Educational Ethnography Research Articles

Colonial continuities under scrutiny: an institutional ethnography of intercultural education in Chile

ABSTRACT Chile is a well-known country for its socio-economic and racial inequalities, especially in education. Despite it being prolific, research on educational inequalities has neglected the question about the persistence of colonial dynamics in the educational sphere and how the experience of colonisation has shaped contemporary social relations. Informed by the field of Decolonial Studies and by using institutional ethnography, this research sheds light onto the social (ruling) relations that sustain colonial continuities in the current Chilean school system. By starting from experiential accounts of Mapuche Indigenous educators who teach their ancestral language in the school system, this research provides evidence of an institutional apparatus sustaining forms of domination and reproduction of material and subjective inequalities.

Using video diaries in educational ethnography: what being alone with a camera does for self-representation, trust, and affording a participant perspective

ABSTRACT Video diaries are an innovative tool for ethnographic research, contributing to the quality of fieldwork and ethnographic data by giving additional attention to participant voices. Grounded in two fieldwork periods in secondary and higher education, this paper illustrates three key qualities through which video diaries contributed to ethnographic research: (1) Building trusting relationships with participants, (2) providing a space for participant autonomy, and (3) being a medium of self-explication and truth-telling. In video diaries, participants exercised free speech, providing a widely unmediated, personal perspective on their professional identity, roles, and relationships. This personal perspective allowed participants to contribute to trusting on their own terms, which mitigated face-work – especially when talking about conflicts and challenges – and provided additional entry points for conversations, enabling deep dialogue and understanding. Ultimately, the use of video diaries significantly strengthened the researcher-participant relationship and enriched the ethnographic data and the quality of interactions.

Educational ethnographies on memory and territory with children in rural contexts in Colombia

ABSTRACT This paper examines children's perspectives on rural territories in two Colombian areas affected by armed conflict, exploring intersections of knowledge production, territory, and memory. Using Decolonial Perspectives and Escobar's territory concept, an educational collaborative ethnography was conducted. Territory is conceptualised as a biophysical and epistemic space shaped by community worldview. This paper reflects on how collaboration with children contributes to decolonising representations of conflict-affected rural territories, allowing the recognition of its values and the reconstruction of negative dominant representations. Data collection involved five months of participant observation, engaging children, teachers, parents, grandparents, community leaders, and researchers. Activities included walks, reading circles, workshops, map-making, and family garden visits to construct narratives about the past and present. Analysis revealed situated knowledge production, with territory acquiring semantic and experiential meaning. Peasant children's perspectives challenge homogenising discourses about childhood, war, peace, and rurality, emphasising agency and exploring multiple forms of knowledge.

Meta-Ethnography, a Method for the Synthesis of Qualitative Research: A Narrative Review

Background: Synthesis studies are used for the retrieval, review, synthesis, analysis, and integration of the findings of original studies. The purpose of this review was to shed more light on how meta-ethnography works as a method of inductive and interpretative knowledge synthesis, and on its application and implementation in medical sciences. Methods: This was a narrative review study and the statistical population included all scholarly publications on the synthesis of qualitative studies and meta-ethnography published from 1998 to 2022. The search in international and domestic databases led to the extraction of 118 books and articles. After reviewing the titles, abstracts, and full texts of these publications, we included 2 books and 8 articles in the review. Results: Meta-ethnography is used for synthesizing the knowledge obtained from qualitative studies to re-conceptualize their findings. There are seven phases in the process of meta-ethnography: Getting started; Deciding on what is of initial interest; Reading the studies; Determining how the studies are related; Translating the studies to each other; Synthesizing the translations; and expressing the synthesis. The number of studies required to perform meta-ethnography has been recently suggested to be 40. Strategies for updating meta-ethnography include repeating the previous strategy and reformulating the strategy according to a new objective, a revised review question, or new inclusion criteria. Conclusion: Noblit and Hare introduced meta-ethnography in 1988 as a qualitative research method for the synthesis of educational ethnographies. Today, it is widely used in healthcare research.

