, as well as how new technologies powered by artificial intelligence change the way researchers transcribe interview data. In this panel, the presenters discuss contemporary approaches to interview research via common questions. Brigette Herron’s interests lie in how feminist researchers have conceptualized the interview, and what that means for researchers applying feminist principles in their research. Kathy Roulston has reviewed recent writing that applies new materialist theories to critiquing the interview and reconceptualizing interview interaction in the post-human. Ameya Sawadkar has explored the use of voice-to-text software powered by artificial intelligence in transcription of interviews. Presenters will each address common questions with respect to contemporary qualitative research that uses interviews: What are current trends in the way that scholars are theorizing and conducting interview research? What are the issues that these approaches to interview research address? What do these new approaches mean for the interpretation and representation of qualitative data? The session will conclude with time for dialogue with and among the audience

Recruiting for and Conducting Virtual Focus Groups and Interviews with Low-Income Populations during COVID-19

Many qualitative researchers have weighed the costs and benefits of conducting focus groups and interviews at a distance (Krueger & Casey, 2009) and the possibilities and promise of using digital tools and synchronous online platforms for qualitative data collection (Morrison, Lichtenwald, & Tang, 2020; Paulus, Lester, & Dempster, 2014; Qianzhi & Cohen, 2020). However, less research exists on the methodological implications of recruiting and conducting virtual focus groups and interviews with low-income populations and professionals providing health and nutrition education to these populations. This presentation will explore the methodological implications and experience of recruiting for and conducting virtual focus groups and in-depth interviews with vulnerable low-income populations in Georgia. These observations arose from a series of qualitative virtual focus groups and in depth-interviews conducted during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the University of Georgia Supplemental Nutrition Education Program Education (UGA SNAP-Ed) research project involving a formative evaluation and development of a pilot food and nutrition education program delivered by text message to low-income Georgians. To support the development of this text message health intervention, 8 focus groups and 3 in-depth interviews with 26 total participants were conducted. These focus groups and interviews were conducted synchronously online using Zoom, which allowed participants to connect via cell phone, landline, or computer in order to participate. Methodological considerations from this study indicate a need to remain flexible to the needs and abilities of participants and the importance of incorporating a trauma-informed approach to conducting qualitative research, particularly when pivoting to a virtual data collection platform

Philanthropy, Hidden Strategy, and Collective Resistance: A Primer for Concerned Educators

Co-authored by Jamie Atkinson, MSU faculty member. In 1971, corporate lawyer and future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell wrote a detailed memo that galvanized a small group of conservative philanthropists to create an organizational structure and fifty-year plan to alter the political landscape of the United States. Funded with significant “dark money,” the fruits of their labor are evident today in the current political context and sharp cultural divisions in society. Philanthropy, Hidden Strategy, and Collective Resistance examines the ideologies behind the philanthropic efforts in education from the 1970s until today. Authors examine specific strategies philanthropists have used to impact both educational policy and practice in the U.S. as well as the legal and policy context in which these initiatives have thrived. The book, aimed for a broad audience of educators, provides a depth of knowledge of philanthropic funding as well as specific strategies to incite collective resistance to the current context of hyperaccountability, privatization of schooling at all levels, and attempts to move the U.S. further away from a commitment to the collective good.https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/books/1001/thumbnail.jp