A successful ethnography projects helps the intern value COMMUNICATING

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Teacher Education Internship Program
Lisa Loop, Interim Director Dr. DeLacy Derin
Ganley, Director of Curriculum Advancement Dr.
Anita P. Quintanar, Director of Student Programs
School Relations
Ethnography_Fall 2005 void methodology
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The Ethnography Project

• Teacher Education
• Claremont Graduate University
• Fall 2005
• (given to 2005/2006 TEIP cohort on 8/27/05)

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Who we are that is, our values, our experiences,
and our perspectives determines the foundation
of our teaching.
The Guiding Premise of the Ethnography Project

• Ethnographic studies allow the investigator to
  describe and analyze the practices and beliefs of
  cultures and communities. The focus is to
  understand the culture or community from a
  participant observer perspective that takes into
  account the insiders and the outsiders
  perspective (modification of D. Mertens, 1998, p.
  164). It is guided by the investigators mental
  models (Senge, 1990) that is, it is guided by
  the researchers own paradigm and/or theory about
  the way things are. In ethnography, the
  researcher must be willing to abandon or modify
  his/her paradigm when presented with data that
  does not fit his/her original model.
  Ethnographic studies allow the researcher to
  observe a complex world in a way so he/she can
  describe the interrelationships among previously
  unknown themes and patterns and, in turn, in a
  way that expands and informs the researchers own
  perspective.

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The Expanding Focus of the 6-Part Ethnography
Project
A
B
D
C
E
F
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In this presentation, you will find GUIDING
QUESTIONS to help you understand the scope and
focus of each of the projects six sections.
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Guiding Questions?
Look at the SPIRIT of these questions. They are
meant to give you a sense of the KINDS OF
QUESTIONS you should be seeking to answer in each
section. They are not QA prompts meant to
be answered in a paragraph or two.
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Part A Term 1 in TLP I (Spring/Summer 1 Combo or
Summer 1)
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Term 1s Focus Introduction to teaching,
including an introduction to lesson plans
classroom management CA content standards
Education Specialist standards (Level I,
mild/moderate) Teacher Performance Expectations
Tasks (TPEs and TPAs) etc.
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Part AWho am I, and why do I want to be a
teacher?
A

• What have been my own (and my familys) attitudes
  toward school?
• How has my background (cultural, linguistic, and
  socio-economic) influenced my experiences and
  success in school?
• How has my ability/disability impacted my
  experiences in school? (And, perhaps, think
  about specific teaching styles that seem to
  strengthen your learning.)
• What is/was my familys attitude toward
  education? How does/did this impact me?
• What specific experiences shaped my perspectives
  on teaching and learning?
• Which teachers had the greatest/least influence
  on me and why?
• Why do I want to be an educator?
• What experiences have I had that make me want to
  be a teacher?
• What special talents and character qualities
  (positive and negative) do I bring to the
  profession?
• Whats my understanding of the link between
  social justice and accountability? How do I
  define these terms?
• How committed am I to positively impacting the
  academic and social success of my students?
• What contribution do I want to make to the field?

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Part B Fall Term in TLP II
B
A
Fall Terms Focus Instruction that supports
academic success for all (with special attention
given to strategies for teaching non-native
English speakers).
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Part B Who are my students?
To answer this question, interns focus on five
specific students.

• Struggling students
• At least three of the five students should be
  students for whom school has been least
  successful.
• Special needs student (TPA, Task 2)
• At least one of the five students needs to be in
  a special education program.

• Non-native speakers of English (TPA, Task 2)
• Three of the five should have a primary language
  other than English.
• At least one should be in the early stages of
  English language acquisition.

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Student Selection
Q What if I cant find five students that meet
the suggested criteria?
A Get as close to the guidelines as possible.
Discuss specifics with your Faculty Advisor.
Q What if some of the five students drop out or
are moved from my class?
A Mobility is an issue, so this may happen. To
minimize the chances of not having five students,
choose eight students to begin with. If they all
stay, you can pick five. If your numbers
ultimately drop below five, dont worry too much.
Talk to your advisor about how to make their
exodus part of the story (and the ethnography).
Q What about legalities? And privacy? Do we
get permission?
A This is important. Interns need to get
written parental permission for each of their
ethnography students. Also, to protect
identities, interns must use pseudonyms for the
students, all school personnel, the school, the
district, and the city.
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Part B Guiding Questions

