1. Ethnography in the Social Studies Classroom: Tips for Teachers
A presentation by Katie McNamara

2. Presentation Overview
How do we define Ethnography?
The Ethnographic Process
Ethnography as a learning tool
Ethnography as an assessment tool
Ethnography as a tool for social action
Examples of Ethnographic works for classroom use
Concluding thoughts/ artifact distribution

4. What is Ethnography?
Ethnography is a means to report graphically and in writing the culture of a certain people
A qualitative research method which was initially associated with Anthropological research and aims to study “cultural phenomena”
Has since been adopted by many other fields including sociology, psychology and even the business world (ethnography as market research is becoming more and more widely used)
Ethnographic research has an extremely wide scope. Where there is culture, there can be ethnography

5. Ethnography can be transmitted in written form through books, papers, dissertations
It can also be transmitted through visual or auditory means through the use of video, photography or “photo- voice” projects, or interviews with different individuals of a certain culture

6. The Ethnographic Process
Passive & active subjects
Participant Observation
Structured & unstructured
Surveys, questionnaires
Interviewing
Incorporating historical research
“coding”
Making & Using Records

7. Some Famous Ethnographic Endevours
Margaret Mead: Coming of Age in Samoa
William Foot Whyte: Street Corner Society

8. Ethnography as a Learning Tool
Ethnographies can be integrated into a wide-range of topics:
Just a few possibilities include:
Familial traditions amongst different cultures
Homelessness
Counter-culture
Youth, coming-of-age
Criminology, gangs, crime, prison
Social determinants of health
The workforce
Social media – This is an emerging ethnographic field!!!
Religion
Consumerism/ consumer-trends

9. Just a few possibilities include:
Ethnography can be integrated into classroom learning and activities in a multitude of ways
Just a few possibilities include:
Films
Text analysis
Online research
Group work analysis
Debates
Social science research
Exploring social and cultural issues
Encouraging critical thought
Exploring ethical issues (research ethics, market research ethics)

10. Ethnography as an Assessment Tool
Allows students to learn about society & culture first- hand while meeting curriculum expectations
Having students perform their own “mini” ethnography is an ideal way to integrate the inquiry process into the classroom while meeting the social science research expectations for the social studies courses
A fantastic way to allow students hands-on experience within the qualitative inquiry process

11. Some Ideas…
Have students “learn from someone else’s experience” by pairing students up with another student in their class and having them preform a mini-ethnography on the other student’s family and culture
Have students observe the culture of their school
Cafeteria, another classroom, the hallway, the gym etc.
Have them record what they see
This can be as simple or involved a project as you choose to make it
They can complete part or all of the typical ethnographic process
Have students create a “photo-voice” project by taking pictures of the world around them and analyzing what they have seen further

12. Ethnography as a Tool for Social Action
Most authentic and reliable social ethnographies will use their observations and conclusions to make recommendations for social policies or programs that would assist the area of society they have studied
Presenting students with a summary of such an ethnography and having them take part in letter-writing pertaining to the issue explored is a way to bridge classroom and community and make real connections between ethnography and its role in social change

13. Conclusion
Ethnography is an extremely valuable field to incorporate into social studies curriculum
It is a field that is constantly growing and developing meaning that there is constantly new information being discovered and published
Allowing students the opportunity to “get their feet wet” with their own mini-ethnographies allows them the opportunity to explore the qualitative inquiry process while learning more about one another and the world around them first-hand

14. Some Considerations
Ethnography is, unfortunately, more prevalent in higher education circles than secondary. It is very difficult to find ethnographic resources aimed at the high school age group
Often difficult to find explicitly Canadian ethnographic content
Becomes the teachers’ role to paraphrase or break down ethnographies to a level their students will understand and apply clearly to the material they are covering

15. Artefact