‘What’s he writing in there?’ Reciprocal field relations and relational curiosity in ethnographies of education

ABSTRACT The notion of the ethnographer as participant observer, as an active agent rather than passive observer, is well established within conversations about method and methodology. Less well explored is the extent to which the inherent curiosity and inquisitiveness of the ethnographer might be reciprocated: how might this be established and how might it contribute to the construction of knowledge? Through a focus on the ways in which one of the most visible aspects of ethnographic field work – writing field notes – was made sense of and then interrogated by research respondents during an eight-month ethnography of workplace learning, this article argues that reciprocal field relations characterised by a willingness for the researcher to be interrogated about their work in a manner akin to the ways in which the researched are, here described as relational curiosity, both sustains good ethical engagement in the field and enhances the empirical warrant of the ethnography.

An ethnography of construction and characteristics of curriculum for inheritance of intangible cultural heritage martial arts in universities.

Inheriting excellent traditional Chinese culture is a prerequisite for ensuring the continuity of the cultural genes of the Chinese nation. However, with the historical mission of shaping the national character of the descendants of the Chinese nation, intangible cultural heritage martial arts face the problem of an unclear curriculum content construction mechanism in university inheritance and make it difficult for these martial arts to shoulder the responsibility of cultural inheritance in the era. Educational ethnography as a research method is conducive to the in-depth exploration of the mechanism of curriculum content construction in the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage martial arts in universities. Research suggests that the construction of curriculum content for the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage martial arts in universities relies on the form of cooperation between universities and inheritors, and form three models of curriculum content construction: off campus, on campus, and on-campus cooperation. The construction of curriculum content for off-campus inheritors belongs to the "attachment style" model, which is based on the actual needs of the inheritors and the selection of boxing types. The construction of curriculum content for inheritors on campus belongs to the "reshaping" model, which is the inheritor's "simplification and reorganization" based on traditional routines and subjective and objective conditions of inheritance. The construction of course content in school local cooperation belongs to the "integrated" model, which is the reintegration of course content by universities based on their own development characteristics and the characteristics of various martial arts. In the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage martial arts in universities, emphasis is placed on local knowledge, core skills, cultural traditions, and other characteristics, highlighting the excellence of its cultural inheritance. In the future, the focus of the inheritance of these martial arts in universities should be to cultivate innovative talents who are familiar with both traditional and modern martial arts.

The role of teachers’ funds of knowledge and identity in the linguistically and culturally diverse classroom

ABSTRACT This study aimed to explore how teachers’ funds of knowledge and identity shape their beliefs and knowledge about linguistically and culturally diverse students and mediate the respective practices in the classroom. The study was conducted in a state religious secondary school in southern Israel, where approximately half of the students and teachers were immigrants. It adopted two qualitative research methods: case study and educational ethnography. The purposeful sampling was applied by zooming in on two secondary school teachers. Teachers’ evidence obtained from semi-structured interviews was triangulated with field-notes, classroom video-recorded observations, and collected documents. It was found that the teachers became role models who empowered the students and engaged them in the learning process in their highly diverse classrooms. To conclude, the teachers’ family histories, immigration experiences, languages, and cultures can be seen as meaningful tools for learning other languages and cultures and teaching students.

Reconsidering educational ethnography and the field notebook: a contribution from inclusive ethics

This article examines the processes of educational ethnography and questions the traditional use of the field notebook and research relationships. It forms part of an ongoing collaborative study analyzing university students’ learning trajectories. Guided by inclusive ethics, the study proposes that researcher–participant collaboration is fundamental in defying traditional research methodologies. Post-qualitative inquiry enables an inclusive ethics perspective by providing a critical view of the usual ways of conducting research. The paper presents three cases of collaborators taking a field notebook and self-observing their learning. Participant agency facilitates our immersion in different worlds and produces new, non-standardized perceptions that enable the transformation of educational ethnography.

Aprendendo a construir explicações científicas: uma análise do cotidiano da sala de aula de ciências

ABSTRACT This paper analyzes how 8th graders proposed and revised explanations for a phenomenon in Science lessons. Guided by Ethnography in Education, we gathered data from observations of the daily life of these lessons and analyzed connections between texts, contexts and events. The results indicate the teacher’s role on the provisional and uncertain character given to scientific explanations; the use of discussions - sometimes in groups, sometimes with the whole class - as a resource through which students validated (or not) their explanations; and the interpretations given by students to the relationships between data and explanations under construction. These resources shaped the practices of proposing/reviewing explanations, which were evidenced by changes in explanatory proposals throughout events. The study offers contributions to the research area of Science Education and implications for pedagogical practice.

