Dr Who? Researching as time travel: why and how an ECR undertook the same data (re)generation activities as the participants in their EdD study

My doctoral study explores how teacher leadership is understood and experienced in Scotland. In this lightning talk, I explain why and how I have undertaken the same data generation episodes as the participants in my EdD study. I also share my current understandings about the ways in which my identity has (re)formed through the experience of researching teacher leadership. Data generation for the study involved an online survey and two semi-structured interviews. The survey was open to anyone working in the Scottish education system. The interviews with individual educators who identified as teacher leaders,were variously mediated by online, visual and mobile methods. I identify as teacher leader and beginner researcher. Before launching the survey and facilitating each round of interviews, I used the tools to generate data from myself, about myself as a teacher leader. Only after a first cycle of analysis was complete on the subset of data generated by respondents/interviewees did analyse my own data. Addressing the conference theme of researcher identity during qualitative research in this talk, I draw on entries in the research journal that I have kept from the start of the study to show how my identity has developed during the process.