In the name of reflexivity as a researcher, i often wonder how somebody else would approach my topic, how another PhD Student would write this Thesis and where i am at with it, what are the factors and processes that affect my vision and choices/decisions i make during the research process. Thinking about that, i came accross this revealing quote below that shows how research is ontologically complex and personal to the person that is conducting it:

“Process-sensitive scholars watch the worls flow by like a river, where the exact contents of the water are never the same. Because all observers view an object of inquiry from their own vantage points in the web of reality, no portrait of a social phenomenon is ever exactly the same as another. Because all physical, social, cultural, psychological and educational dynamics are connected in a larger fabric, researchers will produce different descriptions of an object of inquiry depending on what part of the fabric they have focused – what part of the river they have seen”

Kincheloe, 2005, p 333 and in Denzin and Lincoln (eds), 2005

I have been browsing on several articles about blogging as a research tool and just occured to me that blogging in a culture of it’s own, my blog, is my digital/virtual culture, sth that could represent this liminal space am standing or flying or swimming in as a result of moving between cultures and experiencing all this unsettling and frustration as well as the sense of courage, resilience and expansion. This is an idea i shall build on, keeping myself grounded in the self and what matters (cause the virtual world does not mean that i agree with any virtual reality, of course). More to come on that…

I was sent a very thought provoking paper by Ann about reflexivity which triggered my thinking again about the Phd process and the writings am doing at the moment for my two conference presentations in India and Cardiff this year. I am aware of the waves of resistance that come out of me at every stage of the research, sth that seems to be justified by personal regression resulting from my intense involvement with the topic, as suggested also in this article by Finlay (2002) “Outing” the Researcher: The Provenance, Process, and Practice of Reflexivity (see full article here) … Read more »

I have been having a very interesting conversation via email with P.D.A who i met at a conference in Greece in November 2006. He is a counsellor of mixed heritage (one parent is Greek and the other Austrian I think) and he has spend periods living in other countries. We reflected on culture and cultural identity, cross-cultural relationships etc and how we find those elements affecting counselling practice etc. What is mostly interesting is this mutual diagnosis of a kind of  national transgenerational PTSD (Post-traumatic stress dis.) triats that seem to charcterise our Greek nation, resulting from historical and ‘personality’ reactions of the nation. Here i record some of our dialogue: … Read more »

As I am thinking about the choice of Heuristic Research as methodological stance for my PhD, I can see more and more the importance of reflexivity and acquiring a perspective and way of being at all stages of the research where i can find a balance between my ‘own story’ of the phenomenon I am exploring and that of the co-researchers. … Read more »