Studies in Educational Ethnography – serie

The series as a whole recognises that the nature of ethnography is contested, and takes this to be a sign of its strength and vitality. This second volume in the series focuses on debates and developments in methodology and the many ways in which ethnographic work interacts with education. The contributions to this volume are diverse and challenging. They indicate that ethnography is a rich field that has much to offer the study of education. Particular chapters are concerned with access to research sites, critical ethnography, text construction, dilemmas of researching different ethnic groups and or researching children, the influence of the researcher, writing ethnography, ethno-drama, and the concept of triangulation.

Studies of gender and education have been at the forefront of much ethnographic research for several decades, but the interest in sexualities and education is more recent. Indeed, to study sexualities and schooling is, almost in itself, a challenge to many common assumptions about children and what it is 'to be a child'. However, study of the nature and construction of gender and sexuality has now become a recognized and highly productive research area, and one that is highly suited to ethnographic methods. The new research presented in these chapters illustrates some of the range of recent work in the area and the power of ethnography to uncover the complex and contested processes of construction.

This book emphasises the central place that ethnographic work should have in the formulation and evaluation of education policy. Ethnographic studies contribute to a greater understanding of the process formulation, evaluation and critique. First, careful studies of policy initiatives at the local level can show the extent to which change actually occurs in practice. Second, ethnographic studies can investigate the unintended consequences as well as those planned by the policy. Third, ethnography can investigate the effects of policies in such a way that contradictions within the original policy itself are illuminated. As well as studying the effects and impact of policy, ethnography can also be useful in the formulation of new policies. The various chapters gathered together here give many examples of the ways that ethnography can trace the effects of particular policy developments and may be able to influence future policy debates. The contributors and case studies relate to several countries including the United States, Italy, England, France, Sweden and Switzerland, showing not only that ethnographic research in education is now widespread, but also increasing relevance to policy.

Volume five of this expanding series of books draws together a collection of papers based on a particular form of critical ethnography developed by Phil Francis Carspecken and his colleagues at the University of Houston. Each chapter is based on a unique field project conducted in the Houston area which was planned and conducted by its particular author, but each chapter shares and exemplifies a common methodological theory. The Houston version of critical ethnography attempts to deal with some challenges from certain feminist and postmodern writers about the validity of qualitative research, and the authors argue that clear methods and standards exist for conducting qualitative studies such that well supported findings may be distinguished from highly questionable ones. Following an initial chapter by Carspecken which outlines the theory and methodology adopted, are seven case studies which cover such topics as multicultural literature, the supervision of teachers in training, school restructuring, charter schools, and race and standardized testing.

What counts as ethnography and what counts as good ethnographic methodology are both highly contested. Volume 6 of this expanding series of books draws together a collection of chapters presenting a diversity of views on some of the debates and developments in ethnographic methodology. It does not try to present a single coherent view but, through its heterogeneity, illustrates the strength and liveliness of debate within this area. The chapters cover central topics such as the challenges to conventional views about validity in ethnographic work, feminist research, comparison within ethnographic research, the public identification of research sites, and the ethics and practice of research involving children. Other chapters deal with relatively newer topics such as the conduct of electronic ethnography, the development of the imagination and emotion within ethnographic writing, and the use of hypertext in the analysis and representation of ethnographic work.

Doing a doctorate in education is always a challenging and difficult process. Doing a doctorate in education that is based upon ethnographic research is even more so. This title draws together a series of semi-autobiographical reflexive accounts of the process of doing a doctorate using educational ethnography. The individual studies include research into school effectiveness, the experiences of Asian teenagers, sexual cultures in the primary school, mature students on Access courses, primary school management, the experiences of children with special educational needs, teachers' work intensification, the family and school experiences of Year 9 students and a Youth Training programme within English professional football. The range of topics shows how import ethnographic work has become in education. Most of the contributors are still at the early stage of their academic careers. Their writings have not yet attained "classic" status - although some may be on the way to such status. The doctoral process is still a vivid memory in their minds and they have been able to drawn upon their fieldnotes and recollections to construct accounts that shed light on their experience and help to demystify it. The book should be of value for those who are thinking of doing a doctorate, for others still struggling through the process and for their supervisors.

