Richard Sawyer

Richard D. Sawyer Biography

Focusing on curriculum theory, Richard Sawyer examines how individuals begin to “think in a new key.” He has three foci dedicated to scholarship on unfreezing and changing thinking and action in relation to rapid and ongoing changes in the world. First, he recently developed a methodology, now in use internationally, called duoethnography. Duoethnography provides individuals with a way to begin to examine underlying foundations of one’s beliefs and assumptions, as a way to understand the constructed nature of the formation of beliefs and their relationship to identity and then action. He has co-written approximately five books on this topic, written numerous book chapters, and given a large number of presentations on this topic. In 2015 he received the outstanding book award for a new qualitative methodology from Division D. of the American Educational Research Association.

In addition, and related to his work in duoethnography, Richard studies how educators begin to change their thinking and their teaching in relation to diversity. He has published articles on perceptions (and ways to unfreeze perceptions) of educators in the United States on Palestinians living in refugee camps and individuals resisting NAFTA in Mexico.

Third, Dr. Sawyer examines how educators change their perceptions and develop new visions for education. He has recently begun publishing on how teachers develop democratic and collaborative visions for public education.

In his work, he intertwines research with practice, ideally promoting reflexivity.

Publications

 

Habibie, P. & Sawyer, R. D. (In submission). The use of duoethnography as a research method in

            Applied Linguistics. Research Methods In Applied Linguistics (Jrnl).

 

Sawyer, R. D. (In submission). The Shadows of Liberation: Creating Hope and Meaning in

            Creative Self-Study Inquiry. Diskursy Mlodych AndragogówAdult Education Discourses.

 

Ness, D. & Sawyer, R. D. (2022). Reviving Knowledges through Play and Resistance:

            The Case of Navajo Conceptions of Space. Northwest Journal of Teacher

            Education.17(3). 10.15760/nwjte.2022.17.3.14

Sawyer, R. D. (2022). Queer Narrative Theory and Currere: Thoughts toward Queering

            Currere as a method of queer (curricular) Self-Study. Journal of Curriculum Theorizing,

 

37(1), 23-38. https://journal.jctonline.org/index.php/jct/article/view/981

Sawyer, R.D. (2022). Confronting Normative Autobiography Conventions at the

            Intersection of Queer Literary Theory and Currere: A Fluid High School Homecoming.

            Currere Exchange Journal 6(1), 2-14.

Sawyer, R.D., Masterson, J., & Matteson, R. (2022). Three Days in March: Examining

            the Adaptive Expertise of A Teacher Leader at a Crucial Moment in a School Embedded

            Teacher Preparation Program. The International Journal of Teacher Leadership, 11(1).

Sawyer, R. D. (2020). Developing a common language of ethical engagement in teaching:Lessons for and from a Time of Crisis.

           Northwest Journal of Teacher Education, 15(2). https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/nwjte/vol15/iss2/.DOI: 10.15760/nwjte.2020.15.2.1

Sawyer, R.D., & Benozzo, A. (2019). Cross-Atlantic Discourses in Celebrity

            Coming Out Stories: The Neoliberal Cases of Ricky Martin and Tiziano Ferro. Journal of

            Curriculum Theorizing, 34(4), 38-52.

 

Sawyer, R. D. (2017). Tracing Dimensions of Aesthetic Currere: Critical Transactions between Person, Place, and Art. Currere Exchange Journal, 1(1), 89-100. https://www.currereexchange.com/uploads/9/5/8/7/9587563/14sawyercejv1i1.pdf

Sawyer, R. D. (2017). Teacher deliberations over time. A nexus of teacher dilemmas, questions,

            experimentation, and agency. Teachers College Record, 119(14), p. 1-36.

            https://www.tcrecord.org ID Number: 22225.

Zumwalt, K., Natriello, G., Randi, J., Rutter, A., & Sawyer, R.D. (2017). Learnings from a longitudinal study of New Jersey                        alternate route and college-prepared elementary, secondary English, and secondary math teachers. Teachers College                  Record, 119(14), p. 1-54. https://www.tcrecord.org ID Number: 22227

 

Sawyer, R.D., Neel, M.A., Coulter, M. (2016). At the crossroads of clinical practice and teacher

         leadership: A changing paradigm for professional practice. International Journal of Teacher Leadership, 7(1), 17-36.

