Classroom Ethnography Research Articles

On and Off Script: A Teacher’s Adaptation of Mandated Curriculum for Refugee Newcomers in an Era of Standardization

English Learners (ELs) make up 9.6% of the total student population in the U.S. (National Center for Education Statistics, 2019). Students with interrupted formal education (SIFE) are a subgroup of ELs who have had at least two fewer years of schooling than their peers, and function at least two years below grade level in reading and mathematics (DeCapua, Smathers, & Tang, 2007). To meet the demands of high stakes testing, schools have been increasingly implementing commercially published, scripted programs for ELs/SIFE (Reeves, 2010). Against this backdrop of the standards-driven and testing-based system, this article reports one of the key findings of a yearlong classroom ethnography of SIFE in an urban public secondary school in the United States, focusing on the experiences of the students and their teacher with two types of curriculum. Drawing on critical theory and culturally relevant/responsive pedagogy, the data tools include classroom observations, interviews with students and the teacher, and the videos of classroom interactions. Findings from our analysis demonstrate that the teacher played an active role in ensuring students learning through her role as a negotiator of the scripted curriculum. This study reaffirms that teachers can find ways to resist the totalizing effects of scripted curriculum.

CLASSROOM ETHNOGRAPHY: ADAPT OR ADOPT?

Ethnography, in general, is a methodology that has been well known to many as conducted to study a culture-sharing group that could provide an understanding of a larger issue. However, ethnographic research in an educational setting is defined as research on and in educational institutions based on participant observation and/or permanent recordings of everyday life in naturally occurring settings. Then again, classroom ethnography who possess a family resemblance to ethnography is not well understood to many qualitative researchers in this region. Its value in the body of knowledge is not well understood also. In order to appreciate the value of this methodology, the history and development of this research with relation to science education could better enlighten the research community of its value and appropriateness in this region rich in its diverse culture and ethnicity. Different scholars have different scope and perspectives in understanding ethnography. The aim of this article is to open up new research directions in research methodologies for potential local postgraduates.

‘Uneven consequences’ of international English-medium-instruction programmes in China: a critical epistemological perspective

ABSTRACT Critical studies on internationalisation of higher education (IHE) have addressed the uneven global geopolitics of knowledge production as reinforced and reproduced through policy making and mechanism of professional organisations. Yet it remains unknown about the dynamics of epistemic exchanges in between agents at multiple dimensions of IHE, particularly in Asian contexts. Adopting a critical epistemological perspective [Chen, K.-H. 2010. Asia as Method: Toward Deimperialization. Durham, NC: Duke University Press], the present study examines international and Chinese students’ epistemic practices in mixed English-Medium-Instruction (EMI) Master’s degree programmes in a top-ranked comprehensive university in Shanghai, China. The in-depth student/instructor interviews and ethnographic classroom observation converge to reveal that the EMI curriculum constructs an implicit hegemonic hierarchy among students based on their pre-enrolment possessions of linguistic capital of English and cultural capital concerning Americanised academic norms and discipline-specific knowledge. Given the implicit hegemony, it is also argued that students have developed varied degrees of epistemic awareness and resorted to strategies of inter-referencing and cultural syncretism in order to negotiate diverse epistemic frames of reference with regards (1) English as an academic lingua franca, (2) the epistemic domination of the Global North, and (3) reimagining China and modernity. Practical and conceptual implications on IHE are proposed based on the analysis.

Willingness to Communicate in L2: Persons’ Emerging Capacity to Participate in Acts of Meaning Making with One Another

This study advances research into individuals’ willingness to communicate in an additional language (L2 WTC) in classroom settings by departing from existing inquiry in two ways. First, it takes a multidimensional view of an “individual” in the classroom by integrating students’ various identities as persons engaged in meaning making with others across different social worlds and over time. Second, it broadens the epistemological scope of current research by situating the study of WTC in students’ actual acts of L2 communication in the classroom and in their larger sociocultural settings. Adopting broad principles of grounded theory ethnography, this study examined Jenny (pseudonym), a university student who was attending a general English course at her institution in mainland China. Data came from ethnographic classroom observations and life-story and photo-based interviews. The findings offer a refashioned definition of what it means to be willing to communicate in an L2 and how such willingness shapes the quality of one’s investment in acts of L2 meaning making and L2 learning in communal relationships with others.

Does the use of migrant languages in German primary schools transform language orders? Findings from ethnographic classroom investigations

ABSTRACTMigration-related multilingualism is a core issue of academic discussion regarding educational inequality in German schools. While existing studies have analysed the discrimination against children’s languages from linguistic minorities in school, this paper focuses on social practices in a primary school that seeks to recognise and value multilingualism. The aim of this article is to investigate the extent to which the inclusion of migration-related multilingualism can transform language orders in school and classroom. For this purpose, we examined linguistic practices on the micro-level of the classroom based on lesson protocols. The observed practices indicate that the inclusion of the children’s languages is meant both as a means of valuing and acknowledging the children’s multilingualism and as part of comprehensive language teaching and learning. The question as to the scope of individual schools for overcoming monolingual ideologies within the structural context of the national educational system and dominant societal discourses remains, however.

