Ethnographic Inquiry as Writing Pedagogy

by Suzanne Blum Malley and Amy Hawkins
Columbia College, Chicago

We both came to believe in the power and potential of ethnographic writing as a composition pedagogy via differing routes—Suzanne through applied linguistics and directing an ESL program and Amy thorough American/cultural studies and composition. We have had the opportunity to collaborate on our approaches to teaching ethnographic inquiry over the past five years and much of our enthusiasm for teaching in this way is integrally connected to the questions and concerns that were continually highlighted in our more traditionally structured composition classrooms: How do I really get my students to engage with ideas on paper in a meaningful, multi-faced, multi-vocal way? How can I effectively teach the excitement of sharing ideas with a wider academic (or not) audience in a manner that is both hospitable and respectful of intellectual property? How do I escape reading 80 papers on the “hot” topic of the moment that sound just the same and don’t say anything?

While we understand that we are writing for a varied audience here and certainly cannot claim that an ethnographic pedagogy is the panacea for required first-year writing programs, we do want to share the reasons why we believe ethnography as a pedagogy opens up interesting possibilities in teaching composition. This module briefly explains what we think an ethnographic pedagogy is, why you might want to explore this pedagogy, and questions you might consider in adapting/adopting your own ethnographic pedagogy.

What is ethnographic pedagogy?

Ethnographic pedagogy is a way of teaching the “research process” to students that invites them to initiate a personal, visceral, human connection with their project in order to 1) promote student understanding of the relationship between primary and secondary data; 2) ask students to actively probe the ethics of research in personal terms; 3) encourage students to engage in multi-vocal, multi-genre, academic writing.

In our courses, students are asked to choose a research site that corresponds to a community connected to an existing interest or behavior of their own. We do quite a bit of work up front discussing the pro’s and con’s of various communities as research sites, particularly in terms of access (physical, legal, cultural) and interest (something they really want to engage with). Students are invited to begin analysis from their own understanding of the culture and then investigate their primary data—fieldnotes—in order to challenge their assumptions, support their assertions. Throughout this process they are asked to explore and dialogue with secondary source assertions as they work to write and re-present the culture/community with which they identify.

There are a variety of ways to structure fieldnote writing, which provides for a wonderful amount of flexibility and versatility when using ethnographic inquiry as the basis for or as a component of the research process. We often frame our fieldnote assignments through a series of different possible “lenses,” asking students to examine the design and feel of a site, the power structure or power play evident there, the ways in which they see themselves in and through the site, etc., in addition to describing people and events at the site. The key is to ask students to combine descriptive, self-reflexive, and analytical writing in all of their fieldnote writings. We have included an assignment sheet for one of a series of fieldnote assignments, focusing on identity and reflextivity, as an example of some of the types of things we ask our students to consider in their fieldnotes. We will be happy to share more ideas with anyone who is interested.

By participating in the fieldnote writing, we have found that our students are much better prepared to engage in secondary source research as a dialogue with the ideas of others. After two or three site visits, they often have a sense of confidence of what they know about their sites and about the issues they see there. They enter the library eager to make connections to what they see developing at the site and happening in their own writing.

By the end of the semester, students bring their primary and secondary source material together in an extended, focused, ethnographically researched, inquiry essay. From dog parks, to strip clubs, to bowling leagues, to online fan clubs and more, we consistently have our students tell us that they write more than they ever have before, write better than they thought they could, are more excited about writing and researching than they imagined possible.

Why might you want to use this pedagogy?

You would want to use this pedagogy for a number of reasons:

• If you are concerned with the lack of understanding students have regarding the differences between primary and secondary data
• If you want to virtually eliminate concerns about plagiarism through your assignment design
• If you want your students to write more and with more passion and sophistication than they ever imagined they could
• If you would like to think about ways of engaging with multi-vocal writing
• If you are interested in asking your students to write about connection between people and things and idea
• If you want to read, respond to, and evaluate really interesting papers

How might you adopt/adapt an ethnographic pedagogy in your?

The questions listed below position one to consider the possibility of using ethnographic pedagogy in their classroom. If you feel as though you may be “lacking” with respect to your answers, we assert that an investigation of this approach may help you re-envision your own pedagogy, even if you do not unilaterally convert to ‘ethnographic ways.’

How do you approach the teaching and investigation of context as well as text?

• In what ways do you already address culturally interesting topics?
• What does it mean to “write culture”? How is that different from writing about culture?
• To what degree can we understand ethnography as classroom pedagogy—a way of teaching—as opposed to a methodology—a way of conducting research?

Resources

Teaching Composition

If you have a question or a problem about a specific book or product, please fill out our Product Feedback Form.
For further information about this site contact english@mcgraw-hill.com