Tina Bell
Midterm 5870
7 April 2009
( #2) We have talked a lot about subjectivity during the last few weeks. Focusing on the problems of subjectivity, use the readings to develop an approach to dealing with subjectivity in your classroom observations.
I chose this question as I have very strong beliefs about the educational system. Working with hundreds of other teachers, administrators, and paraprofessionals, I have found that many also approach this subject with strong opinions. These opinions must color what we see as we view our own classrooms and the classrooms of others. I have walked through a classroom with colleagues and found that we might each notice something different. As others have observed my classroom, they notice many things that have never entered my mind. Even before we score papers, we must engage in a norming session as a way to bring our perceptions of what constitutes good writing closer together. Given the experience I have had working with others, I do not believe it is possible for an ethnographer to be objective.
Brenda Brueggeman quotes Malinowski’s confession “that things political and personal did, in fact, grossly affect one’s ‘research’” (19). Carolyn Frank gives a similar perspective when she says “reality can be seen from many different perspectives” (4). A researcher can not leave behind their own subjectivity. It will affect the research so the ethnographer must be prepared to deal with it.
If subjectivity is inescapable, then what can we do? To start, we must admit that regardless of how objective we attempt to be, we will always be subjective. “To understand that there is never a completely objective account is to realize multiple perspectives” (Frank 4).
Carolyn Frank and Purcell-Gates offer several ways to deal with the subjectivity in our own classroom observations. Frank reminds us “that reality is not given but depends on the position from which you are standing” (4). We need to step our of our comfort zone, and view the world through the perspective of others. That also means that we should confront our biases so we can discuss them honestly as we research. Purcell-Gates discussed how we can acquire both valid and reliable data. We need to triangulate- “gather data from different sources to confirm” the data’s validity (98). As ethnographers, we also need to continue our research “over a long enough period” to achieve any reliability (99). We need to determine if what we observe is natural or some type of fluke. Although I will not be observing in one place long enough to attain valid and reliable results, these procedures will be of great use in the future. Both authors discuss the importance of field notes. Purcell-Gates says “good field note procedure requires that behaviors should be noted as they happen and are observed, without the researcher’s interpretation” (104). Frank notes that during one of her own observations she “made many judgments and evaluations” which caused her to miss what was really happening in the classroom (7). Both Purcell-Gates and Frank’s articles brought the procedure of note-taking and note-making into focus. First, I must take notes on all that I observe without adding any interpretation. As I go back and review these observations, I should then add my interpretation. In a true ethnographic situation (not the practice of ethnography in which I am engaged,) I will have taken enough notes to make the interpretation of them more objective. I will be able to offer the interpretation and include the data to support it.
After attempting to collect the type of data true ethnographers do, I see why we need to practice. Upon finishing Frank’s article, I was able to look at my field notes with a new perspective. I found words and phrases which demonstrated my own bias and interpretations that may not have been accurate. I also discovered how difficult it is to leave some of these charged words out of my note-taking, but I believe that as my practice continues, I am showing growth. As my field notes develop into a more accurate accounting of my observations, I will be able to deal more effectively with my subjectivity.
(#3) The readings have focused on a variety of ways that ethnography is particularly suited to teacher research. So, after our reading and the discussions we have had this semester, define teacher research and how your ideas have changed about what teacher research is.
I chose this question as it reminded me of something I brought up during one of our small group discussions. We have been reading many articles concerning ethnography, and as part of this process, one observes without having a preformed idea of what they might find. In-other-words, one discovers what one discovers. This is really a foreign concept to me. I have always approached classroom research as an attempt to see what difference a particular practice might make. Sometimes I might give a similar assignment to the same class, but approach each using a different methodology. I would analyze the work to see if one method produced different or better results than the other. As I have been teaching for many years, I have also tried changing methodology during different years to see if I might also see a change. Up until this class, I have always manipulated some variable. I have never just observed to see what I might find.
After re-reading the articles, I get the impression that either method is valuable, and any teacher engaging in these types of research is indeed a researcher. A teacher researcher is one who situates themselves ’into a cultural landscape for the purpose of exploration and discovery” (Purcell-Gates 95). We are researching according to the ethnographical definitions of Purcell-Gates and Carolyn Frank. We are building theories of and providing descriptions of culture. But I also see that this definition applies to the type of research I am used to conducting. In both cases, one seeks to provide theory or describe the particular culture. Teachers “need to move out of a system in which knowledge is tyranny and into a system in which they themselves are responsible for the production of knowledge (Ray 174). Regardless of the method, teacher researchers do not know what they want to find (Purcell-Gates 94). They either observe or manipulate variables for discovery.
I don’t think my idea about teacher research has changed. I believe it has simply broadened. I still strongly believe that ’research should be conducted primarily to inform and improve practice as well as advance theory” (Ray 175). I, like Ruth Ray, have been discouraged by university-based research that does not apply to the classroom. I now see two methods I can use. I would really like to approach a particular classroom culture, observe over a lengthy period of time, and discover what I might discover. Of course, once I have my discovery, I know I will not be able to keep myself from manipulating some variable to see what else I might discover. This is the only way I know how to keep the “quiet revolution” alive.
Tina, Your first answer explains clearly the ways a researcher can try to deal with her own subjectivity, and connects the readings to your own experiences in a very fluid manner.
The second response offers an easily understandable distinction between research prompted by by a pre-existing hypothesis and that prompted by simple curiosity. This answer also integrates your own experiences with the readings very effectively, and I was especially struck by your conclusion that we must never stop our observations, never seek an endpoint if we are to keep the revolution going. How will continuing study ensure that?