Creating Poetic Expressions for Professional Learning in the HIV and AIDS Context

ABSTRACT As South African researchers facing HIV- and AIDS-related challenges in our professional lives, we continuously turn to self-study methodology to inform our learning and teaching in our teacher education practice. This article explores how we extended our professional knowledge in relation to HIV and AIDS, starting with our own self-study doctoral projects. We each self-selected exemplars from our completed doctoral projects as data sources. We also wrote reflective letters which we emailed to each other to create poems to learn about and improve our practice in the South African context of HIV and AIDS. Using two different sets of poetic representations, we framed possibilities to explore how poetic inquiry enhanced our professional learning. We also considered how poetic inquiry can contribute to professional responsibilities in general. Our collaborative poetic self-study facilitated relooking at our doctoral projects differently. We concluded that our poetic self-study research enabled in-depth considerations of our particular concerns, which in turn assisted us in framing our professional learning as teacher educators researching and teaching in the HIV and AIDS context. Through poetic analysis, we realized that we must extend and continue growing our self-study scholarship that centers on making a difference concerning HIV and AIDS. In our inquiry, we could persist in seeking additional innovative, alternative ways of commencing and continuing conversations around social issues in HIV and AIDS. Collaborative self-study poetic inquiry permits rekindling, revitalizing and rejuvenating one’s research interests for continued professional learning and professional responsibilities.