Identity, Agency and Social Institutions in Educational Ethnography

244 Pages·2004·1.1 MB·English

by  Geoff Troman

STUDIESINEDUCATIONALETHNOGRAPHY VOLUME10
IDENTITY, AGENCY AND
SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS IN
EDUCATIONAL
ETHNOGRAPHY
EDITEDBY
GEOFF TROMAN
OpenUniversity,U.K.
BOB JEFFREY
OpenUniversity,U.K.
GEOFFREY WALFORD
OxfordUniversity,U.K.
2004
Amsterdam–Boston–Heidelberg–London–NewYork–Oxford
Paris–SanDiego–SanFrancisco–Singapore–Sydney–Tokyo
IDENTITY, AGENCY AND SOCIAL
INSTITUTIONS IN EDUCATIONAL
ETHNOGRAPHY
STUDIES IN EDUCATIONAL
ETHNOGRAPHY
Series Editor: Geoffrey Walford
Volume1: ChildrenLearninginContext–Editors:Geoffrey
WalfordandAlexanderMassey
Volume2: ExplorationsinMethodology–Editors:Alexander
MasseyandGeoffreyWalford
Volume3: GendersandSexualitiesinEducationalEthnography–
Editors:GeoffreyWalfordandCarolineHudson
Volume4: EthnographyandEducationalPolicy–Editor:
GeoffreyWalford
Volume5: CriticalEthnographyandEducation–Editors:
PhilFrancisCarspeckenandGeoffreyWalford
Volume6: DebatesandDevelopmentsinEthnographic
Methodology–Editor:GeoffreyWalford
Volume7: DoingaDoctorateinEducationalEthnography–
Editor:GeoffreyWalford
Volume8: InvestigatingEducationalPolicyThrough
Ethnography–Editor:GeoffreyWalford
Volume9: Ethnographies of Educational and Cultural Conflicts:
Strategies and Resolutions – Editors: Bob Jeffrey and
GeoffreyWalford
ELSEVIERB.V. ELSEVIERInc. ELSEVIERLtd ELSEVIERLtd
Radarweg29 525BStreet,Suite1900 TheBoulevard,Langford 84TheobaldsRoad
P.O.Box211 SanDiego Lane,Kidlington London
1000AEAmsterdam CA92101-4495 OxfordOX51GB WC1X8RR
TheNetherlands USA UK UK
©2004ElsevierLtd.Allrightsreserved.
ThisworkisprotectedundercopyrightbyElsevierLtd,andthefollowingtermsandconditionsapplytoitsuse:
Photocopying
Singlephotocopiesofsinglechaptersmaybemadeforpersonaluseasallowedbynationalcopyrightlaws.Permissionofthe
Publisherandpaymentofafeeisrequiredforallotherphotocopying,includingmultipleorsystematiccopying,copyingfor
advertisingorpromotionalpurposes,resale,andallformsofdocumentdelivery.Specialratesareavailableforeducational
institutionsthatwishtomakephotocopiesfornon-profiteducationalclassroomuse.
PermissionsmaybesoughtdirectlyfromElsevier’sRightsDepartmentinOxford,UK;phone:[phone],fax:
([phone],e-mail:[e-mail]edon-lineviatheElsevierhomepage
(http://www.elsevier.com/locate/permissions).
IntheUSA,usersmayclearpermissionsandmakepaymentsthroughtheCopyrightClearanceCenter,Inc.,222Rosewood
Drive,Danvers,MA01923,USA;phone:[phone],fax:[phone],andintheUKthroughtheCopyright
LicensingAgencyRapidClearanceService(CLARCS),90TottenhamCourtRoad,LondonW1P0LP,UK;phone:(+44)20
76315555;fax:[phone].Othercountriesmayhavealocalreprographicrightsagencyforpayments.
DerivativeWorks
Tablesofcontentsmaybereproducedforinternalcirculation,butpermissionofthePublisherisrequiredforexternalresale
ordistributionofsuchmaterial.PermissionofthePublisherisrequiredforallotherderivativeworks,includingcompilations
andtranslations.
ElectronicStorageorUsage
PermissionofthePublisherisrequiredtostoreoruseelectronicallyanymaterialcontainedinthiswork,includinganychapter
orpartofachapter.
Exceptasoutlinedabove,nopartofthisworkmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystemortransmittedinanyformorby
anymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recordingorotherwise,withoutpriorwrittenpermissionofthePublisher.
Addresspermissionsrequeststo:Elsevier’sRightsDepartment,atthefaxande-mailaddressesnotedabove.
Notice
NoresponsibilityisassumedbythePublisherforanyinjuryand/ordamagetopersonsorpropertyasamatterofproducts
liability,negligenceorotherwise,orfromanyuseoroperationofanymethods,products,instructionsorideascontainedinthe
materialherein.Becauseofrapidadvancesinthemedicalsciences,inparticular,independentverificationofdiagnosesand
drugdosagesshouldbemade.
