ZhejiangNormalUniversity

School of Education

Anthropological Methods and Education

Fall 2012/13

Instructor: Visiting ProfessorGlen Cotten

Email:

Office: School of Education building

Course Description:

In this course, you will work together with your teacher and classmates to examine current issues confronting Chinese schools from an Anthropological perspective. This will especially involve learning to use qualitative methods to conduct your own research in the field. This course’s design is based on the premise, confirmed by my own and many other’s experience, that real learning and understanding is best promotedthrough genuine dialogue and exploration within a cooperative community for learning. Therefore,the approach to teaching & learning used in this course will emphasize discussion and dialogue. So, to get the most out of this course, you should feel very free and encouraged to participate in all of our class’ discussions. You should also feel very free to ask questions of me and/or your classmates about any aspects of the course you feel you don’t fully understand (especially since this course will be taught in English). In this way, you will help develop all of our understandings! Note also that a substantial amount of the work you will do for this course will happen in small groups, so it is very important that you workas a cooperative and responsible member of your group. By helping one another gain new knowledge and insights, for the purpose of better understanding and hopefully make positive contributions to how educationhappens in your society, I expect we will have a valuable, maybe even transformative, learning experience together!

Course Outcomes:

If this learning experience is successful, by the end of the semesteryou will:

  • develop a greater appreciation for how educational systems and practices are shaped by, and influence, the societies and cultures in which they develop
  • gain an appreciation of the usefulness/value of qualitative research methods, especially those pioneered in the field of Anthropology, in examining educational systems, practices and experiences
  • acquire a basic understanding of some of the philosophical assumptions that qualitative research is based on and distinguish it from quantitative approaches to social research
  • become familiar with a range of qualitative research strategies and methods
  • gain practical experience using these methods to conduct your own research of education in your locality

Course Timeline:

Note that the readings assigned for each weekin the schedule below, and any other homework assigned in the previous week, should be completed before that week’s class. It is expected that you bring copies of the assignedreadings and your completed homework with you to each class, and come prepared to ask questions about and discuss them with me and your classmates.

Week / Topics / Readings & Assignments
Week 1
10-14 Sep. / Introductions
Defining
Anthropology, Culture, Education, Qualitative Research / Readings:
  • Course syllabus
  • Defining Education handout

Week 2
17-21 Sep. / Education & Society:
Alternative Approaches to Education
Qualitative Research: Recognizing Qualitative Data & Findings / Readings:
  • Gardener pp. 115-121
  • Is China’s Education System Keeping Up With Growing Superpower? (article)
  • FUNDAEC, The Aim of Education, pp. 17-18
  • Patton pp. 4-8 – Qualitative Data & Findings

Week 3
24-28 Sep. / Education & Society:
Examples of Qualitative Research on Chinese Education
Qualitative v. Quantitative Research, Validity & Credibility, Themes of Qualitative Research / Readings:
  • Patton pp. 13-28 – Qualitative v. Quantitative
  • Patton pp. 41-42 – Themes of Qualitative Research
  • Liu,Boys as only-children and girls as only-children – parental gendered expectations...
Video (in class):
BBC “ChineseSchool” Episode 1, Part 2
1-5 Oct. / Mid-Autumn Festival – No Classes
Week 4
8-12 Oct. / Education & Society:
Education in China
Qualitative Research: Objectivity v. Subjectivity, Empathic Neutrality, Inductive Analysis
Creative Synthesis, Ethnography / Readings:
  • Patton pp. 48-53 – Empathic Neutrality
  • Patton pp. 55-58 –Inductive Analysis & Creative Synthesis
  • Patton pp. 81-84 – Ethnography
Video (in class):
  • BBC “ChineseSchool” Episode 1, Part 3
Assignments due:
  • Transcript ofa segment of your interview with an elder family member
  • Your reflections (1 to 3 pages) re. what impressed or surprised you about what your family member shared & about the process of interviewing & transcribing