Sawyer, R. D., & Norris, J. (2015). Duoethnography: A Retrospective 10 Years After.

         International Review of Qualitative Research 8(1), 1-4.

Sawyer, R. D., & Norris, J. (2015). Hidden and Null Curricula of Sexual Orientation: A Duoethnography of the Absent Presence           and the Present Absence. International Review of Qualitative Research 8(1), 5-26. https://doi.org/10.1525/irqr.2015.8.1.1

Norris, J. & Sawyer, R.D. (2015). Finding a Researcher’s and a Teacher’s Voice in a Plethora

            of Responsibilities: A Duoethnography on Administrivia. Brock Education. A Journal of

            Educational Research and Practice 24(1), 24-36.

Farenga, S. J., Ness, D., & Sawyer, R. D. (2015). Avoiding equivalence by leveling: Challenging the consensus-driven curriculum            that defines students as “average”. Journal of Curriculum Theorizing 30(3), 8-27.

Sawyer, R. D. (2013). Learning to Walk the Talk: Designing a Teacher Leadership EdD Program as a Laboratory of Practice.                   Planning and Changing 44(3/4), 208-220.

Sawyer, R. D., & Liggett, T. (2012). Shifting Positionalities: A Critical Discussion of a Duoethnographic Inquiry of a Personal Curriculum of Post/Colonialism. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 11(5), 628-651. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940691201100507

Hayes, M.T., Saul, M., & Sawyer, R. D. (2012). The poetics of refusal in Palestine. Palestine Journal of Politics, Economics and                     Culture, 18(2&3), 133-138.

Sawyer, R. D. (2012) Curriculum and International Democracy: A Vital Source of Synergy and Change. Journal of Curriculum                    Theorizing 26(1), 22-37.

Sawyer, R. D. & Laguardia, A. (2010). Reimagining the Past/Changing the Present: Teachers Adapting History Curriculum for               Cultural Encounters. Teachers College Record, 112(8), 1993-2020.

Sawyer, R. D., and Pearl, A. (2009). Teachers learning with democratic education. Northwest Passage: Journal of Educational                Practices, 7(1).  http://www.nwate.org/sites/default/files/archive2009/NorthwestPassage2009_Sawyer_and_Pearl.pdf.

Sawyer, R. D. (2007). Professional musings on professional development: Teacher development in a new key. Northwest                   Passages. Journal of Educational Practices, 5(1).

Sawyer, R. D. (2003). Situating Teacher Development: The View from Two Teachers’ Perspectives International Journal of                        Educational Research 37(8), 733-753.

Slavit, D, Sawyer, R.D., & Curley, J. (2003). Filling your PLATE: A professional development Model for teaching with technology.           TechTrends, 47(4), 35-38.

Sawyer, R. D. (2001). Educators and students learning together and apart with technology. Curriculum in Context, 28(1), 14-17.

Sawyer, R., D. (2001). Teacher decision-making as a fulcrum for teacher development: Exploring structures of growth. Teacher           Development, 5(1), p. 39-58.

Sawyer, R., D. (2001). Teachers who grow as collaborative leaders: The rocky road of support. Education Policy Analysis                          Archives, 9(38). http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v9n38.html.

Sawyer, R.D., & Diller, K. (2001). Technology for inquiry: (Mis)uses of electronic reflective portfolios. Issues in Teacher                          Education, 10(1), 9-28.

Sawyer, R.D. (2001). Adapting Curriculum to Student Diversity: Patterns of Perceptions among alternate-route and college-                  based teachers. The Urban Review, 32(4), 343-364.

Sawyer, R. D. (2000). Mentoring But Not Being Mentored: Improving Student-to-Student Mentoring Programs to Attract                         Urban Youth to Teaching. Urban Education, 36(1), 39-59.

