Theories Bridging Ethnography and Evaluation
Making Transformative, Intersectional, and Comparative Connections
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- Description
- Contents
- Reviews
- About
Theories Bridging Ethnography and Evaluation is the first of two volumes examining the connections between ethnography and evaluation in educational spaces. These volumes wrestle with pressing justice issues in today’s societies while elucidating three themes—transformative, intersectional, and comparative—for guiding contemporary inquiry committed to realizing equity.
Chapters situate inquiry in wide-ranging theories and the contested histories and policies of contexts—whether these spaces are globally, nationally, or locally defined. Exploring essential concepts (positionality, transparency, authenticity, and reciprocity), authors analyze the philosophical, methodological, relational, and ethical dimensions of the interconnected practice of ethnography and evaluation. Authors also highlight their own experiential learning: how these concepts are forged not only from literature but also from their lived experience of doing this transformative scholarship in the United States, Palestine-Israel, and India.
Fusing interpretivist and transformative epistemologies, emphasizing both emic understandings and critical framings of social issues, Theories Bridging Ethnography and Evaluation draws upon social justice frameworks for conducting research and evaluation, including anti-racist, culturally responsive, and feminist theories.
Chapter 1. Ethnography and Evaluation Possibilities: Fostering Transformative, Intersectional, and Comparative Work; Melissa Rae Goodnight
- Chapter 2. Occupying the “Space Between” Ethnography, Evaluation, and Positionality; Tatiana E. Bustos and Yamanda Wright
- Chapter 3. Not Ethnograph-ish: Illuminating Theories of Culture in Evaluation with a Critical Ethnographic Onto-Epistemology; Cory A. Buckband
- Chapter 4. Critical Ethnography to Evaluate the Advancement of Anti-racist Pedagogy; William N. Thomas IV and Amaarah DeCuir
- Chapter 5. Reciprocity in Research and Evaluation: Conceptualizing Utang Na Loob, Pakikipagkapwa, and Alalay as Filipina American Educational Researchers; Christine Abagat Liboon, Rose Ann E. Gutierrez, and Ariana Guillermo Dimagiba
- Chapter 6. Ethnographic Inquiry in Program Evaluation: Ensuring Authenticity and Cultural Responsiveness; Paula Caffer, Sharon Brisolara, Arthur E. Hernández, and Anna Jefferson
- Chapter 7. Sankofa Reflections on Bridging Ethnography and Evaluation Then and Now; Rodney Hopson
The fusion of ethnography and evaluation addresses a longstanding need to integrate issues of culture in a systematic way into evaluation theory and practice. This fusion strengthens evaluators’ potential to contribute to the transformation of education programs, systems and policies towards increased justice and cultural responsiveness. The focus on intersectionality, international, and national understandings of ethnography’s contribution to a more culturally responsive approach to evaluation provides the reader with an expansive opportunity to uncover oppressive cultural beliefs and norms, challenge asymmetric power structures, and address issues of discrimination and injustice in pursuit of positive changes in schools. The contributing authors share their personal and professional experiences in ways that make the cost of failure to transform educational systems more tangible and heart-rending.
This collection of empirical and methodological challenges to ethnography and evaluation will push researchers and systems of evaluation to rethink harmful, generalized, and overly-static modes of evaluation. This volume shows the importance of centering community knowledge, local expertise, and more nuanced approaches to evaluation and ethnography. This is a must-read for critical ethnographers and those committed to community-rooted, sustainable and critical evaluation practices in education.
Melissa Rae Goodnight is Assistant Professor in Educational Psychology and Global Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), USA. Additionally, she is a faculty affiliate of the Center for Culturally Responsive Evaluation and Assessment (CREA), based at UIUC.
Rodney Hopson is currently Senior Associate Dean and Professor, School of Education, American University. Most recently, he served as Professor of Evaluation in the Department of Educational Psychology, College of Education, with appointments in the Educational Policy and Organizational Leadership and the Center of African Studies, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA.