Educational Ethnography Research Articles

Researching Education Policy: Ethical and Methodological Issues

Part 1 Theory, Scholarship and Research into Education Policy: Where we are now - reflections on the sociology of education policy, Charles D. Raab Coming to terms with research - the contract business, May Pettigrew Scholarship and sponsored research - contradiction, continuum or complementary activity?, Robert G. Burgess. Part 2 The Ethics of Research into Education Policy: The constraints of neutrality - the 1988 Education Reform Act and feminist research, Beverley Skeggs, Researching inside the state - issues in the interpretation of elite interviews, Stephen J. Ball Sex, lies and audiotape - interviewing the education policy elite, Jenny Ozga and Sharon Gewirtz. Part 3 Methodological Perspectives on Research into Education Policy: Ethnography, policy-making and practice in education, Martyn Hammersley Students' secondary school careers - research in a climate of moving perspectives, Gwen Wallace, Jean Rudduck and Susan Harris.

“The question of belief”: writing poststructural ethnography

This article engages current poststructural debates over ethnographic representation. It questions three types of ethnographic authority: the authority of empiricism, the authority of language, and the authority of reading. In performing a form of self‐speculative critique, the author moves behind the scenes of her own ethnography, Practice Makes Practice: A Critical Study of Learning to Teach, to consider the problem of what poststructural theories “do” to ethnographic writing. Two related themes are elaborated in relation to how poststructural debates fashioned interpretive efforts: conceptual issues in the poststructural study of teaching and theoretical issues in the production of ethnographic narratives. Can there be an educational ethnography that exceeds the constraints of humanism? What if the ethnographer began not just to question the discourse of others but to engage the relation between the discourses that render ethnography intelligible and the ethnographic report?

From the Ethnography of Communication to Critical Ethnography in ESL Teacher Education

The TESOL Quarterly publishes brief commentaries on aspects of English language teaching. For this issue, we asked two teacher educators the following question: How has qualitative research informed your work in teacher education?

The Ethnography of Further Education and the Policy‐orientated Literature: contrasts

The paper explores the imbalance between the ethnography of further education and the policy‐orientated literature. Bates (1991) describes this as being the discrepancy between rich sociological analysis and the economics of training. The paper redraws this imbalance into one between the optimism of policy literature and the pessimism of ethnography. This pessimism has its roots in theories of reproduction and even the most recent work fails to escape this. Post‐fordists' notions support the optimism of policy literature; it is unlikely that the promise of a high trust/high skill society can be delivered within a capitalist society. It is argued that the insights of reproduction theory should be married to the concerns of policy literature with a view to developing critical and transformative practices.

Ogbu's anthropology and the critical ethnography of education: a reciprocal interrogation

This paper reviews the work of educational anthropologist John Ogbu, comparing it with theoretical and methodological approaches in the critical ethnography of education. Ogbu's work is situated in relation to the “cultural difference” approach in the American anthropology of education. Basic concepts are introduced and important theoretical contributions are noted. Conceptual problems then are identified in Ogbu's approach, and his shortcomings from a radical perspective are highlighted. Finally, as a representative of a broader anthropological paradigm, Ogbu is brought into a critical dialogue with more radical educational ethnographers in an attempt to distinguish strengths and weaknesses in each body of research.

Some Contributions of Anthropology to Professional Education

T hese books, which have been stacking up on my desk the last two years, supposedly represent the latest in the subdiscipline of anthropology and education. What excited me were the sections of these books that sought to develop an ethnology or theoretical perspective of education as distinct from an ethnography of education and the attempts to implement the ethnography of education. The books are both methodological (descriptive and scientific) and hermeneutical (normative and speculative). There are three major contributions that anthropology can make to professional education. The first contribution

Rethinking School Ethnographies of Colonial Settings: A Performance Perspective of Reproduction and Resistance