BOOKS

 

Ness, D. & Sawyer, R.D. (Accepted). Understanding curricular epistemicide: A light in dark times [placeholder title]. Peter Lang Verlag.(Counterpoints.) Shirley Steinberg editor.

Habibie, P. & Sawyer, R. D. (Accepted). Reflexive and Reflective Approaches in Applied Linguistics and Language Educational Research. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Zumwalt, K., Natriello, G., Randi, J., Rutter, A., & Sawyer, R. (2018). Recruitment, Preparation, Placement, and Retention of Alternate Route and College-Prepared Teachers: An Early Study of a New Jersey Initiative. National Society for the Study of Education. Teachers College, Columbia University.

Norris, J., & Sawyer, R.D. (2017). Theorizing Curriculum Studies, Teacher Education and Research through Duoethnographic Pedagogy. Palgrave Macmillan Press.

 

Sawyer, R.D., & Norris, J. (2016). Interdisciplinary Reflective Practice through Duoethnography. Palgrave Macmillan Press.

Brown, H., Sawyer, R.D., & Norris, J. (2016). Forms of Practitioner Reflexivity: Critical Professional Conversations for Change in a New Age. Palgrave Macmillan Press.

Sawyer, R. D. & Norris, J. (2013). Duoethnography: Understanding Qualitative Research. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

J. Norris, R.D. Sawyer, & D. Lund, D. (Eds.). (2012). Duoethnography: Dialogic Methods for Social, Health, and Educational Research. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Publications.

Sawyer, R. D. (Ed.). (1998). Building on Diversity: Exploring Issues of Teacher Retention. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University Monograph.

BOOK CHAPTERS

 

Sawyer, R. D. & Wright, S.. (In preparation). Duoethnography and Applied Linguistics (Place

            holder title). In P. Habibie & R.D.Sawyer (Eds.). Reflexive and Reflective Approaches in

            Applied Linguistics and Language Educational Research. Amsterdam: John Benjamins

            Publishing Company.

Habibie, P., Sawyer, R.D., & Norris, J. (2022). Thinking Beyond Ourselves: Career

            Reflections on The Trojan Horse of Hegemonic Discourses. In P. Habibie (Ed.).

            Scholarly Publication Practices of Novice Scholars and Early-Career Researchers.

            Palgrave.

Sawyer, R. D. & Norris, J. (2022). Duoethnography as a Method of Reflexive and Collaborative Self-Study: Compositions of                      Emergent (Polyvocal) Voices. In P. Habibie & R. Sawyer (Eds.). Reflexive and Reflective Approaches in Applied Linguistics and             Language Educational Research. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Sawyer, R.D. (2021). Life History Inquiry into the Dynamic Ecology of Person And Place:

            Dialogic Ethnographies as Public Engagement. Edited by A. Bainbridge, L. Formenti, &

            L. West. The Ecology of Living: a biographical construction. Sense Publishers.

Sawyer, R.D. & Norris, J. (2021). Duoethnography as Critique and Hope: The Time for Change

            is Now. In T. Fowler and W. Wallow. Duoethnographic encounters: Opening spaces for

            difficult dialogues in times of            uncertainty. DIO Press.

Norris, J. & Sawyer, R.D. (2021). Duoethnography: A Polytheoretical Approach to

            (Re)Storing, (Re)Storying the Meanings that One Gives. In P. Leavy. Oxford Handbook

            of Qualitative Research Second Edition. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Sawyer, R.D. (2020). The ethics of teacher resistance: Acting on a vision for public education. In

1. Garrino (Ed.). Togetherness and Its Discontents. Pensu Multimedia. Turin, Italy.

Sawyer. R.D. (2019). Forward to Duoethnography. In L. Lawrence & R. J. Lowe.

            Duoethnography in English language teaching: Research, reflection, and classroom

            application. Multilingual Matters. Bristol, UK.

Sawyer, R.D., Norris, J. Weibe, S. (2017). Teaching Duoethnography in Graduate Curriculum Theory Courses. In J. Norris, & R.                 D. Sawyer. (Eds.). Theorizing Curriculum Studies, Teacher Education and Research through Duoethnographic Pedagogy, pp.                 15-38. Palgrave Press.

