Future homemakers and feminist awakenings: Auto-ethnography as a method in theological education and research

The author describes a project that illustrates the use of critical ethnography as a research methodology in religious education. The article focuses on a facet of critical ethnography known as autoethnography. Autoethnography refers to the researcher's use of portions of her own life story in an ethnographic project. It allows the researcher to interrogate her reasons for engaging in a specific field, in this case, female adolescent voice. In her research with adolescent females, the author weaves memories of her own adolescence, especially those memories of significant adult mentors who helped her come to voice. Through the use of such autobiographical narrative, the researcher acknowledges the situated nature of her observations and reveals the connections between herself and the topic under study. In keeping with significant work in the field of anthropology, the author argues that this turn toward autoethnography allows for research that engages scholarly passion, enabling the researcher to effect change.