Mapping Situated Practice from an Insider's Perspective

Abstract

When I began my doctoral research exploring how community radio practitioners make programmes by sourcing, shaping and sharing content on-air and online, I already had decades of experience as a radio producer/presenter and volunteer. It made sense to research a field that I was passionate about. I decided to apply Theodore Schatzki’s framework conceptualising practitioner knowledge, know-how, and arrays of tasks as ‘social sites’ of practice. For Schatzki, a practice is situated in time and space, influenced by a web of understandings and conventions, relationships, emotions and expectations interlinked with access to the appropriate tools and equipment (Schatzki, 2002, 2017). In my data gathering, then, I needed to get as close as possible to my research participants.