Walking ethnography in environmental and health education: The quest for rigor and legitimacy in qualitative research in education

Resumo: A pesquisa qualitativa em educação, especialmente nos campos de investigação em educação ambiental e educação em saúde, requisita outras formas de investigação, distintas daquelas positivistas e cartesianas, apoiadas em descrições verbais e textuais. São necessários novos elementos, como corporeidade, estética e articulações corpo~mente~mundo, para compreender fenômenos em nível experiencial e afetivo. Motivo pelo qual esse ensaio teórico objetiva refletir acerca dos fundamentos teórico-filosóficos e do walking ethnography na pesquisa em educação como possibilidade de interface entre os campos da educação ambiental e educação em saúde. Walking ethnography permite articular ontologia-epistemologia-metodologia como tríade indissociável, discutindo elementos que legitimam novas possibilidades à pesquisa educacional brasileira. Considera-se o potencial da discussão para integração entre os campos da educação ambiental e educação em saúde e para a formação de professores.

Law and Sexual Violence: A Critical Ethnography of Higher Education in India

Law and Sexual Violence: A Critical Ethnography of Higher Education in India

Book review: Gunjan Sharma. 2021. Schooling and Aspirations in the Urban Margins: Ethnography of Education in the Indian Context

Gunjan Sharma. 2021. Schooling and Aspirations in the Urban Margins: Ethnography of Education in the Indian Context. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-003-02801-7 (ebook); pp. 157, £31.19, ISBN 978-0-367-90365-7 (hardback); ₹1295.00, ISBN 978-1-032-00478-5 (paperback).

Local History and the Development of Heritage Bonds: A Primary Education Intervention

The Roman Baths of Valduno (Spain) possess significant educational potential, as recognized by visitors in a previous study, even though the facilities have not been maintained properly or have not been given enough publicity , which has resulted in their neglect. Through participation in a school project, a specific intervention is planned, following the ideas of community archaeology, regarding the study and dissemination of the Baths by following the ideas of community archaeology throughout. This study aims to analyse the impact this intervention has on 16 students regarding their knowledge of heritage and the bonds forged and reinforced concerning the site, as well as to identify the difference in historical knowledge acquired after a classroom explanation of the Baths and an open guided tour focused on the interests of the students. A case study was designed following the educational ethnography method, as it facilitates daily attendance as well as close observation of the case in question. The instruments developed (a register for participant observation and a semi-structured interview) reveal that symbolic appropriation of the site occurs as interaction and related knowledge increase. Furthermore, open guided tours facilitate greater significant learning in contrast to a classroom explanation on a heritage site. Educational experiences that embrace experimental, transdisciplinary, and participative methodologies contribute to a holistic understanding of heritage.

Implementation of Science Education for Junior High School Students in Lampung Province During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Science education is one of the important subjects in the scientific structure studied in our world of education. During the Covid-19 pandemic by considering the condition of the readiness of supporting infrastructure for online learning implementation, IT-based teacher skills, and online learning evaluation, this science subject was transformed to students. The purpose of this study is to describe the planning, organizing, implementing, and monitoring of Science Education, especially in public junior high schools in Lampung Province. This research is a qualitative research with an educational ethnography study design, and the research participants are principals of MKKS junior high schools in Lampung Province. This study used interviews, observations and documentation to collect data, which were then evaluated using the interactive model analysis. The findings of this study are as follows: (1) Natural Science lesson plans are prepared by taking into account student characteristics, materials, and the use of applications for learning implementation; (2) the organization of Natural Science learning begins with the formation of Whatsapp groups, the direction of learning meetings using Google Classroom and Google Meet by sharing links through Whatsapp groups; and (3) optimization of learning implementation in this science subject is still limited: 50% of public junior high schools in Lampung Province have limited internet bandwidth; (4) monitoring, science subject teachers have difficulty in conducting learning assessment because they cannot organize students in a perfect setting.