• 1. Who is my student?
• What are my students strengths and weaknesses
  (in and out of the classroom)?
• What are my students aspirations and dreams?
• What are major events that have shaped/influenced
  my student?
• What are my students goals for the upcoming
  year? For the future?
• 2. What is my students academic story?
• How does my student feel about school? (And what
  has brought about this attitude?)
• To what degree does my student meet CAs
  standards? Where is he/she strong? Weak? (It
  is best to use multiple indicators to assess
  this.)
• What has been my students past experience with
  school?
• When was my student most/least successful in
  school?
• How has my students background (cultural,
  linguistic, and economic) influenced his/her
  attitude toward school and his/her future? What
  about the students ability/disability?
• How is my student influenced by the attitudes of
  his/her familys feelings towards school?
• 3. Given my sense of the student, what is my plan
  for bringing about academic success?
• Create an action plan. Continually evaluate and
  reflect upon its effectiveness.

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Data Collection Sense Making
1. Interviews Field Visits
2. Scholarly Artifacts Footprints

• Interviews
• One-on-one student interviews
• Parent interviews
• Peer Interviews
• Student shadowing
• Home visits
• Neighborhood/community events
• Surveys

• Student work samples
• Cumulative file information
• Observations of former teachers (collected via
  interview)
• Attendance/transfer records
• Standardized tests and assessments

3. Observation Reflection
4. Student Achievement Plans

• Journals
• Anecdote logs
• Dialogue with CGU peers and advisors
• Connecting classroom experiences to academic texts

• Custom-made plans that identify specific academic
  goals for each student and the specific steps the
  intern will take to help make these goals a
  reality. (VERB-LADEN plans.)

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Action Verbs(ideal for action plans)

• acknowledges
• defines
• identifies
• measures
• qualifies
• adds
• denotes
• illustrates
• mentions
• questions
• advises
• describes
• improves
• models
• rationalizes
• answers
• demonstrates
• Influences
• moves

• reacts
• asks
• depicts
• inspires
• names
• recommends
• asserts
• discourages
• interprets
• narrates
• recognizes
• assessed
• encourages
• interviews
• negotiates
• reinforces
• assists
• endorses
• introduces

• notifies
• rewards
• assures
• enumerates
• justifies
• objects
• schedules
• clarifies
• explains
• labels
• offers
• seeks
• classifies
• evaluates
• leads
• organizes
• shares
• collaborates
• explores

• learns
• outlines
• shows
• compares
• expresses
• lectures
• persuades
• teaches
• confirms
• features
• listens
• plans
• tells
• confronts
• focus
• lists
• predicts
• terminates
• confuses

• formulate
• maintains
• promotes
• translates
• considers
• frustrate
• mandates
• presents
• understands
• contrasts
• furnishes
• manipulates
• probes
• visualizes
• critiques
• guides
• maps
• promotes
• warns

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Parts C, D, E Spring Term in TLP III
E
A
B
C
D
Spring Terms Focus Gaining familiarity with a
larger societal framework via analysis of the
schools and communities in which the interns work.
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Part C What is happening at my school?
2. What school policies practices shape my
schools culture and/or identity?

• What is it like to be on my campus? (i.e.,
  physical description of the school its people).

3. What are other influences (including
district, state and federal policies practices)
that impact my school?
4. What kind of resources support does my
school have?
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Part C What is happening at my school?
1. What is it like to be on my campus?

• How can I describe the following so that my
  reader has a sense of my schools physical space
  and its feel?
• The schools location
• The appearance, maintenance style of campus and
  its buildings
• Important campus landmarks (if any)
• My specific physical environment (Are there
  challenges associated with my classroom?)
• Who are the people on my campus? (And, has this
  changed over time? If so, why? And, how do
  people feel about these changes?)
• What is the composition (ethnic? linguistic?
  economic? gender? religious? political?) of the
  students? Faculty? Administration? Staff?
• Within each category, are there identifiable
  camps? How are these groupings signaled?
• How do each of these parties feel about being at
  the school? How are these attitudes revealed?
• What is the technology situation in my classroom?
  At the school? In the homes of my students?
  (These questions should be addressed in
  ED330/331.)
• What school events have I attended? Describe.

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Part C What is happening at my school?
2. What school policies practices shape my
schools culture and/or self-identity?

