Joseph A. Valentin (Learning and Instruction)
Vikki C. Terrile (Learning and Instruction)

Zoom Link https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/97078359344?pwd=ejNzUStoZnFwQWlJY2hRZnhpWVQ0Zz09

Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) originated as a research methodology in psychology (Smith et al., 2009) and has expanded into use in the social sciences. IPA situates the words and understanding of participants about their own experiences as the focus of study and analysis, making it ideally suited for understudied phenomena and for use with small, homogeneous samples. In educational research, IPA is still nascent; an EBSCO database search for IPA studies in education and library science (LIS) research found approximately 275 articles and 50 dissertations, with just four in special education research and three in LIS research.

This panel shares how IPA was used in two recent PhD research component studies; both of these studies were the first to use IPA to study their phenomena. Completed during the COVID-19 pandemic using online tools to mediate data collection, these studies explored the experiences of professionals in their work with children and families marginalized by systems that reinforce and reproduce oppression. As agents of these systems, the teachers and librarians in these studies act in the margins and balance their praxis within deeply imbedded and troubling master narratives around power and deservedness.

The first study used an unstructured IPA approach to problematize pedagogical intervention within the context of Kincheloe and Berry’s Critical Bricolage (2004). Five in-service K-12 educators completed a written response describing a situation where they implemented a course of action(s) as an attempt to solve a student’s educational struggle. Analysis of the responses revealed the importance of context (impacted here by COVID and remote instruction) in understanding pedagogical intervention. Three sub-ordinate themes emerged from the responses: Temporality, Proximity of Learning Environment, and Mitigating Intervention. This study’s findings suggest that understandings of pedagogical intervention hinge on the student-teacher dyad, the nature of reciprocal interactions and relationships, as well as the pragmatic approaches and resources used. Future research should examine how experiences of power and oppression influence these relationships.

The second study used structured IPA to explore how five public librarians experience and understand their library work with families experiencing homelessness. The participants described their commitment to providing these services, but also shared that they feel unsupported by the profession and their individual libraries and coworkers when doing this work. Even with their dedication, participants expressed judgment towards the families they work with, rooted in pervasive cultural and media messaging around homelessness that focuses on individual flaws rather than systemic causes. This study situated the participants’ experiences within a context of ambivalence around homelessness in library services and questioned the lack of critical and social justice approaches to understanding these issues. Recommendations for practice and future research include examining the intersections of race and homelessness and how systems of oppression impact librarians’ work (or lack of work) with people experiencing homelessness.

Kincheloe, J. L., & Berry, K. S. (2004). Rigour and complexity in educational research: Conceptualizing the bricolage. Great Britain: Open University Press.

Smith, J.A., Flowers, P, & Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretative phenomenological analysis: Theory, method, and research. New York: Sage.