RE-CREATING THE CLASSROOM: THE JOY OF TEACHING QUALITATIVE

RESEARCHPaper presented and The Sixth Annual The Qualitative Report ConferenceJanuary 10, 2015 Cynthia Lubin LangtiwAssociate Professorclangtiw@thechicagoschool.edu

SOMETIMES THE WORDS ARE SO CLOSE

• Sometimes the words are so close I ammore who I am when I’m down on paperthan anywhere else as if my life werepracticing for the real me I becomeunbuttoned from the anecdotal andunnecessary and unpressed downto the figure of the poem, line by line,the real text a child could understand.Why do I get confused living it through?Those of you, lost and yearning to be free,who hear these words, take heart from me.I was once in as many drafts as you.But briefly, essentially, here I am…Who touches this poem touches a woman.

• -Julia Alvarez 

WHO AM I?• Cynthia Lubin Langtiw• Clinical psychologist• Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology• Teach clinical courses as well as qualitative research• Student in the Nova Southeastern University Graduate Certificate in

Qualitative Research

WHAT I DON’T KNOW FOR SURE

• There is a way that teaching changes you. • In The Pedagogy of the Oppressed Paulo Freire denounces the

dehumanizing banking method of education for one in which the learner is the co-creator of knowledge.

• The learner becomes aware of their incompleteness and moves towards a more conscientious humanity.

• Similarly, if an educator allows herself to be emptied of her own knowingness there is opened a space for curiosity and wonder.

• In this presentation, I will explore the magical spaces that have emerged as I have taught Qualitative Research and I invite you to do the same.

*Acknowledging and thanking Oprah Winfrey for the insightful guiding questions.

AHA MOMENTS

“As human beings, not only do we seek resolution, but we also feel that we deserve resolution. However, not only do we not deserve resolution, we suffer from resolution. We don't deserve resolution; we deserve something better than that. We deserve our birthright, which is the middle way, an open state of mind that can relax with paradox and ambiguity.” ― Pema Chödrön

AHA MOMENTS• Autoethnography• Trustworthiness and validity• Grace towards to work of our peers and colleagues

• http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/people-who-totally-nailed-it#.gg8oed1yp

LIFE LESSONS

“I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next.Delicious Ambiguity.” ― Gilda Radner

LIFE LESSONS• Stay humble• Take pause whenever I “know” I have the answer• The importance of shared power

• Decolonizing Methodologies, Linda Tuhiwai Smith• Keep asking ourselves how we know what we know• The importance of bracketing and owning my role as a researcher• Stay curious

BIGGEST GIFT

Making peace with uncertainty

•“Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart...live in the question.” •― Rainer Maria Rilke

WHAT DON’T YOU KNOW FOR SURE?

STAY HUMBLE. STAY CURIOUS.

THANK YOU!