This volume focuses on and exemplifies how ethnography--a research tool devoted to looking at human interaction as a cultural process rather than individual psychology--can shed light on educational processes framed by the complex, internationalized societies in which we live today. Part I offers theoretical chapters about ethnography and examples of innovative ethnography from particular perspectives. In Part II, the emphasis is on the application of ethnographic approaches to educational settings. Each contribution not only takes the reader on a thoughtful and enlightening journey, but raises issues that are important to both educators and ethnographers, including the relationship of researcher to subject, the meaning of "participant" in participant observation, and ways to give voice to disenfranchised players, and on the complex ways in which all parties experience identities such as "race" in the modern world. Innovations in Educational Ethnography: Theory, Methods, and Results is a product of both continuity and change. It presents current writings from mentors in the field of ethnography and education, as well of the work of their students, and of educators engaged in cultural studies of their work. In many ways it provides fresh, new vistas on the old questions that have always guided ethnographic research, and can be used as a survey both of what ethnography has been and what it is becoming. This book is the work of many hands, and provides excellent examples of trends in both basic and applied ethnography of education. These two kinds of work augment and reinforce each other, and also represent important current research directions--in-depth reflection on the process of ethnography itself, and an application of its insights to teaching and learning in schools, universities, and communities. No one philosophy guides the contributions to this volume, nor were they chosen as exemplary of a particular approach, yet foundational understandings and principles of ethnography shine through the work, in both predictable and unexpected ways.

This edited volume tackles the theoretical, empirical and methodological questions of how novelty can be determined in and through educational ethnographic research. Responding to the increasing need for new and innovative methodological and theoretical foundations for the field, chapters draw on a variety of empirical, critically examined data sets such as observation protocols of pedagogical practice, digital communication and visual representations to bridge the gap between empirical and theoretical approaches, ultimately combining different traditions and discourses within educational ethnography. Collating perspectives and accounts from over 30 authors based in European centers of excellence such as Germany, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Denmark, the book provides an epistemological reflection on what we can understand as 'new' in theoretical and methodological research. This volume will be of use to researchers, academics and postgraduate students involved with research methods in education, ethnography and the theory of education more broadly. Those involved with research design, innovation and European research methods will also find the volume of use. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license. Any third party material in this book is not included in the OA Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. Please direct any permissions enquiries to the original rightsholder. We would like to thank the Europa-Universität Flensburg, the Fördergesellschaft der Uni Flensburg e.v. and the Research Centre for Education, Teaching, School and Socialization for financial support.

Ethnographic research in higher education is gaining momentum. In the last 10 years, we saw a great increase in publications, and more and more researchers endorse ethnography because of its distinctive qualities and its productivity for research in higher education: Ethnography is commended for its unique approach to social practices through continuous and immediate experience in field work, and its unfragmented methodical attention to situations, interactions, and experiences. This unique approach is explored in the present book, which brings together researchers from Europe, America, and Australia, and includes current ethnographic studies on higher education, reflections on teaching ethnography, and innovative approaches in ethnographic methods.

The primary objective of Studies in Educational Ethnography is to present original research monographs based on ethnographic perspectives, and methodologies.

This book emphasises the central place that ethnographic work should have in the formulation and evaluation of education policy. Ethnographic studies contribute to a greater understanding of the process formulation, evaluation and critique. First, careful studies of policy initiatives at the local level can show the extent to which change actually occurs in practice. Second, ethnographic studies can investigate the unintended consequences as well as those planned by the policy. Third, ethnography can investigate the effects of policies in such a way that contradictions within the original policy itself are illuminated. As well as studying the effects and impact of policy, ethnography can also be useful in the formulation of new policies. The various chapters gathered together here give many examples of the ways that ethnography can trace the effects of particular policy developments and may be able to influence future policy debates. The contributors and case studies relate to several countries including the United States, Italy, England, France, Sweden and Switzerland, showing not only that ethnographic research in education is now widespread, but also increasing relevance to policy.

Harry F. Wolcott draws on his dual perspective as an educator and an anthropologist to provide a unique and penetrating look at the dynamics of a federally funded research and development project and to analyze what happened when university researchers and school district administrators attempted to introduce an experimental planning and evaluation system in an operating school district.

"This is a beautifully written book that takes the reader to the heart of ethnography as experience. Readers can walk in the shoes of ethnographers who have travelled before them, and learn as they learned. Sara Delamont is an undisputed expert in both ethnography and education, and here illustrates she is also a tour de force in writing style. All the important ingredients for a recipe to make a good quality ethnography are here, and they are served up with relish!" - Karen O’Reilly, Loughborough University "This is a powerful, richly nuanced, evocative work; a stunning and brilliantly innovative intervention. It provides ground zero - the starting place for the next generation of social scholars of education. A major accomplishment." - Norman K. Denzin, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The ethnography of education has been conducted by sociologists and anthropologists, largely in self-contained and self-referential ways. This book celebrates the continuities and the strengths of ethnographic research on education in formal and non-formal settings, deliberately transgressing the sociology/anthropology divide. Education is broadly defined to cover many settings other than schools, in many countries, for many age-groups. The book is structured thematically, including chapters on movement and mobilities, memorials and memories, time and timescapes, bodies, and performativities, multi-sensory research, and narratives. Strategies for designing innovative ethnographic projects, and for fighting familiarity are provided.

This book engages readers via the international contributions from “home” field sites around the world and international authors. Importantly, the various chapters address a wide spectrum of educational contexts – ranging from higher education, to K-12 public and private schools, to prison schools. The realistic accounts portrayed in each of the chapters address how local collaborations are instantiated through the research process, from access and data collection to the write-up phases. The major themes that emerge across the chapters highlight 1) positionality and negotiation of multiple roles, i.e., researcher, educator, colleague, friend, community member; 2) reconciling multiple, hybrid, and intersectional identities with varying insider/outsider statuses vis-à-vis research participants; 3) resulting power dynamics in connection to relational identities – sometimes conflicting, consolidating, equalizing, and/or elevating; 4) innovative methodological responses to these dilemmas; and 5) integrated research designs and research ethics, offering possibilities for participation and insights on the social impact of research findings. The book’s chapters thus individually and collectively treat and resolve local ways of doing home (field) work and highlight the creation and sharing of knowledge among researchers and research participants.