Experiential-Learning In Writing Class: A Suggested Teaching Practice For Islamic Universities

In global era, mastering language skills as a means for communication, which focus not only on “transmitting knowledge / cognitive aspects” but also “experiencing authentic-language” based on the context, becomes a fundamental demand for all of language learner in certain educational settings as well as writing skill. The ability in producing a scientific writing by considering the context and aspects of writing is very crucial for higher education students. Therefore, this research, which is an ethnographic classroom study in form of reflective-qualitative point of view in period of eight-week-learning meetings, is intended to investigate and design teaching Instruction by using Experiential Learning (EL) in writing class especially for English Education students in Islamic university. In summary, EL may be effectively implemented as an alternative method in writing class by considering some essential points and contexts.

Knowledge and behaviour management in the multi-ethnic classroom: an ethnographic study of teachers’ classroom-management strategies and minority pupils’ participation in different school subjects

ABSTRACTWithin the tradition of ethnographic classroom research, this paper studies how pupils with a minority background are disciplined and participate in different school subjects such as Danish, English, math and science in Danish primary and lower secondary school settings. Whereas most research on minority children in classroom contexts focuses either on classroom social norms or effectiveness of teaching methods, this paper aims to understand how classroom behavioural norms and the norms for legitimate participation in the knowledge practices of different subjects impact each other. On one hand, our principal findings indicate that the teacher's foregrounding of behavioural norms in the classroom seems to displace knowledge practices, producing power struggles between pupils and their teachers. On the other hand, the teacher's foregrounding of knowledge practices tends to make schooling more meaningful for pupils, thereby reducing power struggles.

Aestheticizing language: metapragmatic distance and unequal Englishes in Hong Kong

While scholars in World Englishes have long acknowledged the inherent equality of varieties of Englishes spoken within and across different nations, unequal relations across Englishes persist through various means. One such way, as discussed in this article, is through the aestheticization of language, which we define as a process in which individuals evaluate a language resource or usage as aesthetically appealing on the basis of its stylistic, grammatical, or phonological ‘appearance.’ This study, based on classroom ethnography in Hong Kong, demonstrates that language aestheticization is an ideological commitment that sustains a speaker’s metapragmatic distance from English. Our analysis shows how aesthetic evaluations of language represent, and can exacerbate, social and linguistic inequalities. These findings contribute to current understandings of World Englishes in Asian contexts, in that metapragmatic distance is reflective of a complex interplay of ideology and access to dominant language resources.

Teachers’ scientific approach implementation in inculcating the students’ scientific attitudes

The study aimed at attaining an overview on teaching experiences by means of guided inquiry model of the scientific approach in order to inculcate the scientific attitudes among the students of Luqman Al Hakim International Integrated Islamic Primary School Yogyakarta. The study was a qualitative research using the ethnographic classroom approach. The subjects in this study were the headmaster, the homeroom teachers of Grade 4A students, and the Grade 4A students. In collecting the data, the researchers conducted interview, observation, and documentation. Then, the instruments that the researchers employed were the interview guidelines and the observation guidelines. The data in this study were analyzed using Lankshear and Knobel models and the analysis also included the data that had been attained from both the observation and the interview. In order to test the data validity, the researchers conducted the subject triangulation and the method triangulation. The findings in this study thus revealed that the teaching activities that make use of the scientific approach consists of seven strands of learning cycles and these strands include the spiritual, moral, intellectual, physical, interpersonal, cultural, and social aspects. Each aspect has specific purpose and, as a result, by implementing each aspect the students will have the scientific attitudes similar to those owned by a scientist in solving their problems. The recounted teaching experiences, which made use of the scientific approach, have shown similarities in that teaching activities become more meaningful if they are conducted realistically with various learning activities both inside and outside the classroom. The constraints in the application of the scientific approach are varying the teachers’ ability in understanding the scientific approach, varying the learning styles and the learning abilities, and varying the learning process for the students who need special assistance.