Norris, J., & Sawyer, R.D. (2017). The efficacy of duoethnography for teaching and learning: A

            return to its roots. In J. Norris & R. D. Sawyer, (Eds.). Theorizing Curriculum Studies,

            Teacher Education and Research through Duoethnographic Pedagogy, pp. 1-14. New

            York: Palgrave Press.

Sawyer, R.D. (2017). The anatomy of dissent as teachers plan and lead a demonstration in Seattle: Intersections of hope,                     agency, and collective action. In S. J. Farenga and D. Ness (Eds.). Alternatives to privatizing public education and                                 curriculum. A festschrift in honor of Dale D. Johnson. New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group.

Sawyer, R.D., Dekker, L., & Rasmor, M. (2016). In Search of an Artistic Curriculum Identity. In R.D. Sawyer & J. Norris. (Eds.).                  Dialogic Interdisciplinary Self-Study through the Practice of Duoethnography, pp. 17-40. Palgrave Press.

Sawyer, R. D. (2016). Desperately seeking self-reflexivity: A critique of a duoethnography about becoming a post-colonial                     teacher. In H. Brown, R. D. Sawyer, & J. Norris. (Eds.). Forms of Practitioner Reflexivity. Critical, Conversational, and Arts-                   Based Approaches, pp. 117-134. Palgrave Press.

Brown, H., & Sawyer, R. D. (2016). Dialogic reflection: An exploration of its embodied,

            imaginative, and reflexive dynamics. In H. Brown, R. D. Sawyer, & J. Norris. (Eds.).

            Forms of Practitioner Reflexivity. Critical, Conversational, and Arts-Based Approaches,

12. 1-12. Palgrave Press.

Sawyer, R. D. & Norris, J. (2016). Dialogic interdisciplinary self-study through the practice of

            Duoethnography, pp. 1-14. In R.D. Sawyer & J. Norris, (Eds.). Interdisciplinary

            Reflective Practice through Duoethnography. New York: Palgrave Press.

Sawyer, R. D. (2015). The Pedagogy of Occupy Wall Street: A Self-Reflexive Examination of

            Collective, Non-Linear Democracy. In: R Evans (ed) Before, Beside and After (Beyond) the Biographical Narrative.                          Duisburg: nisaba verlag.

Sawyer, R. D. (2015). Duoethnography: A Collaborative (Beside) and Transtemporal (Before and Beyond) Methodology. In: R                  Evans (ed) Before, Beside and After (Beyond) the Biographical Narrative, Duisburg: nisaba verlag.

Sawyer, R. D. (2013). CPED as an Incubator for a Clinical Practice Approach to Professional Teacher Preparation at                                       Washington State University: Promoting a Context for Change. V. A. Storey (Ed.). Critical friendship: Innovative                                 approaches to the EdD. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave MacMillan Publishers.

Sawyer, R. D. & Mason, M. (2012). The Scholarship of Practice: Intersections of Dialogue, Investigation, and Interactive                            Knowledge. The Teacher Leadership Ed.D. at Washington State University. In S. Wunder  & Margaret Macintyre Latta                 (Eds.). Placing Practitioner Knowledge at the Center of Teacher Education– Rethinking the Policy and Practice of the                               Education Doctorate, pp. 125-146. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing Inc.

 

Sawyer, R.D. & Norris, J. (2012). Why Duoethnography? Thoughts on the Dialogues. In J. Norris, R. D. Sawyer, & D. Lund (Eds.),              Duoethnography: Dialogic Methods for Social, Health, and Educational Research, pp. 289-306. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast              Publications.

 

Sawyer, R. D. & Liggett. L. (2012).  Post-Colonial Education: Using A Duoethnographic Lens to Explore a Personal Curriculum of          Post/Decolonization. In J. Norris, R. D. Sawyer, & D. Lund (Eds.), Duoethnography: Dialogic Methods for Social, Health, and              Educational Research, pp. 71-88. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Publications.

