Abstract
In Chap. 3, Obrovská elaborates the research methodology, the techniques of data collection, and the data sources analyzed throughout the book. She discusses the numerous methodological advantages ethnography represents in the research of ethnically diverse classrooms. Ethnography offers a variety of different research methods (including observation, and formal as well as informal interviews), including those having a distinctive participatory appeal, such as focus groups and socio-games. These methods enable the researcher to capture the linguistic and cognitive aspects of ethnicity as well as its bodily, aesthetic, and emotional dimensions. The author also discusses her positionality in relation to the teachers and the students and uncovers the ethically sensitive situations and issues that were part of her daily research experience.
This chapter is based on the chapter previously published in the following book: Jarkovská, L., & Obrovská, J. (2015). Teoretický a metodologický rámec studia etnicity ve školním prostředí. In L. Jarkovská, K. Lišková, J. Obrovská, & A. Souralová (Eds.), Etnická rozmanitost ve škole. Stejnost v různosti (pp. 19–34). Praha: Portál.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
In one informatics class, students had a period of free choice and they could do whatever they wanted on their computers. The teacher told me before the start that today I would not have much to observe, because there was going to be a free class. I replied that this was very interesting for me, because I would be able to observe what the students are interested in and what they search for on the Internet. “Well, girls do the girly things and boys play soldiers. It has always been like this,” was his reply. I did not understand what he meant by “playing soldiers.” Later on, the teacher said that the boys from the seventh grade prefer shooting games, those from the ninth grade like tanks, and the eighth graders hang under a helicopter. I interpreted the teacher’s response in a similar way to the reaction of another informatics teacher, who was surprised by my interest in student cultures, because he did not, as he stated himself, find them interesting at all (field notes, 23 October 2014).
- 2.
The school preventist is responsible for the prevention of risky behavior. She focuses on the prevention of aggressive behavior, truancy, bullying, expressions of intolerance, and so on.
- 3.
Elsewhere, I have focused directly on the teachers’ opinions on the education of Roma children (Jarkovská et al. 2015). The main focus of this book is on the peer relationships.
- 4.
While considering a suitable activity, I had searched for inspiration in a whole range of publications. For instance, James (2007), in his ethnographic research, makes children write stories on certain topics, draw maps, and work out various group projects, which make it possible for them to visually or in another way re-create their ideas or fantasies. Boyden and Ennew (1997), in Children in Focus: A Manual for Participatory Research with Children, present many activities used in research with poor children in developing countries that can be adapted for use also in developed countries.
- 5.
Before handing out the sociometric questionnaires, I asked the students to place all their classmates on a scale of 1–5 according to the authority they have, where 1 meant the highest authority and 5 meant no authority at all. Then, the students were supposed to decide how friendly their classmates were, and 1 meant the most friendly and 5 stood for completely unfriendly. Because not everyone knew what “to have authority” meant, we discussed the term for a while. I assessed the questionnaires with the assistance of sociometrie.cz.
- 6.
For example, to capture spontaneous conversations during breaks or whispered talks during classes is not an easy task. The obtrusive presence of the researcher can ruin all spontaneity and the feeling of privacy protected by the whisper.
- 7.
Russell (2011), in her ethnography of student cultures with an emphasis on resistance, declared that she decided to take the side of the students. My research experience complicates the dichotomy of “taking the side of students or teachers” and instead of adopting one of these poles, it calls for a negotiation of one’s own position as a never-ending and changing process that results not only from the researcher’s own decisions. During my research, it sometimes just “happened” that I unwittingly took someone’s side.
References
American Sociological Association. (2008). Code of ethics of the ASA Committee on Professional Ethics. American Sociological Association. Retrieved May 7, 2018, from http://www.asanet.org/sites/default/files/code_of_ethics_aug_2017_2_1.pdf (Original published 1999).
Boyden, J., & Ennew, J. (1997). Children in focus: A manual for participatory research with children. Stockholm: Save the Children Sweden.
Česká asociace pro sociální antropologii. (n.d.). Etický kodex České asociace pro sociální antropologii. Česká asociace pro sociální antropologii. Retrieved February 6, 2016, from http://www.casaonline.cz/wp-content/uploads/Eticky-kodex-CASA.pdf
Christensen, P. H. (2004). Children‘s participation in ethnographic research: Issues of power and representation. Children and Society, 18(2), 165–176. https://doi.org/10.1002/chi.823
Clifford, J. (1986). On ethnographic allegory. In J. Clifford & G. E. Marcus (Eds.), Writing culture. The poetics and politics of ethnography (pp. 98–121). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Connolly, P. (2002). Racism, gender identities and young children. Social relations in multi-ethnic, inner-city primary classroom. London: Routledge.
Corsaro, W. A. (1997). The sociology of childhood. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.
Delamont, S. (2008). For lust of knowing—Observation in educational ethnography. In G. Walford (Ed.), How to do educational ethnography (pp. 39–56). London: Tufnell Press.
Denscombe, M., Patrick, C., Szulc, H., & Wood, A. (1993). Ethnicity and friendship. The contrast between sociometric research and fieldwork observation in primary school classrooms. In P. Woods & M. Hammersley (Eds.), Gender and ethnicity in schools. Ethnographic accounts (pp. 127–144). London: Routledge.
