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Inside, outside, upside down: Reflections on perspective-taking and positionality in a speech-language pathology clinical education research project

Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: PURPOSE: Collaborative research projects frequently include team members with different perspectives and backgrounds. Although qualitative research literature addresses the challenges of navigating so-called insider and outsider perspectives in such projects, research in the speech-language pathology field does not typically explore situations where positionality is entangled, requiring researchers to navigate multiple perspectives. METHOD: Using first-person accounts as illustrative examples, we describe our experiences in a multidisciplinary collaborative study of student speech-language pathology telepractice, where our multiple perspectives as therapists, clinical educators, and researchers posed challenges to the analytic process. RESULT: Our reflections revealed the complexity of our positionality within our disciplinary experiences. While we identified with students, we simultaneously recognised the limits of our understanding of their experiences. This positioned us as both insiders and outsiders. At times, we functioned as "extreme insiders", given the multiple roles we brought to the project. Additionally, we grappled with the responsibility of honouring participants' vulnerability. CONCLUSION: Research is enhanced by multidisciplinary teamwork, but this requires ongoing reflection on positionality. We offer recommendations for navigating multiple perspectives and untangling positionality, with suggestions for other researchers and therapists engaging in similar collaborative explorations. The same lens may be useful for teaching and clinical work.
DOI: 10.1080/17549507.2025.2582524
Language: English
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4416056628
FWCI:
Cites: 29
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