Ethnography and Evaluation Possibilities: Fostering Transformative, Intersectional, and Comparative Work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

This chapter describes the possibilities for fusing ethnography and evaluation to transform educational inquiry and educational entities (programs, systems, and policies). The central question explored is, how do we best pursue work connecting evaluation and ethnography to fulfill our commitments to diversity, justice, and cultural responsiveness in educational spaces, to make tangible transformative change? With 40 years of literature on ethnography-evaluation connections as a foundation, this chapter describes three coalescing themes: transformative, intersectional, and comparative. These themes are proposed as valuable for guiding contemporary educational inquiry that serves social justice. The transformative theme denotes educational inquiry in which the researcher or evaluator ethically collects data, makes defensible interpretations, and facilitates social change in collaboration with others. Doing transformative work that meaningfully fuses ethnography and evaluation rests on essential factors like time, values engagement, collaboration, and self-work. The intersectional theme describes intersectionality as an evolving analytical framework that promotes social problem-solving and learning via investigating the significance of intersecting social identities in (a) how people’s lives are shaped, (b) their access to power across circumstances, and (c) their everyday experiences of subordination and discrimination. Finally, the comparative theme refers to sensibilities and practices gleaned from the interdisciplinary and transnational field of comparative education, including developing comparative cultural understanding and analyzing complex systems in one’s inquiry projects. Across themes, this chapter emphasizes positionality, responsibility, and theory-bridging to make sense of the uses of ethnographic concepts and practices in transformative evaluation work in educational spaces.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationTheories Bridging Ethnography and Evaluation
Subtitle of host publicationMaking Transformative, Intersectional, and Comparative Connections
EditorsMelissa Rae Goodnight, Rodney Hopson
PublisherEmerald Publishing
Pages1-35
Number of pages35
ISBN (Electronic)9781835490198
ISBN (Print)9781835490204
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 29 2024

Publication series

NameStudies in Educational Ethnography
Volume20
ISSN (Print)1529-210X

Keywords

  • collaboration
  • comparative education
  • culturally responsive evaluation
  • intersectionality
  • social justice theories
  • systems analysis
  • Transformative
  • valuesengagement

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Cultural Studies
  • Education
  • Anthropology

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