Analyzing Ourselves

During class on Thursday we further analyzed our reading on how to best conduct autobiographical forms of self-research. At first the reading confused me. I found myself re-reading sentences with little idea of what was being conveyed. But reading aloud with another person made the task simpler. What I gained from the reading was that it is not enough to simply read material, or engage in a conversation and have a reaction or opinion on the matter. My prior blogs have taken this approach and it was helpful to get my ideas and thoughts put together. But after reading about conducting autobiographical self-research I believe that we are being asked to do more than just react and share our stories and opinions. We are being asked to challenge our beliefs and challenge ourselves. To take it a step further, why do I have the opinions I do? Why did I react in this particular way? Why do I see one thing as right and the other as wrong? What part of my being is causing my thoughts? What in my upbringing, and self-formation has shaped my opinions?

I think that evaluating these questions is taking the next step in autobiographical self-research. It is analyzing our analysis and asking "why do I think this" that will lead to new ways of thinking about ourselves and who we are. Just simply having an opinion is not enough. Finding why my opinion is different from someone else's, that is essential.

Honestly, I realize that this can sound like a bunch of language and "nice" to think about, but hard to put into practice. This is what we are being challenged to do however. We are being asked to look into why we are who we are. Inevitably this can lead to never-ending questions. One can always ask "why" to pretty much anything. But when we challenge ourselves to look at who we are, this will open up different ways of looking at a topic or a reading. This will lead to further exploration on an issue we feel passionate about. This is the meaning of the exercise. The goal is not to jump into a wave of endless questions, but to seek answers and find where that takes us. We are being challenged to analyze ourselves as "subjects of education." I believe questioning our beliefs will start us down the right path.