The Role of Imagination in Autoethnographic Research

Abstract

This paper explores the role of imagination on art and design educators who undertake autoethnographic research in adult community learning (ACL) in the UK. ACL in the UK comprises community-based learning opportunities delivered by local authorities and general further education colleges (Department for Education [DfE] 2019) and provides accredited and non-accredited adult learning, primarily catering to learners aged 19 and above. Artist-teachers in ACL are professional artists and teachers, dedicated to both, who have the competencies needed to work in and through art and ACL. Imagination is central to autoethnographic research, and can therefore be an entry point to a subject or phenomenon understudy for art and design education research. This paper presents a case study of autoethnography as a research process and outcome, which is used to understand what conflicts artist-teachers in ACL face in their role. The case study presented draws upon my own experiences and interview data from 17 artist-teachers in ACL. Drawing on autoethnography, this paper relies on the researcher's imagination to interpret personal experiences and cultural phenomena (Bochner & Ellis 2016). Within the paper, the analysis of the autoethnographic writing is presented separately from the story.