Within the United Kingdom questions about the relevance of educational research and its relationship to policy have recently been the centre of a prolonged, public and sometimes acrimonious debate. The chapters in this book illustrate the ability of ethnographic work to assist in understanding the effects of educational policies to gradually influence the policy discourse. The book includes studies of policy initiatives at the local level that show the extent to which an intended change actually occurred in practice, others where actual change occurred, but there were unintended consequences as well as those planned by the policy, and others that illuminate the contradictions within the original policy itself. Chapters focus on a diversity of topics such as the ideology of educational 'success', politics and school mathematics, ITC teaching, sports coaching, basic skills provision for offenders, second language learning, ESOL teaching, primary teachers work, and the teaching of reading and spelling.

National Curricular need to be interpreted in terms of the cultures and experience of learners and adjusted accordingly, for example a literacy and history curriculum needs to include perspectives relevant to the local culture. Teachers, learners, families and communities mediate, appropriate, subvert, and challenge the processes of policy implementation, curriculum engagement and pedagogic practices to make educational experiences more meaningful. These articles exemplify the conflicts, the coping strategies and resolutions adopted by those at the policy implementation interface. Examination of these processes using ethnographic methods identifies and characterises these tensions and provides research findings that can be used to construct lasting solutions that are commensurate with complex situations. The writers in this volume have carried out ethnographies that illuminate educational disjunctions, ambiguities and tensions, agency, strategic action and resolution. Their methodology enables them to show, in detail, how incongruencies arise, how contexts affect interactions, what kind of agency operates, and the circumstances leading to resolutions. Six articles focus on educational inequality, three on identity development and we include three that discuss methodological issues of partisanship in researching equality issues.

The prime focus on the social processes of schooling within educational ethnography has tended to marginalise or eschew the importance of other 'informal' educational sites. Other social institutions, such as family, community, media and popular culture, work and prisons are salient arenas in which behaviours and lives are regulated. They all interrelate and are all implicated in the generation, management and development of social identities and the social and cultural reproduction of structures and relations. Individuals, though, are not merely shaped by these social institutions, their agency is evident in the way they creatively adapt and accommodate to the tensions and constraints of economic, educational and social policies. The maintenance of self in these situations requires identity work involving mediation, conflict, contestation and modes of resistance, which often contribute to a continual reconstruction of situations and contexts. This volume of "Studies in Educational Ethnography" focuses on identity and agency in a variety of social institutions in educational ethnography. The contributors explore these themes in a wide range of international contexts including: Belgium, Sweden, North America, South Africa and England. They demonstrate the capacity of educational ethnography to provide accounts of participants' perspectives and understandings to highlight the agency of educational subjects.

What counts as ethnography and what counts as good ethnography are both highly contested. This volume brings together chapters presenting a diversity of views on some of the current issues and practices in ethnographic methodology. It does not try to present a single coherent view but, through its heterogeneity, illustrates the strengths and impact of the debate. The collection includes chapters on the ethnographic research process; the use of photographic diaries; the idea of toleration in the research process; and the personal aspects of research. It has chapters that question generalisation; perceive ethnography as a potential form of surveillance; analyse the notion of display in ethnography; critique the way culture is commonly theorised; and examine the possibilities of comparative ethnographic work. It also includes and exchange of views between Martyn Hammersley and Barbara Korth on partisan research.

What counts as ethnography and what counts as good ethnographic methodology are both highly contested. This volume brings together chapters presenting a diversity of views on some of the current debates and developments in the field. It does not try to present a single coherent view but, through its heterogeneity, illustrates the strength and impact of debate. The topics discussed include participant observation, research roles in fieldwork, access to places and people in research, ethical issues concerning anonymity and intimacy in research, generalization in ethnography, the use of video, developing stronger criteria for autoethnography, and the use of ethnography as a contribution to the generation and modification of indicators. Together the collection illustrates the strength and vitality of ethnography.

