Emily Morrison

The George Washington University

While literature on research methods abounds, little attention has been given to understanding how qualitative researchers and their approaches to research (i.e., the researcher’s stance) shape what we know about global service-learning (GSL) and how we come to know what we know about GSL. Researchers often uncritically adopt a particular research method without understanding its theoretical underpinnings and assumptions (Mauthner & Doucet, 2003). This is problematic when we consider how communities, learning, resources, and knowledge may be affected by the processes and outcomes of our inquiries, especially when working across cultures. This article explores how GSL qualitative researchers affect the knowledge creation process by examining approaches to ethical research, exploring a reflexive account of the enactive approach to a GSL qualitative research project in Pakistan, and discussing the elements, implications, and limitations of reflexivity.

Please read the whole article here: How the I Shapes the Eye: The Imperative of Reflexivity in Global Service-Learning Qualitative Research

As the week unfolds, we’ll continue to share articles from the Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning. Many thanks to the editor, Jeffrey Howard, who has allowed globalsl to share articles from the Fall 2015 Special Section on Global Service-Learning. Please share your comments, questions, or ideas for future directions in the comment space that follows!

Later this week we’ll share:

• Nora Pillard Reynolds’s review of Crossing Boundaries: Tension and Transformation in International Service-Learning
• Cynthia Toms’s review of Working Side by Side: Creating Alternative Breaks as Catalysts for Global Learning, Student Leadership, and Social Change

In case you missed it:

• Richard Kiely & Eric Hartman’s Introduction: Special Section on Global Service-Learning – Reflexivity in Research: Reflecting on the Borders and Boundaries of the GSL Field