Previous articleNext article No AccessFocus on Comparative PerspectivesRethinking School Ethnographies of Colonial Settings: A Performance Perspective of Reproduction and ResistanceDouglas E. FoleyDouglas E. Foley Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Comparative Education Review Volume 35, Number 3Aug., 1991 Sponsored by the Comparative and International Education Society Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/447051 Views: 11Total views on this site Citations: 15Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1991 The Comparative and International Education SocietyPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Min Zhang “No! I Can’t!”: Noise and silence as everyday resistance at a Chinese suburban middle school, Ethnography 23, no.11 (Mar 2020): 104–129.https://doi.org/10.1177/1466138120910169Erwin H. Epstein Education as a Fault Line in Assessing Democratization: Ignoring the Globalizing Influence of Schools, (Sep 2021): 737–755.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66003-1_42Jana Obrovská Rituály s „těmi druhými“: Perspektiva interakčních rituálů ve školní etnografii etnicky různorodých třídních kolektivů, Sociální studia / Social Studies 11, no.22 (Aug 2016): 51.https://doi.org/10.5817/SOC2014-2-51Amy Stambach Ethnography and the Localization of Global Education Policy, (Mar 2016): 490–503.https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118468005.ch27Ken McGrew A Review of Class-Based Theories of Student Resistance in Education, Review of Educational Research 81, no.22 (Jun 2011): 234–266.https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654311402358David Poveda Performance and interaction during ‘reading hour’ in a Spanish secondary school, Linguistics and Education 22, no.11 (Mar 2011): 79–92.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2010.11.004Jeong-Hee Kim Understanding student resistance as a communicative act, Ethnography and Education 5, no.33 (Sep 2010): 261–276.https://doi.org/10.1080/17457823.2010.511349Monisha Bajaj ‘I have big things planned for my future’: the limits and possibilities of transformative agency in Zambian schools, Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education 39, no.44 (Jul 2009): 551–568.https://doi.org/10.1080/03057920701844503Ajay Sharma Making (electrical) connections: Exploring student agency in a school in India, Science Education 92, no.22 (Jan 2008): 297–319.https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.20246Malou Juelskjær Resisting and committing to schooling: intersections of masculinity and academic position, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 21, no.11 (Jan 2008): 49–63.https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390701768799Ben Rampton Language and Ethnicity at School : some implications from theoretical developments in Sociolinguistics, Langage et société n° 116, no.22 (Jun 2006): 51–71.https://doi.org/10.3917/ls.116.0051Norrel A. London School inspection, the inspectorate and educational practice in Trinidad and Tobago, Journal of Educational Administration 42, no.44 (Aug 2004): 479–502.https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230410544080Daniel A. Yon Highlights and Overview of the History of Educational Ethnography, Annual Review of Anthropology 32, no.11 (Oct 2003): 411–429.https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.32.061002.093449Mark G. McFadden Resistance to Schooling and Educational Outcomes: questions of structure and agency, British Journal of Sociology of Education 16, no.33 (Sep 1995): 293–308.https://doi.org/10.1080/0142569950160302Erwin H. Epstein Education as a Fault Line in Assessing Democratisation: Ignoring the Globalising Influence of Schools, (): 613–630.https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-2960-8_38

Ethnography and critical knowledge of education in latin america

Ethnography and critical knowledge of education in latin america

Critical Ethnography in Education: Origins, Current Status, and New Directions

Interpretivist movements in anthropology and sociology have recently merged with neo-Marxist and feminist theory to produce a unique genre of research in the field of education known as “critical ethnography.” Critical ethnographers seek research accounts sensitive to the dialectical relationship between the social structural constraints on human actors and the relative autonomy of human agency. Unlike other interpretivist research, the overriding goal of critical ethnography is to free individuals from sources of domination and repression. This review traces the development of critical ethnography in education, including a brief discussion of its view of validity; discusses its current status as a research genre; and describes criticisms and suggests new directions.

The nun in the toilet: urban legends and educational research

This article reports and analyzes “urban legends” told about schools. The data are taken from three earlier studies of British pupils transferring from primary to secondary school. Five urban legends are discussed, and several others are mentioned. The interpretation is along the line of structural analysis. The author concludes that research into urban legends can widen the scope of educational ethnography.

Critical Ethnography in Education: Origins, Current Status, and New Directions

Interpretivist movements in anthropology and sociology have recently merged with neo-Marxist and feminist theory to produce a unique genre of research in the field of education known as “critical ethnography.” Critical ethnographers seek research accounts sensitive to the dialectical relationship between the social structural constraints on human actors and the relative autonomy of human agency. Unlike other interpretivist research, the overriding goal of critical ethnography is to free individuals from sources of domination and repression. This review traces the development of critical ethnography in education, including a brief discussion of its view of validity; discusses its current status as a research genre; and describes criticisms and suggests new directions.

Patterns of Resistance to Public Education: England, Ireland, and Canada West, 1830-1890

Despite a remarkable proliferation of contemporary educational ethnography, most studies of the history of education stop at the schoolroom door-if they reach beyond the newspaper office and the board of But, as nineteenth-century educational reformers were keenly aware, it is educational practice, both in terms of the position and activities of school managers in relation to school consumers and in terms of actual schoolroom activity, provides the substance of public education. Egerton Ryerson, chief superintendent of education for Canada West and Ontario from 1846 to 1876, made this point in his Report on a System of Public Elementary Instruction for Upper Canada. It is now generally admitted, he wrote, after a year-long tour of European schools, that the education of the people is more dependent upon the administration than upon the provisions of the laws relating to Public Instruction.' Without effective local administration, Ryerson stressed, there may be one law, but the systems, or rather practices, may be as various as the smallest Municipal divisions.2

