logo

Commentaries

Vol. 2 No. 3 (2022): Autoethnography in online doctoral education

A collective reflection on doing an autoethnography in online doctoral education

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21428/8c225f6e.4d6ad325
Submitted
9 August 2026
Published
15-08-2026

Abstract

This last article in this special issue, entitled Autoethnography in online doctoral education, concludes with a collective reflection on doing an autoethnography on the online PhD programme in e-Research and Technology Enhanced Learning at Lancaster University. On this programme, we, the tutor and students interact and learn together at a distance—rather “physical” than psychological in our experience. The Editor of this special issue, Kyungmee Lee, is Senior Lecturer and Lead Tutor of the first module of the programme where all of these autoethnographies were learned and written, and Kyungmee is the only person (among eight of us) whose life is physically bounded around Lancaster and Lancaster University in the UK. The rest of us are geographically and internationally spread. Karen is from Colombia, Konstantinos from Greece, Mary from the USA, Regina from Austria, Salwa from Oman, Sophia based in the UK (Leicester, 150 miles away from Lancaster), and Thomas based in the UAE. Most of us have never been to Lancaster (some not even to the UK).

Despite the physical distance and the total absence of face-to-face interactions, we have gone through this first part of the PhD journey together and subsequently produced this beautiful and indeed special issue. We are both privileged to have this exciting but challenging opportunity and proud to make the most of it. While we certainly want to celebrate the production of this shiny new issue as an editor and authors, most importantly, we would like to celebrate the success of our collective (and ongoing) effort, as a tutor and students, to create a sense of “us”, a sense of belonging, through learning, doing and writing autoethnographies. No matter how far we live from the University, we still feel we belong, and when it comes to our research, we know we belong.

References

  1. Adams, T., Holman Jones, S., & Ellis, C. (2015). Autoethnography: Understanding qualitative research. Oxford University Press.
  2. Anderson, L. (2006). Analytic autoethnography. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 35(4), 373-395. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891241605280449
  3. Behar, R. (1997). The vulnerable observer: Anthropology that breaks your heart. Beacon Press.
  4. Campbell, E. (2017). “Apparently being a self-obsessed C**t is now academically lauded”: Experiencing Twitter trolling of autoethnographers. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 18(3). https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-18.3.2819
  5. Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2018). Research methods in education (8th ed.). Routledge.
  6. Cote, A. (2017). The healing power of storytelling: An exploration into the autoethnographic process. Inquiry Journal, 8. https://scholars.unh.edu/imquiry_2017/8
  7. Custer, D. (2014). Autoethnography as a transformative research method. The Qualitative Report, 19(37), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2014.1011
  8. Delamont, S. (2007). Arguments against autoethnography. Qualitative Researcher, 4, 2-4.
  9. Ellis, C., Adams, T., & Bochner, A. P. (2010). Autoethnography: An overview. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 12(1), https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-12.1.1589
  10. Lee, K. (2019). Transformative learning in online doctoral studies: Autoethnographic dialogue as a learning and research method. In M. Spector, B. Lockee, & M. Childress (Eds.), Learning, design, and technology: An international compendium of theory, research, practice and policy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17727-4_150-1
  11. Lee, K. (2020). Autoethnography as an authentic learning activity in online doctoral education: An integrated approach to authentic learning. TechTrends, 64, 570-580. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-020-00508-1
  12. Lee, K. (2021). Embracing vulnerability and authenticity in online PhD: The self and a community. In T. Fawns, G. Aitken, & D. Jones (Eds.), Beyond technology: Online postgraduate education in a postdigital world (pp. 63-83). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77673-2_4
  13. Lee, K. (2022a). Introducing 16 doctoral autoethnographers in an online PhD programme. Studies in Technology Enhanced Learning. https://doi.org/10.21428/8c225f6e.6757685c
  14. Lee, K. (2022b). Why don’t I feel empowered? Autoethnography and inclusive critical pedagogy in online doctoral education. In R. Sharpe, S. Bennett, & T. Varga-Atkins (Eds.), Handbook of Digital Higher Education (pp. 187-198). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800888494.00025
  15. Mezirow, J. (2000). Learning as transformation. Critical perspectives on a theory in progress. Jossey-Bass.