Qualitative Techniques for Reflecting On Pedagogy
Patrick Michael Knight, Eileen Quinn Knight

Abstract
For educators that have been trained in ethnographic and qualitative research methods meeting the inevitable challenge of reflecting on one’s pedagogy may, at first take, seem to be a simple strategy of mobilizing the techniques we know best – i.e. it’s another ethnographic-like puzzle to tackle, business as usual, etc. Better yet, some may be tempted to assert that as reflexive (or hyper-reflexive) individuals constantly engaged in the iterative process of monitoring performances, eliciting open feedback, confronting one’s subjectivity, and so on there is little need to serious ponder the role of qualitative techniques when one’s pedagogy is at stake. We resist these two common sense views. In this article we argue that not only is the process of reflecting on pedagogy both like and not like the process of reflecting on the research endeavor, and one’s position there, but that one can enhance his or her techniques through active practice. Overall, we aim to share our experiences, pose some questions, and offer some potential points of guidance rather than prescribe a set of rules, regulations, and boundaries.

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