Episode Synopsis:
What if teaching research methods didn’t feel intimidating—but instead felt creative, relatable, even a little fun? In this episode, we explore the thinking behind A Practical Guide to Teaching Research Methods in Education, where traditional approaches are turned on their head. The authors reveal how ‘candy sorting, storytelling, and even TV show pitches’ can unlock deeper understanding of complex research concepts. But this isn’t just about teaching techniques, it’s about reshaping the culture of research education. From fostering inclusive, equitable learning spaces to building communities rooted in collaboration and vulnerability, this conversation challenges how we think about who research is for—and how it should be taught.

Featured Resources:
Terosky, A. L., Baker, V. L., & Sun, J. C. (Eds.). (2023). A practical guide to teaching research methods in education: Lesson plans and advice from faculty (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/b23320

Pallas, A. M., & Neumann, A. (2019). Convergent teaching: Tools to spark deeper learning in college. Johns Hopkins University Press.

Scholars mentioned:
Ammie LaPointe Terosky

Vicki L. Baker
Jeffrey C. Sun
Aaron M. Pallas
Anna Neumann

Production Credits:
Elizabeth Pope - Host
Aimee LaPointe Terosky - Co-Host
Vicki L. Baker - Co-Host
Jeffrey C. Sun - Co Host
Jacob Bunch - Editor
Jacob Bunch - Show Notes and Resources
Qualitative Research SIG Podcast Committee - Production Advisory

Qualitative Research SIG Podcast Committee Members:
Laetitia Adelson
Jacob Bunch, Committee Chair
Pallavi Chhabra
Jonathan Coker
Joshua Cruz
Melissa Hauber-Özer
Emma McMain
Seth McCall
Elizabeth Morgan
Elizabeth Pope

Join us in this episode of Qualitative Conversations as Melissa Hauber-Özer (University of Missouri) hosts Meagan Call-Cummings (Johns Hopkins University) and Giovanni Dazzo (University of Georgia) to explore the transformative approach of critical participatory inquiry. Discover how this methodology promotes equitable knowledge production and social change, rooted in global South perspectives and critical theory.

Their work, Critical Participatory Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Guide, was honored with the AERA Qualitative Research SIG Book Award for 2025.

Featured Resources:
Call-Cummings, M., Dazzo, G. P., & Hauber-Özer, M. (2023). Critical participatory inquiry: An interdisciplinary guide. Sage Publications.

Fals-Borda, O., Rahman, M.A. (1991). Action and Knowledge: Breaking the Monopoly with Participatory Action-Research. Bloomsbury Academic

Call-Cummings, M., Hauber-Özer, M., & Dazzo, G. P. (Eds.). (2023). The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Participatory Inquiry in Transnational Research Contexts. Taylor & Francis Group.

Kirk, J., & Miller, M. L. (1986).Reliability and validity in qualitative research (Vol. 1). Sage.

Scholars mentioned:

Paulo Freire

Frantz Fanon

Walter D. Mignolo

Sharrell Hassell-Goodman

Production Credits:
Melissa Hauber-Özer - Host
Meagan Call-Cummings - Co-Host
Giovanni Dazzo - Co-Host
Jacob Bunch - Editor
Pallavi Chhabra and Jacob Bunch - Show Notes and Resources
Qualitative Research SIG Podcast Committee - Production Advisory

Qualitative Research SIG Podcast Committee Members:
Laetitia Adelson
Jacob Bunch, Committee Chair
Pallavi Chhabra
Jonathan Coker
Joshua Cruz
Melissa Hauber-Özer
Emma McMain
Seth McCall
Elizabeth Morgan
Elizabeth Pope

SPEAKERS

April Jones, Venus Watson, Boden Robertson, Ryn Bornhoft

Boden Robertson 00:00

Hello everyone and welcome to qualitative conversations the podcast series hosted by the qualitative research special interest group of the American Educational Research Association. My name is Boden Robertson and I'm a PhD candidate in educational research at the University of Alabama specializing in qualitative methodologies and will serve as the moderator for our episode. Our focus today will be the recent conference on culturally sustaining pedagogy to critique and reimagine teaching qualitative research that was hosted by the College of Education Department of Educational Studies, psychology research methodology, and counseling and funded through the Spencer Foundation. Drs. Stephanie Shelton and Kelly Guyotte at the University of Alabama received a grant for the conference. Put tons of planning and coordination into it and along with invaluable support of April Jones and Carlson Coogler, who are both graduate students here at the University of Alabama. The conference brought an array of scholars to examine culturally sustaining approaches teaching and conducting qualitative research. Our episodes guests today are graduate students in the educational research PhD program at the University of Alabama who are also specializing in qualitative methodologies, and who attended the conference and will and will focus on their experiences from the conference and their process of understanding culturally sustaining pedagogies and their impact. We're very happy to be participating in this today. And we'll start with introductions from our guests, April Jones, Venus Watkins, and Ryn Bornhoft, if you'd please introduce yourselves.

April Jones 01:30

Hi, everybody. I'm so glad to be here. My name is April Jones. I am a doctoral candidate in the program at the University of Alabama that Boden has just mentioned. My research interests centers, areas of child welfare and juvenile justice specifically surrounding issues of social work and social justice, social justice, along with the marginalized communities that engage with and intersect with those particular systems.

Venus Watson 02:01

Hi, my name is Venus Watson and I am a PhD candidate at the University of Alabama with a focus on qualitative methodologies. And my research interests include black girlhood, black womanhood, and identity. I'm super excited to be here with you guys today.

Ryn Bornhoft 02:22

Hello, my name is Renbourn haft I am excited to be here. This is my first time ever recording a podcast. So I am focusing on issues surrounding disability and educational access in informal education settings, such as museums sort of covering both K through 12 and adult to a certain extent since museums have mixed audiences. So I'm looking forward to all our discussions. And I'm a PhD student.

Boden Robertson 03:01

That's also that's also important, right. Well, thank you. Thank you guys. All for. Thank you all for joining us. So we'll start with, we'll start with the first question, which is, I guess kind of obvious. So in, in your opinion, what does culturally sustaining pedagogy mean?

Venus Watson 03:21

So in my opinion, culturally sustaining pedagogies, their teaching methods that do more than just accept or include a student's cultural backgrounds in the classroom. So they aim to support and keep those cultural practices and identities alive and growing. This approach understands that students come from diverse cultural backgrounds, and that these differences are valuable. And