Week 5
15-19 Oct. / Education & Society:
Schools, Ideology & Power
Qualitative Research: Problem-posing & determining Research Foci/Research Questions / Readings:
  • Freire, excerpts from Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Chapter 2
  • McLaren, Critical Pedagogy, pp. 194-195 & 201-207
  • Woronov, “Governing China’s Children”
Video (in class):
  • TED Talk - “Ken Robinson: Changing Ed. Paradigms”
Assignment:
Paper (1-3 pages)- “Preliminary Thoughts on Possible Qualitative Research Subjects”
Week 6
22-26 Oct. / Qualitative Research:
Purposeful Sampling, Triangulation, Interviewing & Instruction on writing a Research Proposal / Readings:
  • Patton pp. 230-231 – Purposeful Sampling
  • Patton pp. 47-48 – Triangulation
  • Patton pp. 340-353 – Interviewing
Small Group Tutorials instead of normal class
Assignment due:
Small Group Report (1-3 pages) -Each small group submits a paper describing 2 or 3 possible research subjects they might be interested in investigating
Week 7
29 Oct. – 2 Nov. / Education & Society:
Education in ChinaJapan
Qualitative Research: Instruction on writing Field Notes / Readings:
  • Field notes sample (by Glen Cotten)
  • The Telegraph, “Third of Chinese primary school children suffer stress”
  • Japan Today, “Time to Reform Japan’s Education System”
Video clips (in class):
  • BBC “ChineseSchool” Episode 1, Part 5
  • Cold Cube
Assignment due:
Small Group Research Proposal
Week 8
5-9 Nov. / Theoretical/Philosophical Roots of Qualitative Research:
Constructivism & Phenomenology / Readings:
  • Patton pp. 132-133 – Theoretical Traditions
  • Patton pp. 96-98 – Social Construction & Constructivism
  • Patton pp. 104-106 - Phenomenlogy
Assignment: Start working on fieldwork & data collection.
Week 9
12-16 Nov. / Ethical Concerns in Qualitative Research
Transformative Potential of Qualitative Research:
Story-telling & the Power ofFinding/Giving Voice / Readings:
  • Clandinin & Connelly, pp. 169-183
  • Prier & Beachum, Conceptualizing a Critical Discourse around Hip-Hop Culture…
Assignment: Fieldwork & data collection (cont.)
Week 10
19-23 Nov. / Theoretical/Philosophical Roots of Qualitative Research:
Story-telling as Meaning-making & Identity Forming, Hermeneutics & Narrative Analysis, Reflexivity / Readings:
  • Selected Quotations on Analyzing Life Stories
  • Patton pp. 113-118 – Hermeneutics & Narratology or Narrative Analysis
  • Patton pp. 64-66 – Reflexivity
Assignment: Fieldwork & data collection (cont.)
Week 11
26-30 Nov. / Qualitative Research:
Coding Data,
Input on presenting Qualitative Data as PPT presentation & written article / Readings:
  • Patton pp. 62-67 – Coding
  • Tang & Choi, Teachers’ professional lives…
  • Kuan, “The Heart Says One Thing…”: A Story…
Assignment due: Sample field notes (2-5 pages)
Week 12
3-7 Dec. / Small Group Presentations / Assignments due:
  • Submit PPT slides (by email) at least one day before your presentation
  • Small Group PPT presentations

Week 13
10-14 Dec. / Small Group Presentations / Assignments due:
Small Group PPT presentations
Week 14
17-21 Dec. / Reviewing & Evaluating this Semesters’ Learning – Telling Our Class’ Story
Deadline for Final Course work:
9 Jan. 2013 / Submit your
FINAL COURSE WORK
before midnight on this day. / Assignments due:
  • Final Paper 1: Reflections on research findings
  • Final Paper 2: Reflections on your experience as a qualitative researcher

Course Assignments:

Interview an Elder Family Member &Transcription & Reflection Paper

For this assignment, you will:

  • interview an elder family member about their understanding of & experiences with education (both in their family and in school) & make an audio recording of your interview (using your mobile phone or another method if you wish)
  • transcribe (in Chinese, unless your interview is in English) what you consider to be the most interesting part of the interview (at least a 3 minute segment of the recorded interview)
  • write a brief paper (1 to 3 pages) containing your reflections on what impressed or surprised you most about what your family member shared with you in your interview AND about what you learned about the process interviewing & transcribing

Paper (1-3 pages) containing your “Preliminary Thoughts on Possible Qualitative Research Subjects”

For this assignment, you will:

  • describe at least 3 subjects in some way related to education located in or near Jinhua that you think might be interesting to research - Note that a qualitative research subject may be a person or group of people, an education-related activity or situation, a specific place or institution connected with education, and/or a specific issue related to education etc.
  • for each subject, briefly describe why it interests you (i.e. what you would expect or hope to observe, and why you think this would be interesting and/or important to research).
  • for each subject, describe specifically what research methods you imagine you would use to investigate it

Small Group Report (1-3 pages)

Each small group submits a brief paper describing 2 or 3 possible research subjects they might be interested in investigating. This should contain the same elements as the previous individual assignment, but should reflect your agreement on what subjects you think you may want to research as a group using qualitative methods.

