Business Anthropology and Education: Approaches, Methodologies, and Implications

Abstract

The contribution of anthropological contents and methods in different aspects of the study of education is significant. The business functions of education in terms of leadership and management of humans, materials and financial resources for optimal outcomes mandates anthropological insights and underpinnings in educational systems. The early works of Hewett, Boas and Montessori paved the way for the application of anthropological contents and methods to the study and practices of educative processes and systems for better understanding and improvement of learning. Anthropological concepts and principles are integral to the domains of foundations of education, curriculum development, culture studies, classroom interactions, multicultural education, business education, policy implementations, educational research and educational administration. In this study, efforts have been made to show the contributions of both anthropologists and educators in the rise of a new field of anthropology of education since the early decades of the twentieth century. The study, thus, examines the confluence of business anthropology and education resulting in the field of anthropology of education. It highlights the historical development of the convergence of anthropology and education, implications of anthropological concepts, contents and methods in educational studies, and the anthropological approaches in the areas of educational research. Ethnographic methods such as grounded theory, documentary content analysis, and action research have greatly contributed to the knowledge of complex educational issues and challenges. They are integral to the study of educational issues through the techniques of purposive sampling, interview, observation, constant comparison, triangulations, key incident, narration, interpretive stance, and other tools of data gathering, interpretation and analysis. The present study emphasises on the significance of anthropological methods in the study of life in classrooms in term of interactions, and the impacts of the classroom environment on learning as school settings and classroom life provide the requisite environment for anthropological inquiries. It also addresses the current practices in the applications of anthropology of education in the areas of teacher education, curriculum development, multicultural education and educational research.