Initially, I thought of education as obtaining knowledge and skills in a formal setting, such as a course at UW. But it has become obvious that the definition of education is somewhat ambiguous itself, and can happen anywhere and everywhere. I have come to realize that education also includes learning that may happen outside the classroom – perhaps through volunteering, on the job (work), interacting with others, or just simply exploring the world around you (reading articles, watching documentaries, ect). Thus, education is learning of any sort that occurs in life. A key ingredient of education may not only be subject matter or common goal, but also others with whom one can interact and collaborate. It comes in many different styles, varieties, places, and times, but in the end, it is simply taking in information, processing it, and (hopefully) retaining it.
I would like to study groups I am not (or have not been) involved in. One possibility would be SMART teams, which teachers highschoolers how to use JMOL to study proteins and conduct presentations on particular proteins of interest. I still have to look into more groups, and may deeper into groups/organizations that work with children (maybe tutoring, after school programs, ect). I think it would be more interesting to study groups with youth, since they would involve more learning aspects, especially at a pivotal learning stage in a youth’s life. Orgs on campus generally have less learning aspects to them, since most of the learning is already done for class or work.
Ethnography is the in-depth study of a particular human society or group through fieldworking. For example, one could study a specific village in South America for several months to years, observing and understanding their culture, traditions, behaviors, ect. The fieldworking provides the actual research raw data for conclusions about the community, which involves observing and studying the community in its natural setting. More specifically, the field work may include observation notes, interviews, surveys, and data collection.
After having read the fieldworking excerpt, what part of the ethnography concerns you most/seems to be most difficult? Perhaps finding the right group to study? Or to separate yourself from predispositions and subjective views that may affect your fieldwork?
I think the hardest part of doing fieldwork will be to trying to observe objectively without bias. It is human nature to compare what they know to their new experiences, so it will be hard to refrain from doing that.
ReplyDeleteI think the hardest part is taking what one member of a particular group says, perhaps from an interview, and then determining the meaning of it at a cultural or subcultural level. I did a fieldwork project for Anthro 104 where I studied the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). I interviewed a few female engineering students and I thought it was difficult to come up with good questions and then make solid inferences from their responses. It's hard to know whether one person's thoughts are indicative of the group as a whole.
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