The Art and Design of Collaborative Autoethnography: Exploring Disciplinary, Methodological and Collaborative Complexity in Education Research

Abstract

In collaborative research, the ways in which complexity is acknowledged, negotiated and managed actively shape the nature of the complexity that is created and experienced. However, reports on complex projects seldom detail how challenges relating to research design or execution were navigated, nor discuss how frictions or tensions might productively disrupt conventional approaches. This article speaks from a collaborative autoethnographic inquiry undertaken by a team of researchers familiar with transdisciplinary research where disciplinary, methodological and collaborative complexity occurs. Our inquiry explores two interrelated curiosities; these being to scrutinise dilemmas arising in the research design for collaborative large-scale research studies in and adjacent to art and design education; and to consider how collaborative autoethnography might enable and inhibit congruence in and for collaborative research endeavour. By reflecting on insights arising from the digging, questioning and reflecting processes of collaborative autoethnography methodology, this article scrutinises the authorship team's experiences of engaging in transdisciplinary research where disciplinary, methodological and collaborative complexities are encountered. From this, we point to potential benefits and challenges this approach presents for teams of diverse size, scale, scope and disciplines to navigate and negotiate complexity in research settings.