Supervised observation and participation in existing university writing programs. Includes regular meetings with the student’s assigned supervisor and master teacher. Prerequisite: Completion of one of the MA-RTW core courses.

In this course students are introduced to classroom research or “teacher research.”  The focus is on an ethnographic approach, particularly auto-ethnography.  Writing assignments include numerous observational and reflective pieces, and a longer paper synthesizing these into more formal research.  Students will also make a multimedia presentation.

Ethnography always brings with it important ethical concerns and in recent years this approach has drawn serious criticism. That criticism will be taken up with the goal that student will determine clear ethical stances of their own.