Learning to be comfortable with being uncomfortable: investigating a process for enhancing researcher reflexivity in critical ethnographic education research

Researcher reflexivity, the critical exploration of positionality, beliefs, assumptions and emotions and their reciprocal influence on the research process, is a fundamental element of contemporary qualitative research. It involves a deeply personal process of engaging with tensions, uncertainty, vulnerability and discomfort. This article investigates Reconstructive Horizon Analysis (RHA) as an approach to reflexivity informed by Habermas’ Theory of Communicative Action and Carspecken’s critical qualitative methodology. It presents and discusses three examples of the application of RHA to researcher reflexivity during a critical ethnography into the work of mental health and wellbeing practitioners in a public high school in Australia. RHA offers a theoretically grounded, rigorous analytical framework which facilitates the process of critical self-reflection and is a valuable addition to the reflexive repertoire of qualitative researchers.