Toward aCorridistaConsciousness: Learning From One Transnational Youth's Critical Reading, Writing, and Performance of Mexican Corridos

AbstractThis article examines instances of a U.S.–Mexican transnational youth honing his critical translingual literacy skills through his engagement with corridos, Mexican balladry in Spanish that often emphasizes injustice and border strife. The author relies on ethnographic classroom observations, the student's journals, and semistructured interviews to provide a glimpse into the complexities and sophistication of the bilingual youth's everyday language and literacy practices in an era of vehement anti‐immigrant rhetoric. This inquiry asks, (a) What do literacy practices deeply rooted in corridos look like? (b) How does one youth read and engage with the Mexican musical genre of corridos to make sense of his social and political world? and (c) What are the environments and educational settings that supported this literacy development? Findings detail a transnational youth'scorridista(balladeer) consciousness and its concomitant language and literacy practices that shape and are shaped by his participation in both his Tijuana communities of origin and his Los Angeles communities. Specifically, this study showcases a student's uses of literary devices, including allegory, to describe myriad forms of oppression and resistance found in corrido lyrics and throughout the lives of U.S.–Mexican transnational youths. Attention to literary genres that are often unsanctioned in traditional English‐medium classrooms and recognizing the complex cognitive abilities of bilinguals can harvest critical insight about literacy education in and out of school. Implications from this study highlight meaningful learning contexts for transnational adolescents’ literacies and how engagement of these literacies might be (re)conceptualized through an ethnic studies and Chicanx/Latinx Studies lens.

Visually-Impaired Brazilian Students Learning English with Smartphones: Overcoming Limitations

The aim of this research was to investigate the role of smartphones in teaching the English language to a population of fifteen, visually-impaired Brazilian students. Classroom ethnography was chosen as the methodological design and data generated from classroom observations, didactic materials that were made and posted on apps, and two questionnaires were used. We resorted to descriptive and interpretive analyses as we intended to find linguistic and behavioral patterns regarding the use of information and communications technology (ICT), focusing on smartphones, for communication and learning English. Results show that, at the beginning of the course, students had little to no ability to use smartphones, including apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook mobile. After two years of formal language and smartphone instruction, all students learned how to use their mobile phones, and were able to post and listen to podcasts and written texts on WhatsApp and Facebook mobile in both their native language and in English. The students also engaged in real-life communication events with peers in Brazil and other parts of the world. Mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) helped these students enhance their social and cultural capital.

How humor makes or breaks student-teacher relationships: A classroom ethnography in Belgium

Humor characterizes daily classroom interactions and strengthens or weakens student-teacher relationships. Making use of ethnographic classroom observations, we examine how humor relates to student-teacher relationships. Results show that humor in the classroom serves different functions. While teachers use humor to facilitate teaching and learning, students apply it to express their attitudes towards school and teachers. The use of humor varies across classrooms and tracks. Our findings suggest the importance of analyzing the use of humor in classrooms for teachers (in training), and point to broader implications in relationship to the maintenance of and resistance to social inequalities in education.

Effects of Student's Grade to Teacher's Teaching: a Case Study in an Indigenous Classroom

Abstract: The perspective of teaching in rural area led this study to investigate non-indigenous teacher's teachings in an indigenous classroom of one of rural elementary schools in Hualien, Taiwan. The teacher's views on indigenous students' grade and how it related to the teacher’s teaching were explored also. This study was a case study. Data was collected and analyzed by applying qualitative method. It implemented classroom ethnography approach. It revealed that although the teacher had demonstrated a great deal of passion in teaching indigenous students, involvement the students in some indoor and outdoor activities, and using various media to get students’ attention, but he was concerned about his students’ low academic achievement. In Hualien, there are annual provincial examinations on the subjects of Chinese, Mathematics and English in May, which all the elementary students are required to take. To improve the student academic performance he used some classroom time to practice drills rather than spending time on exploratory activities. When indigenous students' underperformance in standardized tests are considered as reflecting poor quality of teaching, preparing students for the sit-in tests will continue to be a part of classroom teaching. This study suggests that teachers have to understand the educational context in which teaching and learning take place. Knowing this would provide teachers a more meaningful teaching and learning.
 Keywords: Teaching, grade, non-indigenous teacher, indigenous students, rural elementary school

Hymns, prayers and Bible stories: the role of religious literacy practices in children’s literacy learning

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the role of religious literacy practices such as hymns, prayers and Bible stories in the context of literacy teaching in primary schools in England. Drawing on data collected through a classroom ethnography of a year 1 class (five and six-year-olds) conducted in a Catholic primary school in 2013 and 2014, I suggest that religious literacy practices contribute to children’s literacy learning in various ways. They focus children’s attention on a text’s meaning, not on decoding, as other literacy lessons do. They do not privilege rational thinking but afford more emotional and bodily experiences of meaning-making. These practices also offer opportunities for collaborative engagements with literacy, supporting learning through participation. My findings suggest that educators, researchers and policy-makers should pay greater attention to the range of literacy practices children engage with and how they contribute to their literacy learning.

