Steven Jordan

Critical Ethnography: problems in contemporary theory and practice

Abstract This paper reviews and critiques significant developments within contemporary ethnography. The first part of the paper traces the antecedents of ethnography in an anthropology which was itself closely identified and entwined with colonialism and imperialism. The paper then goes on to review contemporary developments within ethnography, particularly those associated with postmodernism. Attempts to establish a critical ethnography are reviewed and critiqued in the following section. The paper then goes on to suggest ways in which the concepts of ‘really useful knowledge’ and the processes of action research might be combined in order to assist in the construction of critical ethnography. The paper concludes by acknowledging the difficulties which exist for educational researchers and practitioners who wish to practice critical ethnography in the current educational climate in both Britain and North America.

Who Stole my Methodology? Co-opting PAR (1)

As we enter the 21st century it seems likely that the collection of methodologies and methods that have constituted PAR will continue to permeate mainstream research. There is increasing evidence, for example, that the discourse of participatory action research is now being widely used by international development agencies, NGOs and related organisations to promote a wide array of educational, healthcare and social programmes. This paper argues that the increasing popularity and use of PAR over recent years poses both possibilities and problems for researchers. In particular, it will discuss the challenges that this process presents to the concept of participation within PAR, as well as the implications it has for constructing methodologies for inclusive forms of participatory research.

Re-Politicizing Participatory Action Research: Unmasking Neoliberalism and the Illusions of Participation.

Utilizing potential cross-pollinations of theoretical insights taken from approaches to educational and social research that have mostly emerged outside of the university and been generated by critical theorists and most recently indigenous researchers as work that has not only challenged the epistemological and ontological foundations of the Western social science canon but have systematically contested the coloniality of neoliberal globalization in policy and practice, the primary purpose of the paper is to foreground the contributions that these critical perspectives can bring to reconceptualizing participatory action research (PAR) as a vehicle for energizing social networks that are anti-capitalist and anti-colonial. First, the paper outlines some of the key principles that have guided the development of critical or radical approaches to PAR methodology and practice over the past five decades. We then move onto discuss the impact of neoliberal thought on educational and social research in the contemporary era. In particular, we focus on the way in which it has infiltrated and reorganized the knowledge producing practices of academic institutions by closely aligning them with the ‘value-chain’ and commercialization of knowledge. The third section of the paper explores possibilities for reinvigorating PAR as a specifically anti-hegemonic project for challenging neoliberal and colonial ideological modes of thought in educational and social research. Three approaches are considered for their potential to contribute to a theory of PAR as a network-building methodology. The final section offers some concluding remarks and reflections on the arguments that have been advanced in the paper.

Whither independent learning? The politics of curricular and pedagogical change in a polytechnic department

ABSTRACT This paper is based on research undertaken in the Department of Social Studies in a British polytechnic and concerns the implementation of a policy decision to promote independent learning in the first year of a Social Policy and Administration degree course. We explore some of the issues of curricular and pedagogical change which were raised by the research and place them in the context of recent developments in higher education in Britain. We draw on data collected during interviews with staff of the Social Policy course to illustrate the differing perceptions of the policy which were held by the participants. We show that curricular and pedagogical change is an intensely political process and is closely bound up with the working context within which such change is promoted. We utilise theories of curriculum change to illuminate a number of the issues which were raised.

Doing Participatory Evaluation: from “Jagged World Views” to Indigenous Methodology

The paper will present findings from a Social Science and Humanities Research (SSHRC) funded participatory evaluation conducted over the past four years in the Cree nation of Wemindji in Quebec, Canada. COOL (Challenging Our Own Limits) or “Nigawchiisuun” in Cree, was launched in 2003 as part of a broader program of governance initiatives within Wemindji. As a key component of this new governance program, COOL was to address the need for after-school care within the community for parents, as well as to engage with the recurring problem of low retention rates in school. In consultation with the Band Council of the Cree Nation of Wemindji (James Bay), the Deputy Chief at the time (Rodney Mark) – who was elected Chief in 2006 – established a COOL committee to oversee the design, organisation, implementation and running of the program. Unlike the other eight Cree communities of the James Bay, Wemindji decided to fund and run its own program based on values, customs, and traditions that have been established through consultations with elders, parents, and other interested groups within the community. This has made COOL a distinctly homegrown, autonomous, self-determined Cree program. The paper will not only report on principal themes and issues connected with the establishment and administration of COOL, but will also discuss why a participatory evaluation has been used to assess its effectiveness as a social/educational program.

Introduction: International Perspectives on Education, PAR, and Social Change

As globalist euphoria, market triumphalism despite recent vulnerabilities and hypermodernizing political, cultural, educational, and linguistic projects define the dominant accents of this historical juncture, academics and knowledge/pedagogical workers continue to deliberate on our contributions to education, research, and to knowledge processes. More importantly, for those of us who view such engagements as being fundamentally political, we critically assess the import of synergies between research, knowledge, education, and social action in relation to the dominant epistemic conceptions and political-economic interests of our time. Recognizing that all research and socioeducational inquiry begins from a social location and that research being conducted by those who are located with and for power, will produce knowledge useful for the purposes of ruling relations and the reinforcement of existing hierarchies of culture and material existence (for instance, “western empiricism reifies the conventional values legitimating capitalist society” Antonio, 1981, p. 381), it is incumbent on others to democratize and decolonize these constructions (Fanon, 1961; Freire, 1970; Nandy, 1987; Nkrumah, 1964; Smith, 1999) and take a standpoint outside the relations of ruling (Smith, 2005). We need to be clear about whose standpoint we are taking and why, whose questions need to be addressed and what for and then write with responsibility toward those for whom we claim to write.

The Phenomenology of Early Psychosis Elicited in an Occupational Therapy Expressive Evaluation

ABSTRACT Expressive assessments facilitate sharing, and the therapeutic understanding of youth. The experiences of nine young adults seeking help for psychosis were explored with an arts-based, occupational therapy expressive evaluation. The study used participant-observation methods. Data analysis drew on hermeneutic phenomenology. The findings illustrate the challenges these participants have in feeling connected to a shared world of doing, and in locating themselves within the temporal flow of time. Of significance was the potential to read the unfolding of creation in clay media as an acted narrative to tap into “constellations of meaning.” Implications for clinical practice and professional reasoning are highlighted.

A Critical Review of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) in Science Education.

ABSTRACTWhat is traditional ecological knowledge? In many disciplines, including science education, anthropology, and resource management, it has been conflated with Indigenous knowledges, which ha...