Ethnography for Teachers

1
Ethnography for Teachers

• Lifelong learners
• Teacher/researcher
• Learning about student cultures
• participant observers

2
Teacher workforce different from student body

• Age
• Race
• Gender
• Social Class

3
100
Projected Population Growth 1980-2050 by
Race/Ethnicity
80.5
80
1980
74.3
1995
2030
61
2050
60
53.3
40
24.7
19.1
20
13.7
13.2
12.1
11.6
10.3
8.3
6.7
6.4
3.3
1.5
0
Asian
Black
Hispanic
White
Census projections from New York Times 3/14/96
4
Total U.S. Youth under 1820002010(Values in
thousands)
Access Worldwide, Cultural Access Group, U.S.
Census Bureau, 1998
5
(No Transcript)
6
(No Transcript)
7
(No Transcript)
8
Percent Minority 1990
STATE
TEACHERS
STUDENTS
CALIFORNIA
21
53
TEXAS
19
48
NEW YORK
10
34
In 1990 31 of public and 22 of private school
students
were minority. Minority students will be 36 of
public
schools by the end of the century
9
Arizona Population Projection (Thousands)
U.S. Bureau of Census, December 1998 CPS,
modified
10
Percentage Change in Number of Births to Women
Ages 15-44 in Arizona, 1983-1997
Arizona Department of Health Services, Vital
Statistics, 1997
11
ARIZONA STUDENTS 1998

• ARIZONA SCHOOL ENROLLMENT OCTOBER 1998
• 56 WHITE
• 44 MINORITY

12
(No Transcript)
13
Public High School Graduation Rates1995-96
Postsecondary Education Opportunity, September
1999
14
Arizona Mean Graduation Rate
by Ethnicity and Gender
Male
Female
100
80
60
40
20
0
Asian
White
Black
Hispanic
Indian
Source Arizona Dept of Ed Graduation Rate Study
15
State of ArizonaAnnual Dropout Rate by
Race/EthnicityGrades 7 through 121989-90
through 1997-98
Preliminary Report to ACPE, p. 6
The Arizona Department of Education revised its
methodology for calculating dropout rates
beginning with the school year 1992-93.
16
Arizona High School Graduation Rate Declines
17
High School Dropout Rates for 16- to
24-year-olds, by Income 1995
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for
Education Statistics. Dropout Rates in the United
States 1995. Washington, DC 1997
18
Chance for College for Dependent 18 to
24-year-olds by Family Income Quartiles 1970 to
1996
Postsecondary Education Opportunity, Number 83,
May 1999
19
Chance for College for Students fromLow Income
FamiliesAverage for 1992-93 to 1997-98
Postsecondary Education Opportunity, Number 83,
May 1999
20

• The greatest single source of educational
  inequality is in the disproportionate exposure of
  poor and minority students, those students who
  fill inner-city schools, to less well trained and
  inexperienced teachers. -- Linda Darling-Hammond
  (1988)

21
As with the teacher drop out rate, student drop
out rates have to do with a number of factors,
but problems having to do with cultural
expectations and cultural interactions are very
important.
22
School organization may nurture a culture that
discourages participation. Students not
incorporated into the mainstream may divorce
themselves from school norms, and adopt
resistance behaviors like poor attendance,
cutting classes, and hostile behavior.
23
As Jacqueline Jordan observed "... there are
large numbers of teachers who drop out of
teaching after three years, not because they are
incapable of teaching these children, but because
they have never had the training or support to
do it....
24
But just increasing the ethnic diversity of the
teaching pool is not necessarily the solution.
Middle class black or Hispanic teachers can be as
ill-prepared for inner city classrooms as
middle-class whites... -- J. Jordan, Irvine
Professor of Education Emory U.
25
Teachers must learn about the culture of their
students and use this to become more effective.
26
The job of teacher

• Specific roles can be spelled out in almost
  complete detail
• Diffuse roles are more difficult to describe

27
Teacher is a diffuse role

• Diffuse roles are like the role of son or
  daughter, or the role of friend.
• As opposed to training, teaching is complex and
  multi-faceted

28
Teacher is a diffuse role

• The relationship between teacher and student is
  constantly being negotiated
• This requires self-evaluation and the ability to
  comprehend complex social interactions and learn
  by doing.

29
"Ethnography"

• methods of data collection
• ways of understanding
• the written product of the research process

30
"Ethnography" utilizes field work techniques such
as

• Observation
• Participant observation
• Interviewing
• Focus groups

31
A GOOD TEACHER IS ALWAYS A PARTICIPANT OBSERVER!

• Non-judgmental
• Curiosity
• Careful observation

32
The research instrument is you!

• No tests or questionnaires
• No measurement
• develop skills that you already have as a person
  in society

33
2 ways to understand culture

• EMIC
• ETIC

34
EMIC

• Experience near accounts are those elements of
  how a culture understands itself.

35
ETIC

• Experience distant accounts are technical --
  terms you learn in class. They are
  generalizing, analytic, precise, professional,
  and objective.

36
EMIC AND ETIC CODES
37
OBSERVATION AND DATA COLLECTION

• BEST DATA WHAT WE SEE OR KNOW DIRECTLY, BUT .

38
Record what you observe in detail and keep your
observations separate from your understanding of
the meaning.
39
Keep a journal, not just to record your feelings
but to record concrete observations
40
NEXT BEST SOURCE OF DATA -- WHAT PEOPLE TELL US.
41
(No Transcript)
42
(No Transcript)
43
(No Transcript)
44
(No Transcript)