Conversing life: An autoethnographic construction

Abstract

This autoethnography is a constructed account of a co-exploration into the nature and effects of a longitudinal dyadic conversation process from a relational constructionist perspective. The conversations, between me as participant autoethnographer and a co-participant, aimed at maximising personal learning for both. Through co-created contexts of mutual engagement and respectful presence, we were able to focus our learning on the spontaneous process and content of the conversations. The qualitative data were sampled purposively from diary entries summarizing the conversations which spanned a period of five years. The data were analysed into themes and together, with selected illustrative examples of significant conversational moments, were woven into an autoethnography that attempts to convey the embodied and systemic learning that emerged from these conversations. © 2012: Christopher N. Hoelson, Rod Burton, and Nova Southeastern University.