ABSTRACT
Fieldnotes record the gaze of the researcher as much as the activities being observed. My doctoral dissertation examined the relationship between gender safety, gender violence, and learning processes in two primary schools in Kirinyaga County, Kenya. In this chapter, I apply Constructivist Grounded Theory to examine how my fieldnotes illuminate the power differentials within the research process. Fieldnotes provided me an essential tool for provoking and deepening reflexivity, prompting the discussion of biases as they emerged. Intersecting themes of discomfort, visibility, and critique show how fieldnotes improved the research by prioritizing reflexivity during data collection and analysis, and by initiating uncomfortable but important conversations within myself that otherwise may not have occurred.
