Dr Nicole Blum | Two three-hour sessions | Summer: 13:00 - 16:00 Tuesday 16 June (Room 826 in the IOE) + Thursday 18 June (Room 639 in the IOE)
 

NB: This course accrues 2 training points.

These two sessions will explore how ethnography is done by looking at specific examples of practice as well as key readings on methodology and methods. Topics for discussion will include the researcher’s complex (and often multiple) roles in a fieldwork setting, the techniques involved in conducting fieldwork, ethical concerns, data analysis, and ethnographic writing. The workshops will be organised around short lecture inputs, as well as group work activities and discussions. The main aim of the course is to familiarise students with the practice and key concerns of ethnography, and to explore its relevance and use in educational research. Below is a brief overview of the topics to be discussed in these sessions.

• A focus on the ‘history’ of ethnography and some of the different theoretical positions that ethnographers take up. We will also look at examples of ethnographic studies which focus specifically on education.

• A focus on what ethnographers ‘do’ – the conduct of fieldwork and the range of research methods in an ethnographer’s ‘toolbox’ (e.g. participant observation, interviewing, taking field notes). We will also explore some of the key ethical issues that can arise in ethnographic research, and how these can be addressed.

• A look at the techniques (e.g. coding) used to analyse ethnographic ‘data’ and the nature of ethnographic writing. In particular, we will look at debates on reflexivity and representation in ethnographic writing.

The workshops are suitable to students at any stage of doctoral study, and will be of interest both to those that plan to use ethnography in their own research and those who have a more general interest in the methodology.

Indicative Reading List

• Anderson-Levitt, K.M. (2012) Anthropologies of Education: A global guide to ethnographic studies of learning and schooling. Oxford: Berghan Books.

• Atkinson, P., Delamont, S., Coffey, A., Lofland, J. and Lofland, L. (ed.) (2007) Handbook of Ethnography. London: Sage.

• Delamont, S. (2002) Fieldwork in Educational Settings: Methods, Pitfalls and Perspectives. 2nd Edition. London: Routledge.

• Hammersley, M. and Atkinson, P. (2007) Ethnography: Principles in Practice. 3rd Edition. London: Routledge.

• Levinson, B., Foley, D. and Holland, D. (eds.) (1996) The Cultural Production of the Educated Person: Critical Ethnographies of Schooling and Local Practice. Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Press.