Autoethnographic Action Research as a Contemplative Practice: Awareness and Transformation of Inner and Outer Selves

Abstract

Contemplation as a spiritual practice has taken various forms across different religious traditions and regions worldwide. Over the years, various contemplative practices have evolved and become popular even outside religious traditions to promote the well-being of all for inner and outer selves’ transformation. In education, many scholars worldwide have expounded on the benefits of contemplative practices in the classroom for students and teachers. Contemplative practices have penetrated research practices in the form of contemplative inquiry considering performative, philosophical, and artistic transformations, where researchers enter into a deep, thoughtful, and reflective introspective journey to see the connection between what is seen and unseen and how it affects their lives. In this article, we explore how autoethnographic action research as a contemplative inquiry can be considered a contemplative practice by delving into three crucial similarities between contemplation and autoethnographic action research. They are self-awareness, transformation, and connecting the personal with the social, connecting inner and outer selves. Looking into various literature on contemplation and contemplative practices, autoethnography, and action research, we explain how these three similarities are integral to both contemplative life and autoethnographic action research, and thus, how the latter can be considered as a contemplative practice. The article concludes by highlighting that understanding self-awareness, transformation, and the connection between personal and social aspects can encourage researchers to take the dimensions of the inner and outer selves more seriously.