Drawing from a multi-sited, global ethnography on youth civic engagement and artistic practices, the author uses students' perceptions from one Canadian high school, as they reflect on their experiences in a drama classroom, to ask what we might learn about the macro discourses and processes of social innovation from the local, artistic, and…

Qualitative researchers struggle to study the transient fields of social network sites like Twitter through conventional ethnographic approaches. This paper suggests that, in order to step further, we should distinguish between the relatively stable 'contextual' fields of bounded online communities and the fluid, 'meta-fields' resulting from the…

What role might storytelling play both as a component of the English curriculum and as a way of re-envisioning what we do as English teachers? The following story asks questions about storytelling in the English classroom, its fit with current theory and practice, and its role in a contemporary world. Live Bodies is a fiction. None of the…

Despite research demonstrating that attainment-based grouping has little, if any, overall benefits there is an increasing trend towards ability grouping in the early years. Using an ethnographic case study the article demonstrates how different pedagogical approaches are used with different 'ability' groups. The pedagogical experiences of…

This article reports on our use of a "deaf lens" in adapting video-cued multivocal ethnography for the "Deaf Kindergartens in Three Countries: Japan, France, and the United States" project. Beginning with a discussion of how this "deaf lens" shaped the design of the study, research questions, and methodology, the…

This article argues that the mission of Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) is inherently political and that, by not acknowledging this, ESE interventions risk becoming part of the problem of sustainability rather than the solution. The article offers a theoretical framework for thinking about the (de)politicising effects of ESE…

The paper reports on collaborative journal writing and dialogue sustained by two education professionals with a view to engaging in meaningful reflective practice. The transition from journal writing to reporting in this paper was underpinned by knowledge of the place of reflective practice in teacher education and continuous professional…

Much contemporary ethnography hopes to engage with a community to justify social critique. Whether from problem selection, interpersonal rewards, or a desire for exchange, researchers often take the "side" of informants. Such an approach, linked to "public ethnography," marginalizes a once-traditional approach to fieldwork,…

Portfolios are widely used to document and assess professional development in tertiary teaching. This paper examines a self-reflective approach to critically evaluating practice and developing an evidence-based teaching portfolio through an emergent, evolving continuum of initial, life-story biography, evocative auto-ethnography and, finally,…

Observational research has a long history in many disciplines, such as education and organizational studies, yet has had slow uptake in the scholarship of work-integrated learning (WIL). Observational research enables the researcher to journey inside workplace or community sites where actions and conversations unfold, to unpack the complexities of…

This paper will provide insight into the reflective practice that a professional doctorate (EdD) encourages, and how such reflection can affect the professional practice of professional services staff. It concludes with my reflections on how undertaking an EdD has been beneficial, and the self-awareness that I have achieved both from the programme…

It has been suggested common schools might have something to learn from spiritual education in Steiner schools. This arguably assumes practice in Steiner schools to be compatible with the aims of spiritual education in common schools. I question this by considering whether the former is confessional, as the latter should not be. I begin by…

This article explores how mapping is currently being used in social services research as well as practice, and discusses the potential for mapping to be a useful tool for resource consultants in the field. This article will review different mapping techniques, including community mapping, eco-mapping, journey mapping and institutional mapping, and…

The purpose of this action research piece was to discuss my experience with teaching close reading in the urban classroom using autoethnographic methods. It explains ideas and challenges that I encountered when teaching close reading in conjunction with close reading strategies. I detail close reading strategies and explain how they can be used…

The purpose of this article is to enhance understanding of how Black female working class adult scholars cultivated support and advancement in the academy with the goal of entering the professoriate. In this critical ethnography, the authors elaborate on the concept of empowerment agent to detail how professionals within the academy created…