Critical Autoethnography, Education, and a Call for Forgiveness

Abstract

If critical autoethnographers identify and attempt to remedy personal/cultural offenses, then they should also discuss how to live with individuals— themselves included—who have been complicit in and/or committed these offenses. One way critical autoethnographers can do so is through the concept of forgiveness. In this article, I first describe characteristics of forgiveness and establish relationships between forgiveness and critical autoethnography. I then offer three brief critical autoethnographies, each of which illustrates offenses I have experienced in educational contexts.