Norris, J. & Sawyer, R. D. (2012). Toward a Dialogic Methodology. In J. Norris, R. D.                         Sawyer, & D. Lund (Eds.), Duoethnography: Dialogic Methods for Social, Health, and               Educational Research, pp. 9-39. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Publications.

LeFavre, D. & Sawyer, R. D.  (2012). Dangerous Conversations: Understanding the space between silence and communication.               In J. Norris, R. D. Sawyer, & D. Lund (Eds.), Duoethnography: Dialogic Methods for Social, Health, and Educational                                 Research, pp. 261-288. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Publications.

Sawyer, R. D. & Norris, J. (2009). Duoethnography: Articulations/(Re)Creation of Meaning in the Making. In W. Gershon (Ed.).                Working Together in Qualitative Research: A Turn Towards the Collaborative, 127-140.  Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense             Publishers, B.V.

Sawyer, R. D., Rutter, A. LeFevre, D., Margolis, J. (2005). Chapter 2. Instruction. In Farenga, S. J., Joyce, B. A., & Ness, D. (Eds.). Encyclopedia on Education and Human Development, pp. 48-78. M.E. Sharpe Publisher.

Sawyer, R. D., & Bledsoe, D. (2005). A University-School District Literacy Partnership:  Working Together to Support Student and Teacher Literacy. In J. Braunger & D. Donahue (Eds.). Content Area Reading, pp. 199-226. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.

Norris, J., & Sawyer, R.D. (2004). Hidden and Null Curriculums of Sexual Orientation: A

            Dialogue on the Curreres of the Absent Presence and the Present Absence. In L. Coia, N.

            Brooks, S. J. Mayer, P. Pritchard, E. Heilman, M. L. Birch, & A. Mountain (Eds.),

            Democratic Responses in an Era of Standardization, pp. 139-160. Troy, NY: Educator’s

            International Press, Inc.

Sawyer, R. D. (2002). Curriculum making, Meaning, and teacher identity. In T. S. Poetter, C.

            Haerr, M. Hayes, C. Higgins, and K. W. Baptist (Eds.), In(Ex)clusion: (Revisioning the

            democratic ideal), pp. 136-160. Troy, NY: Educators International Press, Inc.

Bolin, F. S., Sawyer, R. D., & Borago, M. (1998). Methods of inquiry in supervision. In G. Firth & E. Pajak (Eds.), Handbook on                        Research in Supervision, pp. 109-135. New York: Simon & Shuster Macmillan.

EDITED JOURNALS

Sawyer, R. D. & Ness, D. (2022) Special themed issues on Confronting Curriculum

            Epistemicide: Art, Poetry, and Teacher Resistance. Northwest Journal of Teacher

            Education.

                           

Sawyer, R. D., & Yeigh, M., (2020). Northwest Journal of Teacher Education, 15(2). Special

           themed issue on Teacher Education for Social Justice During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Loss, Hope & New Directions.

Norris, J. & Sawyer, R.D. (2015). Duoethnography. International Review of Qualitative

            Research, 8(1), p. 1-143..

Sawyer, R. D. & J. Margolis, J. (Eds.). (2009). Northwest Passage: Journal of Educational

            Practices, 7(1). Special Theme Issue: Changing Teaching in a Changing World. Official

            journal of the Northwest Association of Teacher Educators (NWATE), Northwest United

            States and Southwest Canada.

 

R. D. Sawyer & J. Margolis, J. (Eds.). (2008). Northwest Passage: Journal of Educational Practices, 6(1). Special Theme Issue: The                      (Elusive) Connection between Practice and Policy. Official journal of the Northwest Association of Teacher Educators                  (NWATE), Northwest United States and Southwest Canada.

R. D. Sawyer & J. Margolis, J. (Eds.). (2007). Northwest Passage: Journal of Educational

            Practices, 5(1).Theme Issue: Professionalism Across the Continuum. Official journal of

            the Northwest Association of Teacher Educators (NWATE), Northwest United States and

            Southwest Canada.