• What are the schools formal/stated and
  informal/inferred policies?
• Student promotion/retention
• Students assignment into special programs (i.e.,
  bilingual, SDAIE, GATE, Special Education, etc.)
• Teaching programs (i.e., Open court)
• Staff development
• How are decisions made and implemented within the
  school?
• Who sets the agenda? Who doesnt?
• How are policies developed?
• How are decisions implemented?
• How do different people on campus feel about the
  schools policies and practices and how they are
  generated (Students? Faculty? Administration?
  Parents?)

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Part C What is happening at my school?
3. Other Influences What are other influences
(including district, state and federal policies
practices) that impact my school?

• How do district, state, and federal policies
  impact the school?
• Standards
• Legislation (like Title I, Individuals with
  Disabilities, Assistive Technology Act, etc.)
• Assessment/Accountability measures (like NCLB)
• Special initiatives
• Requirements for funding
• Besides policies, what are some other things that
  impact the school? The administration? The
  faculty? The staff? The students?

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Part C What is happening at my school?
4. What kind of resources and support does my
school have?

• What kind of support services are there on
  campus? Are they utilized?
• For students? (social, academic, career, college
  guidance, health, etc.)
• For employees?
• For parents?
• For the community?
• Who supports the school? Who does the school
  turn to help them meet their needs and goals?
• Parents?
• Community leaders?
• Benefactors?
• Corporations?
• Universities?
• Government?
• What are the opposition factors?

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Part D What is happening in my schools
community?

• 1. What is my communitys history?
• Location
• Settlement history
• Population influxes
• Industry influxes
• Events that shaped the communitys psyche and/or
  identity

• 2. How can I describe the community so my reader
  has an accurate sense of it?
• Population demographics
• Layout
• Community gathering places, landmarks,
  establishments
• Appearance, maintenance, style

• 3. What are my communitys resources?
• Social/human/family service organizations
  agencies
• Seminal community events
• After school/weekend/summer programs for kids
• Pillars of the community leaders, religious
  institutions, businesses, government

• 4. What are my communitys aspirations and
  concerns?
• For the present?
• For the future?

• 5. What community events have I attended?
• How are they representative of the communitys
  gestalt?

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Part E Summative Follow-upWhat has the year
been like for my five ethnography students?

• 1. Follow-up assessment of student learning
  progress What has the year been like for my
  student? How has he/she developed/not developed?
• Attendance
• Involvement
• Student attitude
• Progress of student work samples
• Pre/Post SAT 9/CAT 6 scores
• Progress on standards
• Course grades
• Goals for the future

• Assessment of teaching strategies/effectiveness
  How was (or wasnt) your student achievement plan
  effective?
• Summative analysis of student work. How does the
  students work reflect his/her growth?
• What strategies were most/least effective with
  each ethnography student?

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At the end of the Spring Term, Parts A-E should
be complete!

• Towards the end of the Spring Term, the interns
  will write a Preface to their ethnography.
• AFTER YOUR FACULTY ADVISOR HAS GIVEN YOUR
  ETHNOGRAPHY FINAL APPROVAL, you will bind the
  Preface and Parts A-E. One of the bound copies
  is kept at CGU. The other is returned to you by
  the Faculty Advisor.
• Part F of the ethnography will be written in
  Summer 2 during TLP IV but will not be included
  in the bound copy.
• In the past, most interns have used a commercial
  printing place (like Kinko's or Kings Copy) to
  have their ethnographies spiral bound.

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Preface An Introduction to the Ethnography
The Preface is an authors note to the reader.
It goes before Part A. It is generally short
(five pages maximum), and it prepares the reader
for the text. It is written from the perspective
of the author after he/she has completed his/her
manuscript.
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Preface An Introduction to the Ethnography
What is this ethnography all about?

• Write an introduction to the ethnography so your
  reader has a sense of what they are about to
  read.
• What did you learn from your internship?
• What was this project all about? Summarize.
• What did you learn from doing this research?

• If you didnt write the entire ethnography in the
  past-tense Address the shifting
  tenses/perspectives of each part.
• Address the use of pseudonyms.

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Part F Summer 2 in TLP IV
B
E
A
C
D
F
Summer 2s Focus Reflections on lessons learned
from practice and scholarship
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Part F How can I make sense of my internship as
a scholar practitioner?
Choose one or more of the following topics.
Address in 10-12 pages.