Devine, D. (2011). Immigration and schooling in the Republic of Ireland. Making a difference? Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Eisenhart, M. (2001). Changing conceptions of culture and ethnographic methodology: Recent thematic shifts and their implications for research on teaching. In V. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching (pp. 209–225). Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.
Emond, R. (2005). Ethnographic research methods with children and young people. In S. Greene & D. Hogan (Eds.), Researching children’s experience. Approaches and methods (pp. 123–139). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Fučík, P. (2015). Co říkají vyučující o dětech migrantů a dětech z etnických menšin: Výsledky dotazníkového šetření. In L. Jarkovská, K. Lišková, J. Obrovská, & A. Souralová (Eds.), Etnická rozmanitost ve škole. Stejnost v různosti (pp. 97–121). Praha: Portál.
Gordon, T., Holland, J., & Lahelma, E. (2007). Ethnographic research in educational settings. In P. Atkinson, A. Coffey, S. Delamont, J. Lofland, & L. Lofland (Eds.), Handbook of ethnography (pp. 189–203). London: SAGE Publications.
Guillemin, M., & Gillam, N. (2004). Ethics, reflexivity and “ethically important moments” in the research. Qualitative Inquiry, 10(2), 261–280. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800403262360
Hammersley, M., & Atkinson, P. (2007). Ethnography. Principles in practice. London: Routledge.
Hammersley, M., & Woods, P. (Eds.). (1984). The sociology of pupil culture. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Hebdige, D. (1976). The meaning of Mod. In S. Hall & T. Jefferson (Eds.), Resistance through rituals. Youth subcultures in post-war Britain (pp. 87–98). New York: Routlegde.
Hebdige, D. (2012). Subkultura a styl. Praha: Dauphin.
Hennessy, E., & Heary, C. (2005). Exploring children’s views through focus groups. In S. Greene & D. Hogan (Eds.), Researching children’s exprerience. Approaches and methods (pp. 236–252). London: SAGE Publications.
James, A. (2007). Ethnography in the study of children and childhood. In P. Atkinson, A. Coffey, S. Delamont, J. Lofland, & L. Lofland (Eds.), Handbook of ethnography (pp. 246–258). London: SAGE Publications.
James, A., Jenks, C., & Prout, A. (1998). Theorising childhood. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Jarkovská, L., Lišková, K., & Obrovská, J. (2015). ‘Přistupujeme k nim stejně, ale…’ Jak učitelé nakládají s mizející etnickou homogenitou v českých školách. In L. Jarkovská, K. Lišková, J. Obrovská, & A. Souralová (Eds.), Etnická rozmanitost ve škole. Stejnost v různosti (pp. 35–56). Praha: Portál.
Kaščák, O. (2009). ‘…daj mi rúčku, ty sa usmej, budeme sa spolu hrať—Telesné performácie ako interakčný faktor v sociálnych vzťahoch detí. Studia paedagogica, 14(1), 13–26. Retrieved May 7, 2018, from https://www.phil.muni.cz/journals/index.php/studia-paedagogica/article/view/69/171
Kučera, M. (1992). Školní etnografie. Přehled problematiky. Studia paedagogica, 8, 1–28.
Levinson, B. A., Foley, D. F., & Holland, D. C. (Eds.). (1996). The cultural production of the educated person. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Meléis, A. I. (1996). Culturally competent scholarship: Substance and rigor. Advances in Nursing Science, 19(2), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1097/00012272-199612000-00003
Nayak, A. (2006). After race: Ethnography, race and post-race theory. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 29(3), 411–430. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870600597818
Russell, L. (2011). Understanding pupil resistance. Integrating gender, ethnicity and class. An educational ethnography. New Cottage, UK: E&E Publishing.
Smyth, G. (2010). Researching ethnic‚ others: Conducting critical ethnographic research in Australia and Scotland. Intercultural Education, 21(6), 493–503. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2010.533032
Stöckelová, T., & Abu Ghosh, Y. (2013). Úvahy o etnografii. Od dogmatu k heterodoxii. In T. Stöckelová & Y. Abu Ghosh (Eds.), Etnografie. Improvizace v teorii a terénním výzkumu (pp. 7–35). Praha: Sociologické nakladatelství.
Švaříček, R., & Šeďová, K. (2007). Kvalitativní výzkum v pedagogických vědách. Praha: Portál.
Troyna, B., & Hatcher, R. (1992). Racism in children’s lives. A study of mainly-white primary schools. London: Routledge.
Veale, A. (2005). Creative methodologies in participatory research with children. In S. Greene & D. Hogan (Eds.), Researching children’s experience. Approaches and methods (pp. 253–272). London: SAGE Publications.
Wulf, C. (Ed.). (2010). Ritual and identity. The staging and performing rituals in the lives of young people. London: Tufnell.
Young Lives. (n.d.). Memorandum of understanding for Young Lives field researchers. Key points: Respecting children in research [Appendix 1]. In G. Crivello, V. Morrow, & N. Streuli. (2003). Young Lives Qualitative Fieldwork Guide Round Three (2010/2011) (Technical Note No. 29). Young Lives. Retrieved March 18, 2016, from https://www.younglives.org.uk/sites/www.younglives.org.uk/files/YL-TN29-Qual3-fieldwork-guide.pdf
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Obrovská, J. (2018). The Methodological Aspects of Educational Ethnography in Ethnically Diverse Classrooms. In: Roma Identity and Ritual in the Classroom. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94514-9_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94514-9_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-94513-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-94514-9
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)