Firstedition2004
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
AcataloguerecordisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
ISBN:0-7623-1144-4
ISSN:1529-210X(Series)
∞(cid:1)ThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstherequirementsofANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992(PermanenceofPaper).Printedin
TheNetherlands.
CONTENTS
PREFACE vii
INTRODUCTION
Geoff TromanandBobJeffrey ix
ARELATIONALAPPROACHONCHILDRENINTHECITY:
THEIMPORTANCEOFPUBLICSPACE,NON-PLACESAND
EPHEMERALRELATIONSHIPSFORLEARNING
RuthSoenen 1
THECONSTRUCTIONOFIDENTITYONTHEINTERNET:A
STUDYOFSWEDISHYOUNGPEOPLE’S
SELF-PRESENTATIONINAWEBCOMMUNITY
FarzanehMoinian 21
GOD’SGYPSYANDGOD’SENFORCER:THE
EDUCATIONALSIGNIFICANCEOFCONSTRUCTIONSOF
MOTHERHOODANDMOTHER-DAUGHTERRELATIONS
JanetDonnellJohnson 43
HOWSTUDENTS,THEHOMEANDTHESCHOOLMEDIATE
ISSUESRELATEDTOHOMEANDSCHOOL:ADYNAMIC
OFDISTANCE?
CarolineHudson 71
ANETHNOGRAPHICSTUDYOFGENDERDIFFERENCES:
RACIALINTEGRATIONINSOUTHAFRICANSECONDARY
SCHOOLS
JongiKlaas 85
v
vi
WHYCAN’TWEJUSTDOMATH?EXPLORINGTHE
TENSIONSWITHINTHEIN-BETWEENSPACEOFA
CULTURALLYRESPONSIVECURRICULUM
JoanParkerWebsterandJerryLipka 103
NEWAIMSANDOLDPROBLEMSINSWEDISHSCHOOLS:
FLEXIBILITY,FREEDOMOFCHOICEAND
SELF-RELIANCEINLEARNINGASPARTOFSOCIAL
REPRODUCTION
MarianneDovemarkandDennisBeach 123
LABSANDTHEQUALITYOFLEARNINGINSCHOOL
SCIENCE:SCHOOLS,LABSANDCREATIVITY
DennisBeach 141
THERESTRUCTURINGOFSWEDISHADULTEDUCATION:
THEINVOLVEMENTOFECONOMISTSANDPOLITICIANS
INEDUCATIONPOLICY
MarieCarlson 163
THROUGHTHELOOKINGGLASSANDWHAT
ETHNOGRAPHYFINDSTHERE:CRITICALINSIGHTSINTO
THENEWDEALFORYOUNGPEOPLE’SVOLUNTARY
SECTOROPTION
GerryMitchell 187
“IGOTOGETAWAYFROMTHECOCKROACHES”:
EDUCENTRICITYANDTHEPOLITICSOFEDUCATIONIN
PRISONS
AnitaWilson 205
ABOUTTHEAUTHORS 223
PREFACE
Ethnography has become one of the major methods of researching educational
settings. Its key strength is its emphasis on understanding the perceptions and
culturesofthepeopleandorganizationsstudied.Throughprolongedinvolvement
withthosewhoarebeingstudied,theethnographicresearcherisablegraduallyto
entertheirworldandgainanunderstandingoftheirlives.
Each volume of Studies in Educational Ethnography focuses on a particular
theme relating to the ethnographic investigation of education. The volumes are
closelylinkedtoanannualtwo-dayresidentialconferencewhichexploresvarious
elementsofethnographyanditsapplicationtoeducationandschooling.These-
riesofEthnographyandEducationconferencesbeganinthelate1970s,andwas
originallyheldatSt.Hilda’sCollege,OxfordUniversity.Theserieslatermoved
to the University of Warwick and then back to the Department of Educational
Studies, University of Oxford in 1996. Each year a broad theme for the confer-
ence is chosen and participants are invited to contribute papers. The conference
meetingitselfisaperiodofsharedwork:papersarepre-circulatedtoparticipants
andcriticallyyetsupportivelydiscussedduringtheconference.Intheirrevisions
forpossiblepublication,participantsarethusabletotakeaccountofthedetailed
critiqueofferedbytheircolleagues.
ThecontributionspresentedinthisvolumeofStudiesinEducationalEthnogra-
phyarerevisedversionsofpaperspresentedatthe2003OxfordEthnographyand
Education conference. They are selected on the basis of their high quality, their
coherenceasagroupandtheircontributiontobothethnographicmethodologyand
substantiveknowledge.
The series recognizes that the nature of ethnography is contested, and this is
takentobeasignofitsstrengthandvitality.Whiletheideathatthetermcanbe
takentobealmostsynonymouswithqualitativeresearchisrejected,chaptersare
includedthatdrawuponabroadrangeofmethodologiesthatareembeddedwithin
alonganddetailedengagementwiththosepeopleandorganizationsstudied.
Further details of the Oxford Ethnography and Education conference or the
StudiesinEducationalEthnographyseriesofvolumesareavailablefromtheSeries
Editor.
