''Winks upon winks'': Multiple lenses on settings in qualitative educational research

Abstract

Drawing on diverse theoretical perspectives and research, this paper focuses on the significance of settings in qualitative research as well as on associated problems with representations of settings in traditional analyses and reports. The central premise developed is that a deeper analysis of settings requires an unraveling of relations among settings in which individuals or groups participate. In this discussion, setting is defined as a fluid and mutable but bounded environment in which particular situations, interactions, and behaviors accrue to it as normal by virtue of history, cultural values, and beliefs. To represent the complexity of identity and power relations in educational research, author suggests six lenses that offer a multilayered picture of participants' lived experiences across multiple settings. These lenses have the potential to broaden researchers' representations of participants beyond what is often available in traditional analyses and reports of qualitative educational research. These six lenses on settings are not meant to be inclusive but to suggest that finer grained examinations of the social and cultural symbols that permeate settings may yield fresh perspectives on lived experience.