The Art of Collaborative Autoethnography: Exploring the Evolution of a Self-Organizing, Non-Traditional Doctoral Cohort

Abstract

Using collaborative autoethnography methods, this article presents the exploration of three non-traditional doctoral student's journey as they evolved into a self-organized cohort. Individual processes involving self-authorship, self-observation, personal reflections and analysis, combined with group dialogues and conversations about the experience lead to a formed sense of community amongst the researchers. Composite themes develop through a collaborative analysis of individual personal narratives highlighting significant learning experiences, adult development considerations , and the culturally adaptive nature of non-traditional doctoral students that often remain unexamined in other methodologies.