GeoffreyWalford
SeriesEditor
vii

INTRODUCTION
Geoff Troman and Bob Jeffrey
Theprimefocusonthesocialprocessesofschoolingwithineducationalethnog-
raphy has tended to marginalise or eschew, the importance of other “informal”
educational sites. Other social institutions, such as family, community, media
andpopularculture,workandprisonsaresalientarenasinwhichbehavioursand
lives are regulated. They all interrelate and are all implicated in the generation,
managementanddevelopmentofsocialidentitiesandthesocialandculturalre-
productionofstructuresandrelations.Individuals,though,arenotmerelyshaped
by these social institutions, their agency is evident in the way they creatively
adaptandaccommodatetothetensionsandconstraintsofeconomic,educational
and social policies. The maintenance of self in these situations requires identity
work involving mediation, conflict, contestation and modes of resistance, which
oftencontributetoacontinualreconstructionofsituationsandcontexts.
This volume of Studies in Educational Ethnography focuses on identity and
agencyinarangeofsocialinstitutionsineducationalethnography.Thecontrib-
utors explore these themes in a wide rage of international contexts including;
Belgium,Sweden,NorthAmerica,SouthAfricaandEngland.Theydemonstrate
the capacity of educational ethnography to provide accounts of participants’
perspectivesandunderstandingstohighlighttheagencyofeducationalsubjects.
InthefirstchapterRuthSoenenexplorestheeverydayrelationshipsofchildren
inthecontextofAntwerp,amulticulturalEuropeancity,baseduponlongitudinal
ethnographic study into the social relationships of city-dwellers, within a
framework of community and conflict. In this research different city-dwellers
were interviewed about their social relationships, a small number of individual
city-dwellerswerefollowedintheireverydaylifeandparticipantobservationwas
done in shops, in their homes and on public transport. Though the main focus
wasonsocialrelationships,specialattentionwasgiventocrosscuttingties,across
delineated social groups and geographical boundaries. The chapter focuses on
children,andtheireverydaysocialrelationshipsinpublicspace(pavements,shops
andpublictransport)andtheirinteractionswithtelevisionandPlayStationsinthe
privatespaceofhome.Theurbanenvironmentandthesphereofmasscommodities
ix
x INTRODUCTION
andcommunicationsareoftenseenasbeingofnolearningpotential.ButSoenen
questions these anti-urban and anti-mass-culture sentiments, and finds there are
spacesforephemeralandhorizontalrelationships,emergingcompetencies,prac-
ticesandformsofbelonging.Shearguesthatchildrencanusetheircompetencies
in both a positive or negative way in everyday life in the multicultural city. As
social actors in their own right children are seen to contribute to conflicts but at
thesametimetheirpresencecanenhancetemporaryformsofbelongingbetween
differentpeople.
Farzaneh Moinian’s chapter examines how some children and teenagers
design self-presentations and construct their own identities and lives on the
Internet.RecentlytherehavebeenanumberofresearcherswhonotethatInternet
Communicationstechnologyhasthepotentialtogivechildrenaccesstoanarena
wheretheycantranscendtheirmarginalizedpositioninthephysicalworld,while
also being afforded the chance to make their voices heard in a global arena.
Moinian explores children’s perspectives on their lives and schooling as it is
presentedforotherchildrenandpeergroups.Shegainsan“insidepicture”ofthe
thoughts,feelingsandconditionsofchildrenandyoungpeoplethroughstudying
the texts and diaries they create on an open website: “Youngsters.” They are
writtenbychildrenforotherchildrenandyoungpeople.Theyarenotwrittento
fulfilanyadultorresearcher’srequest.“Youngsters”is,atthemoment,themost
popularwebsiteamongyoungpeopleinSwedenandMoinianjoinedittogather
the data. Her analysis explores the textual material created by young people
and thus contribute to an understanding of the lives of children, their attitudes
towardstheirownlifeandschoolinaverycomplexandrapidlychangingsociety.
This research is methodologically interesting given that the data was accessed
throughtheInternet.
In her chapter Janet Donnell Johnson argues that much of the discourse
in literature concerning teenage girls today focuses on body image and self
mutilation,sexuality,andwaysforparents,counsellors,orteacherstocopewith
their suddenly mysterious and sullen girls. These books view girls as “broken”
and needing to be fixed through understanding, counselling, or other types of
interventionstrategies.DonnellJohnson,however,explorestheseissuesthrough
the girls’ perspectives on themselves, instead of how the outsider/expert sees
them. She examines how teenage girls from working-class homes construct
theiridentitiesthroughsignifyingpracticesthatexpressagencyandresistanceto
cultural expectations of them as young, female, and working-class. The sample
consistsofgirlsinanalternativehighschoolinMid-WesterntownintheU.S.A.
whowere“at-risk”ofdroppingoutofschoolandsawthisphaseofschoolingas
theirlastchancetogetahighschooldiploma.Theauthorfoundthatthemajorityof
thegirls(16–18yearolds)camefrom“dysfunctional”familiesandhadlong-term