Ethnography in Early Childhood Education and Care

Childhood research is increasingly being conducted from different disciplines, and research methods for showing the child's world are also increasing and evolving. This article examines the challenges and opportunities of childhood research in an early childhood education and care (ECEC) environment from an ethnographic approach. The purpose of the article is to create a vision of what ECEC ethnography is, which can be used to make visible the culture of an under-school-age child, his or her experience, feelings, voice, and actions. A key challenge in ECEC ethnography is that the researcher is a representative of adult culture, emphasizing the need for reflexivity. We highlight five key themes for the researcher: the acquisition of material, the degree of researcher participation, taking on the role of a researcher, reaching the child's voice, and describing the results in a child-centered and ethically sustainable way. Respect for the child and earning the child's trust are essential. When successful, ECEC ethnography provides knowledge and understanding of childhood in a way that can contribute to supporting children's development and overall well-being.

Evaluation of knowledge in science lessons: an analysis of epistemic practices in an 8th grade classroom

ABSTRACT This paper analyses how 8th graders build epistemic practices of evaluation of knowledge. Guided by Ethnography in Education, we followed a group in their science lessons through one year, using participant observation. Following Kelly's propositions concerning epistemic practices, we selected key events towards an analysis of discursive interactions. The results indicate a trajectory of changes in constructing practices of evaluation of knowledge over time. The repertoire built by the group throughout 8th grade allowed students to evaluate knowledge claims in order to value alleged scientific evidence to the detriment of other rationalities. Evidence, in this case, was being used as a tool for students to support and communicate their propositions, but they were not evaluated. Events that broke with rationality based on the use of evidence generated opportunities for the group to start engaging in practices such as: evaluating the quality of alleged scientific evidence, pondering possible errors, or proposing alternative interpretations. Future events in the history of the group throughout 9th grade indicate that this type of practice became part of their discussions. We discuss implications for pedagogical practice and research in science education.

Spatiotemporal relationships in science lessons: Building learning opportunities over time

AbstractIn this study, we investigated the construction of science learning opportunities focusing on space−time relationships. Guided by ethnography in education, we followed the everyday life of a classroom over their three first years at elementary school. Based on macroanalysis, we examined discursive interactions in temporally distant events and how participants built relationships between these events. Verbal tense, agents in narratives, and relations between texts/contexts guided microanalyses. Results indicate that teacher and students evoked space−time relationships that become an epistemic tool for this class. These relationships structured narratives which the actor in scientific inquiry was the class as a group. Moreover, space−time connections provided articulations between the conceptual, epistemic, and social domains of scientific knowledge in science lessons over time. We discuss methodological contributions of the study, in addition to implications for positioning students as epistemic agents in science learning.

Gunjan Sharma, Schooling and Aspirations in the Urban Margins: Ethnography of Education in the Indian Context. Routledge, 2021, 157 pp., ₹1925. ISBN: 9781032233413.

Gunjan Sharma, Schooling and Aspirations in the Urban Margins: Ethnography of Education in the Indian Context. Routledge, 2021, 157 pp., ₹1925. ISBN: 9781032233413.

Conducting online ethnography during COVID‐19: Methodological reflections from a kindergarten classroom

In this reflection, I contextualize my own experiences conducting educational ethnography in a synchronous online kindergarten classroom during the COVID‐19 pandemic. I highlight how conducting research in online classrooms transforms ethnographic research methodologies and concepts such as the field site. I offer four suggestions, derived from my experiences and guided by an un‐sited approach to this hybrid online field site, to conceptualize a more fluid approach for studying online schooling in general.

Student Researchers’ Reflections on the AAA Undergraduate Fellowship

AbstractWhen the American Anthropological Association offered its Undergraduate Research Fellows program in 2019–2020, the intent was not only to obtain ethnographic insights into the college‐workforce transition for anthropology majors, but also to provide a meaningful educational experience to the participating student‐researchers. Previously (Ginsberg and Jackson, this issue), we have situated the fellowship program with reference to ethnography of higher education and native ethnography; in this paper, by contrast, we contextualize it with scholarship on high‐impact practices in undergraduate education, including research opportunities, collaborative assignments, and community‐based learning. We then present reflections from the student‐researchers themselves regarding what they learned through participation in the fellows program. In their reflections, the fellows describe a process of becoming more central members of three overlapping communities of practice: the AAA research team, their respective home departments, and the discipline of anthropology overall. We conclude by discussing reasons why anthropology is particularly well suited to provide undergraduate research opportunities, and why doing so would strengthen the discipline as well.