Volume 13 relaunches the book series after a 9-year hiatus and addresses new directions in the field of educational ethnography. The authors in the book share methodological similarities, but their applications, contexts, treatments, and contributions to the field as evidenced here are unique and vary considerably. The diversity of views and perspectives of ethnographic theory and method in educational settings are on full display, from the street to urban and suburban classrooms and to college settings, where gender, race, class, and power dynamics impact learners, teachers, parents, and communities. Taken together, the chapters reinvigorate and redirect a new set of possibilities and opportunities in ethnographic research, while highlighting shifts, problems and new directions for the field.

Reform initiatives in mathematics education have been reluctant to embrace racial equity as a core or guiding principle. The field is replete with studies on Black students' poor performance in mathematics education and of its persistence. Conversely, success in mathematics is rarely associated with groups of African or African American descent.The abundance of data on the failure of Black students in mathematics has contributed to mainstream beliefs of a racial hierarchy of mathematics ability in America. This perception has not only shaped attitudes and behaviors of educational practitioners, but it has contributed to the alienation of many students from the community of 'doers of mathematics.' This study examines the mathematics identity of a group of seniors enrolled in honor's pre-calculus at a comprehensive high school. Data collected and analyzed for this book shows that participants, in spite of a history of success in mathematics and despite viewing the classroom as opportunity to challenge disparaging views of Black Americans, refused to seek membership in the math community.Saintine focuses on the mathematic identity construction of 11 Black students and their own perception of mathematics education. This work offers new insights into the racial opportunity-gap in mathematics and challenges longstanding assumptions about 'what' or 'who' is a math person.

Real and meaningful educational ethnography requires researchers to grapple with how they come to know what they know. In Black Boys' Lived and Everyday Experiences in STEM, KiMi Wilson invites us to understand the experiences of four Black boys attempting to learn mathematics and science in K-12 spaces. How do mitigating circumstances and fraught relationships impede on their journey to sharpening their mathematical and scientific skills?Taking us on a sociocultural trek of the best and worst elements of public education, Wilson provides access to a bird's eye view of how Black boys experience schooling on a day-to-day basis. Through phenomenological interview, readers are let into the minds of students Carter, Malik, Darius, and Thomas, and given the opportunity to understand how they identify themselves. Showcasing a mixture of revelations, we learn how some of their perceptions come from an authentic place, while others were out of their own control, and decided by individuals blind to their potential. Imagining a world where Black boys are encouraged to work on STEM goals rather than abandon them, this important book is for educators, researchers, teachers, administrators, and superintendents who want to create school cultures that value Black boys, and want to reimagine teaching spaces for them.

For over thirty years, a political and social battle over bilingual education raged in the U.S. and in and around the Crow Indian Reservation of Montana. This book, a period piece rich in political, historical, and local western context, is the story of language, education, inequality and power clashes between the dominant society and the Indian tribe as historical events unfolded. This is a classic ethnography that documents eight years of the author’s day-to-day experience as a teacher, bilingual education coordinator, and central office administrator during the socio-political dispute. The author showcases the familial, linguistic, and ancestral place-based strengths of the Crow families that empowered children to succeed in school against the odds, providing a secure foundation for their future leadership within the tribe. In doing this, the author builds strong support for bridging Native and Euro-American philosophies within a bilingual framework. This book is important reading for teachers, administrators, and policy-makers. It provides hope, ideas, and concrete actions for those who would engage in change management to improve learning environments and better serve diverse students.