New elements for an analysis on the dynamics of the classroom in secondary education

Abstract The importance of the impact of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) on society and the everyday life of social actors has allowed sociological analysis to extend its grasp far beyond the obvious features of the network society. Since the incidence of these phenomena intersects with ways of communicating and accessing information, it becomes increasingly reasonable to consider a series of changes and reconfigurations within teaching contexts and, essentially, the educational relationship. The analysis of the secondary classroom must take these emerging realities into account and combine them with existing models. This article proposes widening the sociological debate around school changes, contributing with new analytical features concerning classroom ethnography.

Lessons from the AIME approach to the teaching relationship: valuing biepistemic practice

The Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME) is a national, extra-curricular mentoring programme that is closing the educational gap for young Indigenous Australians. So what is AIME doing that is working so well? This article draws on a large-scale classroom ethnography to describe the pedagogies that facilitate the teacher–student relationships in this programme. We use Shawn Wilson’s theorisation of Indigenous ways of knowing in order to ‘unpack’ how these approaches succeeded in creating the egalitarian and trust-filled relationships reportedly experienced in the AIME programme.

Towards translingual and transcultural practice: explorations in a white-majority, rural, Midwestern elementary classroom

ABSTRACTNew Literacy Studies and related scholarship on the use of digital tools in classrooms support the argument that literacy practices can be understood as translingual and transcultural practices within the context of an otherwise monocultural and monolingual setting. Pushing for broader conceptions of ‘mono’ settings and arguing for homing in on the unit of study as a means by which to unpack literacy practices, this paper makes the case conceptually as well as by offering insights from a recent classroom ethnography in a white-majority, English-only, high-poverty, rural sixth-grade classroom in the Midwestern United States. The paper considers the challenges of rural poverty and the complexities of using digital tools by examining the role digital tools, placed resources [Prinsloo, M. 2005. “The New Literacies as Placed Resources.” Perspectives in Education 4 (23): 87–98], play in marginalised settings. The data highlighted offer insights about how researchers and teachers might support and approach ‘mono’ elementary classroom literacy practices as drawing from across spaces as students engage with digital tools and global partners in what should also be understood as transcultural practice with the potential for translingual practice.

Multimedia news storytelling as digital literacies: An alternative paradigm for online journalism education

This article analyzes a journalism student’s multimedia news storytelling project in the format of audio slideshows as required by an introductory course on online journalism. Combining classroom ethnography, semi-structured interviews, content and textual analysis, the study focuses in detail on how the student designs a character-driven, audio-visual story through the theoretical lens of digital literacies and multimodality. The findings reveal the complexity of multimodal and generic design made by the journalism student. It is also found that the design process helps her to assert an authorial stance as an emergent online journalist who negotiates heterogeneity of journalistic professional Discourses. This article proposes a genre-aware, semiotic-aware, critical framework informed by digital literacy studies and embeds a case study in the theoretical framework in order to understand the ‘literacies’ as required and performed in multimedia news storytelling. Theoretical and pedagogical implications are also discussed at the end of the article.

Engaging Students in Literature Circles: Vocational English Reading Programs

This article reports the findings of ethnographic classroom research on the deployment of literature circles in English reading classes in the vocational secondary education sector in Indonesia. Grounded in micro-interactional, thematic, and discourse analyses, empirical findings showed that the students engaged actively in text selection, role assignment, and text meaning making through sharing-and-discussion sessions. Empirical data also revealed that they could learn a wide array of lexico-grammar through discussing chosen texts with others. This group discussion activity also paves the way for sharing and discussing both content knowledge (vocational subjects) and genre and lexico-grammatical features. This suggests that literature circles could promote students’ content knowledge and language learning enrichment. Through role scaffolding by teachers and peer support, students could not only explore varied features of the language—e.g., how lexico-grammar was used in context through texts but also enrich their content knowledge. This empirical evidence supports the use of the literature circles in intensive reading programs in order to engage students in collaborative learning and to build a learning community in which teachers play a pivotal role as a guide throughout the literature circle process.

Gay and lesbian literature disrupting the heteronormative space of the high school English classroom

This paper offers insights into how the teaching of queer topics in English language arts classes can be reframed by bridging the goals, practices and conceptual tools of queer theory to literacy teaching. Drawing on an ethnographic classroom study, which explored a 13-week high school Gay and Lesbian Literature course, this paper discusses how teaching an English literature curriculum centred on the voices and stories of LGBTQI people constitutes a meaningful site for learning and teaching. In the process, I show how a queer-themed literature curriculum not only intervenes disruptively into the heteronormative space of school through its content but also through pedagogical practices that open up new lines of thinking for understanding diverse sexualities and genders. Through vignettes from the classroom, I illustrate how queer moments were enacted in this high school course as the class (a) deconstructed literary and media texts; (b) used moments of discomfort for learning; (c) produced counter-narratives through creative acts; and (d) engaged in experiential learning activities that troubled commonsense understandings of sexuality, sex and gender. The paper aims to provide educators and administrators with ideas on how a comprehensive queer-inclusive English literature curriculum can be implemented in high schools.