Questioning Eclectic Practice in Curriculum Change: A Marxist Perspective

Previous articleNext article No AccessQuestioning Eclectic Practice in Curriculum Change: A Marxist PerspectiveNona Y. GlazerNona Y. Glazer Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Signs Volume 12, Number 2Winter, 1987Reconstructing the Academy Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/494322 Views: 6Total views on this site Citations: 6Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1987 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article: References, ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report 20, no.66 (Jun 2009): 89–101.https://doi.org/10.1002/aehe.3640200612NONA Y. GLAZER “BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE”:, Gender & Society 5, no.33 (Sep 1991): 351–372.https://doi.org/10.1177/089124391005003006Mary Beckman Classroom Methods Mirroring Workplace Values: Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Feminist Pedagogy and Writing Across the Curriculum, Review of Radical Political Economics 22, no.2-32-3 (Aug 2016): 139–157.https://doi.org/10.1177/048661349002200207SUSAN F. FEINER, BRUCE B. ROBERTS HIDDEN BY THE INVISIBLE HAND:, Gender & Society 4, no.22 (Jun 1990): 159–181.https://doi.org/10.1177/089124390004002003Minette Marcroft The politics of the classroom: Toward an oppositional pedagogy, New Directions for Teaching and Learning 1990, no.4444 (Jan 1990): 61–71.https://doi.org/10.1002/tl.37219904410Gary L. Anderson Critical Ethnography in Education: Origins, Current Status, and New Directions, Review of Educational Research 59, no.33 (Jul 2016): 249–270.https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543059003249

Collaborative Educational Ethnography: Problems and Profits

The author describes difficulties and merits of a collaborative relationship involving a South Asian immigrant community, a school district, a community organization, and an educational anthropologist. She discusses collaborative activities within a well functioning research team, problems of local factionalism, and the value of community participation in research. The author suggests that the collaborative process helps to generate locally useful data upon which a district can plan for change, while also promoting broader research interests.

The Prospects of an Applied Ethnography for Education: A Sociology of Knowledge Interpretation

Ethnography as an approach to apprehending and ultimately comprehending social reality no doubt has proven itself to be useful in anthropology and sociology. In many ways, it was the original way of knowing in social science. Based on qualitative methods, inductive logic, and holistic explanation, the approach predated the deductive logic, reductionistic explanation, and quantitative methods of positivism and as such has often suffered degradation by positivists as an outmoded and inadequate method. To those of us, however, who are concerned with the social, cultural, political, and even technological worlds that humans create, reify, and institutionalize, any critique of the approach as outmoded and/or inadequate indicates not the laudable advancement of social science but the almost laughable paradox of humans seeking social understanding. That is, understanding is necessarily unique, but it must be shared. In this process of sharing, the unique interpretations are rendered forth for judgment and some are judged more worthy than others. Because judgments can have various bases, humans disagree and to the extent that both particular judgments and disagreements threaten the interests of some and advantage others, there may be an attempt to change the basis of judgment to benefit ourselves or to seek a basis that is universal, if not universally fair and just. Positivism is predicated on the belief that such universal bases are attainable, and our problem is that, as humans and social scientists, we have not reevaluated this premise of positivism and as a result have reified and institutionalized the approach beyond any assessments of its usefulness to human understanding. Social scientists who use the ethno-

What Can be Learned from Educational Ethnography?

The ethnographer's findings are shaped, for good and for bad, by her roles as a researcher and as a person.

Power, Poverty and Education: An Ethnography of Education in an Israeli Town

Power, Poverty and Education: An Ethnography of Education in an Israeli Town

Problems of Reliability and Validity in Ethnographic Research

Although problems of reliability and validity have been explored thoroughly by experimenters and other quantitative researchers, their treatment by ethnographers has been sporadic and haphazard. This article analyzes these constructs as defined and addressed by ethnographers. Issues of reliability and validity in ethnographic design are compared to their counterparts in experimental design. Threats to the credibility of ethnographic research are summarized and categorized from field study methodology. Strategies intended to enhance credibility are incorporated throughout the investigative process: study design, data collection, data analysis, and presentation of findings. Common approaches to resolving various categories of contamination are illustrated from the current literature in educational ethnography.

An Ethnographic Approach to the Initial Professional Education of Teachers

Educational ethnography has become part of the research tradition of both sociology and anthropology, that is, "research on and in educational institutions based on participant observation and/or permanent recordings of everyday life in naturally-occurring settings" (Delamont & Atkinson, 1980). While most graduate students of education will today be familiar with ethnographic research, this paper outlines a way in which first year students can also make creative use of some aspects of this approach. During their professional education, pre-service teachers are expected to make the transition from the status of student to that of teacher. For some this is an abrupt and difficult process, while for others it is painless. All pre-service teachers are expected to acquire a professional identity and it is within this process that ethnography can make an important contribution.

School Ethnography: A Multilevel Approach1

Ethnography is increasingly used by researchers in education. Among nonanthropologists, however, it is often misconceived and superficially applied; among anthropologists there is a strong bias toward a narrow application of the technique to the study of education. The present paper argues for the application of traditional anthropological ethnography in the study of formal education and for broadening the scope of such studies. It also suggests a framework—an ecological framework—that permits a multilevel application of ethnography in formal education. SCHOOL ETHNOGRAPHY; EDUCATION; MINORITY EDUCATION; EDUCATIONAL ANTHROPOLOGY; ETHNOECOLOGY.