Behind Behind the Beautiful Forevers

In my six hour drive from West Virginia to North Carolina earlier today, I had an opportunity to listen to Katherine Boo's author's notes at the end of her Behind the Beautiful Forevers.  Honestly, I was shocked that she began her explanation and reflection with her experience/relationship with a man.  However, I was not surprised to hear her voice in the explanation of her rationale, her methodology, and the obstacles that she faced during this process.  I find it interesting that Boo wanted to find the book that would answer some of her questions, for she did not feel like she was able to write about these people from Airport Road.  She was an outsider.  Since her background is reporting on events and scenarios that most likely do not involve her, readers would expect her to be an outsider.

I did enjoy hearing her reflections on the research process--most significantly how she was "mindful of the risk of overinterpretation."  I respect her recognition that language was an issue in her understanding of individual stories.  She knew that there was more to learn than what she could learn through language and that she needed to overcome language barriers yet continue to make meaning of what she observed.  I think that this would be hard to do, for I think that human nature pushes us to inquire.  I'm not typically satisfied with knowing THAT an event occurs; I want to know the CAUSES and EFFECTS of that occurrence.  Boo makes meaning of the events of Annawadi, and she must interpret without interjecting too much of her own thoughts--she reveals as much truth as possible.

Something else that I found interesting and completely believable is that Boo recognizes that children are more truthful than adults.  As a parent of two children (12 and 8), I agree with her proposition, for my own boys are sometimes brutally honest.  "Mom, what's wrong with your hair."  "Mom, do we have to have something fancy tonight?  Can't we just have spaghetti?  "  However, we adults learn that there is a lot of gray between truths and untruths.  Sometimes we reveal and conceal information based on out level of trust with those whom we communicate.  For example, if my local paper were to ask me what I think about any general district policy, I would reveal or conceal my own thoughts based on what a possible reaction--or backlash--would be.  (Disclaimer--I know not to talk to my local paper about anything concerning my school or school system.)

Now that I have experienced this book, I feel even more confident of my desire to tell stories; however, I now know that I need to be mindful of not only my own biases but also my inherent fallibility with the interpretations of other peoples' events.

Ethnography as a Way of Knowing

Throughout this week, I had the opportunity to read about a methodology that truly speaks to me. I get the positivist paradigm--trust me, I do--but I know that I personally need to believe in something in order to go the long haul.  I believe that I can learn about the organization and structure of an educational system through listening to people's stories.  I believe that I can be a better educator and a better leader in the field of education if I incorporate empirical evidence (using reason, language, and emotion) into my decision making.  AND....I believe that the methodology employed in the use of ethnography will afford me these afore mentioned propositions.

So...the following ethnographic propositions excite me.

• Culture is a shared, active process of making meaning.
• Ethnography explains the real-world complexity of human behavior.
• Ethnography focuses on identity.
• Ethnography gives us the opportunity to observe and understand processes as they happen.

As an educator, I believe that each environment is specific to a time and place and that there are no coincidences.  Life is a chain reaction of events, and in order to understand outcomes, whether they are intended or not, we need to understand the events that lead to them.

However, even ethnography has its weaknesses.  For example, we can use induction to make a hypothesis, but ethnography cannot test it for accuracy.  I'm thinking that I can use ethnography to make a hypothesis about the paradox of teacher leadership or even students' perception of academic success, but someone else would have to create the experiment to test my hypothesis.  Additionally, ethnography tends to include long lists of "stuff" to complete:  interviews, focus groups, and observations that all include field notes.  Eventually, those field notes will need to be coded and then officially recorded, and, to some, this process can seem daunting.  However, I think that it sounds exciting and not unlike other tasks that I've already completed in my professional career.   As a National Board Certified Teacher, I've had to record my own teaching, observe my own teaching, code specific events in field notes, and then write reflections on my observations.  I've also had to evaluate mentees and other Initially Licensed Teachers using a similar processes.  I'm already comfortable with this methodology (unlike those methodologies under the positivistic umbrella).

What I love most about ethnography is that it is designed to make meaning of everyday events.  Moreover, the results can be recorded in the form of not only the full-length monograph but also a photo essay, fiction, and even poetry.  (No worries--I would not dare write poetry in a dissertation.)