• Theory Practice
• How does theory help me analyze/understand what
  happens in schools?
• Do I see any theory played out in my experience
  or in the experience of my students?
• Do any of my experiences provide data that
  refutes or discredits a theory?
• What is my understanding of schooling? Teaching
  and learning? (And has it evolved?)

• 2. Your Experiences
• What did I learn from working with different kids
  and their families?
• What impacted my teaching the most?
• What impacted the student/teacher relationship
  the most? The family/teacher relationship? The
  school/teacher relationship?
• How did home visits inform my teaching?

• 4. Vision Personal Philosophy
• How does my schools mission statement relate to
  what is done in my school?
• What is my own emerging vision/mission and how do
  I hold myself accountable to it?
• How do I foresee myself interfacing with CGUs
  vision? What is my emerging understanding of
  social justice and accountability?

• 3. Larger social/cultural/political/ economic
  context education
• How do larger social/cultural/political/ economic
  issues impact my students, their families, and
  schools?
• What are trends in education? (And how do these
  trends impact teachers their students?)
• What are dominate themes that relate to education
  and social change? How do you see these themes
  played out?

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Items General Education interns need to take to
their Induction Plan Coordinator at their
employing district

• Professional Action Plan (from TLP III) --
  required
• Part F of Ethnography (the paper from TLP IV) --
  required
• Final TPE evaluation (from TLP III) -- highly
  recommended

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Bound Copy Preface Parts A-E
F. Reflection Lessons Learned
E. Students Summative Follow Up
D. Community
B. Students Academic History
C. School
0. Preface (written in Spring)
A. Self
D
A
B
C
E
F
A? Term 1
C, D, E Preface? SPRING
B ? FALL
F ? Summer 2
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Nitty-gritty InstructionsReference Requirements

• Be sure to have FIVE REFERENCES (either
  paraphrases or direct quotes) per part/section
  that reference speakers and texts.
• Reserve your direct quotes for gemsthose
  phrases that are so good (i.e., so concise, so
  uniquely worded, so dazzling, etc.) that
  something would be lost if you paraphrased. If
  you can say something more clearly or more
  concisely than the original text, do so!
• Be sure to cite/document according to APA (i.e.,
  in-text attribution, parenthetical citation, and
  bibliographic entry). See APA handout for
  specifics.

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Nitty-gritty InstructionsReferences -vs- Data
References
Data

• Texts youve read (whether in Teacher Education
  or not)
• Speakers
• Course packets or articles

• Student work
• Student comments
• Adult comments
• Accountability data on your school

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Nitty-gritty InstructionsExpectations of
Graduate-Level Scholarly Writing

• Graduate scholarly writing
• Is interesting and has a clear purpose
• Uses academic language that is in the active
  voice and the formal register (instead of slang
  or colloquialisms in the informal register)
• Uses varied sentence structure (simple, compound,
  complex) and varied sentence beginnings
• Is well organized with focused, developed
  paragraphs that are logically ordered
• Is void of grammatical, usage, mechanical, and
  surface errors.
• Has proper documentation (i.e., APA)
• Interns are encouraged to visit CGUs writing
  center (http//www.cgu.edu/pages/798.asp or _at_
  909/607-2635)

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Nitty-gritty InstructionsPhotos

• Photos are often a nice addition to the
  ethnography.
• Each photo should have its own caption.
• (Written) parental permission is required for
  youth featured in the photos.

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Why do we do value the ethnography project?
Because it is a great way for interns to develop
skills and perspectives.
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SELF REFLECTION
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COLLABORATIVE WORK
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OBSERVATION INVESTIGATION
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COMMUNICATION

• Students
• Parents
• Other educators
• Other teachers
• Administrators
• Counselors
• Paraprofessionals
• CGU Peers
• CGU Advisors Faculty

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LISTENING
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ANALYSIS

• Student Performance Indicators
• Student work samples
• Test scores
• Cumulative file information
• Past teacher comments
• Policies
• Institutional histories
• Family community context

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APPRECIATION OF DIVERSITY
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UNDERSTANDING WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A SOCIALLY JUST
ACCOUNTABLE TEACHER
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Questions?
See your Faculty Advisor!

• Lisa Loop, Interim Director
• Dr. DeLacy Derin Ganley, Director of Curriculum
  Advancement
• Dr. Anita P. Quintanar, Director of Student
  Programs School Relations