Small Group Research Proposal

Your small groups’ proposal should include the following sections:

  1. A description of the case your group has decided to study & why you think it is worthwhile to research
  2. A literature review in which you describe some related research that others have done (note that it may be related by theme or location)
  3. A list of questions that will guide your research (i.e. your research questions, which you hope your research will help you to answer
  4. A description of what kinds of data you need to collect to answer these questions, and what methods you will use to collect this data
  5. A preliminary, detailed research plan including a time-line for the steps your group needs to take and which group members will be responsible for which parts

Note that you should divide the responsibility for writing your group’s proposal among all of the members of the group, so that each group a part it. Of course, all of the parts should reflect what all of you decided together as a group.

Sample Field Notes

For this assignment, you will type up a revised portion of some of field notes you have taken as part of your small group’s research. I strongly advise you to type and revise these field notes as close as possible to the time you made the observations they describe (i.e. either the same day or the following day). Be sure to introduce these “notes” by giving enough background information about the subject of your research for the reader to be able to make sense of your notes. Write your revised notes in a narrative form.

Power Point Presentation of Research Project

Each small group will create a 20-30 minute Power Point presentation presenting the research they have done and their preliminary thoughts on findings. This presentation should include:

  • an introduction to the subject/case (setting, people, activity(ies) etc.) your group researched & your reasons for choosing this subject
  • your research questions
  • a description of the methods your group used to try to answer these questions
  • your findings (i.e. any answers to your research questions you discovered, and any other unexpected findings)
  • your preliminary thoughts on what these findings mean and/or imply

Note that a good presentation will include some stories of your field observations and/or quotations from subjects you interviewed, which are particularly interesting/revealing.

Final Paper 1: Reflections on your research findings

In this essay, each of you will share your group’s research findings & your own thoughts re. what these findings mean. This paper should include:

  • a description of the subject/case you studied
  • your group’s research questions & findings
  • critical questioning of what you believe you learned & thoughts on how your data might be interpreted differently
  • some of the actual words (i.e. English translations of these words), & some ofyour direct observations, of the people you researched
  • evidence of your own reflexivity (i.e. your critical reflections on how your unique perspective given your social background and position affected your observations & interpretations
  • your conclusions re. what the most important things were that you learned from your research about your subjects

Final Paper 2: Reflections on your experiences in this course as a qualitative researcher

This essay should reflect on what you learned about doing qualitative research, your assessment of how well your group worked together & your thoughts on the value and limitations qualitative research methods for studying education in China.

Course Assessment:

Your final course grade will be determined based on the quality of your work for each of your course assignments. The percentage of your grade that will be determined by each of these assignments is indicated here:

10% - Interview &Transcription & Reflection Paper

10% - “Preliminary Thoughts on Possible Qualitative Research Subjects” paper

10% - Small Group Report

10% - Sample Field Notes

20% - PPT presentation of Research Project

20% - Final Paper 1: Reflections on research findings

20% - Final Paper 2: Reflections on your experiences as a qualitative researcher

Bibliography for the Course:

Clandinin, D. J. & Connelly, F.M. (2000). Narrative Inquiry: Experience and Story in Qualitative Research. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Eliot, T. S. (1978). To Criticize the Critic and other writings. London: Faber and Farber.

Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Retrieved from

Gardner, H. (1991). The Unschooled Mind: How Children Think & How Schools Should Teach. New York: Basic Books.

Kuan, T. (2011). “The Heart Says One Thing but the Hand Does Another”: A Story About Emotion-Work, Ambivalence, and Popular Advice for Parents. The China Journal. 65, 77-100.

Liu, F. (2006). Boys as only-children and girls as only-children – parental gendered expectations of the only-child in the nuclear Chinese family in present day China. Gender and Education. 18(5), 491-505.

McLaren, P. (2007). Life in Schools: An Introduction to Critical Pedagogy in the Foundations of Education (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Palmer, P. J. (1998). The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Riessman, C. K. (1993). Narrative Analysis, Qualitative Research Methods Series 30. London: Sage Publications.

Tang, S. Y. F. & Choi, P. L. (2009). Teachers’ professional lives and continuing professional development in changing times. Educational Review. 61(1), 1-18.

Woronov, T. E. (2009). Governing China’s Children: Governmentality and “Education for Quality.”positions. 17(3), 567-589.