Theories Bridging Ethnography and Evaluation is the first of two volumes examining the connections between ethnography and evaluation in educational spaces. These volumes wrestle with pressing justice issues in today’s societies while elucidating three themes—transformative, intersectional, and comparative—for guiding contemporary inquiry committed to realizing equity.Chapters situate inquiry in wide-ranging theories and the contested histories and policies of contexts—whether these spaces are globally, nationally, or locally defined. Exploring essential concepts (positionality, transparency, authenticity, and reciprocity), authors analyze the philosophical, methodological, relational, and ethical dimensions of the interconnected practice of ethnography and evaluation. Authors also highlight their own experiential learning: how these concepts are forged not only from literature but also from their lived experience of doing this transformative scholarship in the United States, Palestine-Israel, and India.Fusing interpretivist and transformative epistemologies, emphasizing both emic understandings and critical framings of social issues, Theories Bridging Ethnography and Evaluation draws upon social justice frameworks for conducting research and evaluation, including anti-racist, culturally responsive, and feminist theories.

Cases Integrating Ethnography and Evaluation examines the connections between ethnography and evaluation in educational spaces, wrestling with pressing justice and equity issues in today’s societies across the world. The book provides readers from different disciplines and practice areas with detailed accounts of evaluation and ethnographic practice. Contributing chapters employ contemporary ethnographic strategies for engaging people, collecting data, generating knowledge, and taking action to make a social impact.Concentrating on underrepresented and historically marginalized communities, authors describe evaluations that emphasize the use of fieldwork, participant observation, arts-based strategies, and Indigenous methods to explore the cultural and contextual specificity of educational spaces. Such evaluations pursue greater democracy and justice in educational policy, programs, and systems through forging trusting and reciprocal relationships with individuals and communities.The chapters situate inquiry in the contested histories and policies of contexts—as they are globally, nationally, and locally defined. Authors present productive fusions of interpretivist and transformative epistemologies, emphasizing both emic understandings and critical framings of social issues. Describing the pursuit of transformative work in collaboration with a diversity of people, these chapters ultimately investigate issues of equity, marginalization, self-determination, (mis)representation, and cultural sustainability in inquiry as well as in education.

Charter schools continue to grow in influence, as does the push for inclusive education for students with disabilities. What is the value and impact of these schools, especially on the marginalized populations they often serve? Relying on the fields of DisCrit, and Sociology of Special and Inclusive Education, this book answers these questions by focusing on the topics of neoliberalism and inclusive education.Mac focuses on the history of the school choice and privatization movement in the United States with special consideration given to how ideologies such as disaster capitalism and neoliberalism shaped and influenced the movement, as well as how successful (or not) these privatization efforts have been overall as a social justice endeavor for marginalized students. The author also recounts the history of education for students with disabilities, highlighting historical inequities of schooling for students with disabilities in the United States.Drawing from an ethnographic case study of an independent, urban charter school, the school’s vision and reality of day-to-day life for students with disabilities at this school are explored. The author investigates the school’s inclusion program in the broader neoliberal landscape of free market competition in the educational marketplace and argues that as a result of inclusive education and neoliberal reforms being virtually incompatible, the pervasive neoliberal environment presents the biggest hurdle to successful inclusive education.

For over thirty years, a political and social battle over bilingual education raged in the U.S. and in and around the Crow Indian Reservation of Montana. This book, a period piece rich in political, historical, and local western context, is the story of language, education, inequality and power clashes between the dominant society and the Indian tribe as historical events unfolded. This is a classic ethnography that documents eight years of the author’s day-to-day experience as a teacher, bilingual education coordinator, and central office administrator during the socio-political dispute. The author showcases the familial, linguistic, and ancestral place-based strengths of the Crow families that empowered children to succeed in school against the odds, providing a secure foundation for their future leadership within the tribe. In doing this, the author builds strong support for bridging Native and Euro-American philosophies within a bilingual framework. This book is important reading for teachers, administrators, and policy-makers. It provides hope, ideas, and concrete actions for those who would engage in change management to improve learning environments and better serve diverse students.