RE: European Educational Research Association Ethnography Network

Stephen Ball argued at this year's British Educational Research Association
annual conference that conflict between research paradigms was necessary in
order to stimulate reflection.  Potential conflict was certainly evidenced
at the roundtable  on Ethnography which was held at the European Conference
on Educational Research  in  Lahti, Finland  in September.  At this meeting
we discussed conference reports, the ethnography in education mailbase and
issues surrounding creative ways of conducting ethnographic research.  

It was clear from participant's accounts that across Europe we are engaged
in a very broad range of ethnographic research approaches.  Colleagues
explained their research interests and methodological approaches which
covered such areas as cultural anthropology, policy ethnography (including
crtical and comparative policy analysis), contexted discourse analysis and
critical document analysis.  It was also clear that the term 'ethnography'
covered a range of epistomologies on a neo-positivist - post-positivist
continuum.

Colleagues reported the work of ethnographic research groups which have been
created in the Nordic countries, France, Greece, Italy and the United
Kindom.  These developments and interactions between them were beginning to
break down some of the isolation experienced by European ethnographers.

The roundtable discussion served as a firm basis for making an application
to the EERA administration for an ethnography network.  In the network we
aim to reflect on our own ethnographic work in the light of how ethnographic
work is perceived and conducted in different countries.  In the network it
will be possible to report 'findings' of ethnographic projects and engage in
the interrogation and comparison of methodologies and perspectives.  One
participant suggested that this is most likely to happen when focused on a
specific research issue.  For instance, the use of computer packages in
qualitative data analysis.


Our EERA network application was as follows:


EERA Network Application

 Ethnography Network Co-ordinators

Angelo De Brito - Research Centre of Social Relations, University of
Paris, France.
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Letizia Caronia - Department of Education, University of Bologna,
Italy
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Francesca Gobbo - Department of Education - University of Padova, Italy
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Dennis Beach - Department of Education Gottenberg University,
Sweden.
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Bob Jeffrey Open University, England.
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Geoff Troman - Open University, England
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This network aims to provide a home for educational ethnographic papers
and to provide opportunities for methodological papers, discussions and
debates. We welcome a wide range of substantive research enquiries,
including those focusing on gender, race and class, and all representations
involving foci from micro ethnographic discourse analysis through cultural
and anthropological study to sociological analysis. We also welcome
methodological perspectives that range across structuralist, neo positivist
and post-modern approaches. We look forward  to pan European engagements,
collusions and illuminations through the presentation of diverse
perspectives.


Following our successful application we now welcome the submission of papers
to the Ethnography network for the next EERA conference to be held in
Edinburgh, UK, 20-23rd September 2000.  Please note that the closing date
for proposals is 1st February 2000.

Geoff Troman and Bob Jeffrey


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