The Research On Class Ethnography As A Method

Class ethnography is a kind of research paradigm combining teaching theory with ethnography, fallinging into microcosmic ethnographic research. In the West, class ethnography has been developed into a technological system with strong operationalization, but in China it has been in its infancy.As a value system of methodology, class ethnography is not a course or research area, but a method of probing into educational belief, values, behavioral model and job characteristics of teachers and students in the specific context of class culture based on describing class phenomenon, incidents and behaviors in a dynamic, detailed and contextualized way, which owes unique traits, principles,standards and theoretical principles. Generally speaking, the process of class ethnography mainly includes four stages such as picking a site, entering into the spot, studying at the spot,sorting out and analyzing datas as well as writing a text. Class ethnography is extremely strict to time and requires researchers to stay for a time in the class site in order to ensure the authenticity and objectivity of the research. Class ethnography claims the researchers in the dimensions of professional ethics, professional quality, professional skills and ethics. Meanwhile, it demands the researchers to apply certain strategies and ways to prevent limitations caused by itself.Class ethnography consists of three closely connected and basic methods: participant observation, depth interview and thick description. The problem are breeded by observing phenomenons, incidents and behaviors presented in class, social and cultural implication is be unveiled through depth interview and a text is finally formed through thick description based on the analysis and explanation of them.The writing of class ethnography is a process not only of the arrangement, selection and analysis, but also of the review and rethink on his own research activity, finally of the construction of teaching theory. Although each study doesn't require the construction of teaching theory, still the construction of teaching is finally formed based on the materials collected by each study. Its ultimate purpose is to put the materials in a broad vision and form an excellent work with comparatively high theoretical level and explanatory power.Return visit is a repeated visit of informed research site of the researcher or other's, at which he conducts a research;and it is an organic part of class ethnography. The significance of return visit displays in four respects: correcting, promoting knowledge development of, strengthening learning reliability; owning a perspective of cultural change; indicating that class research is not only dynamic and living, but also meaningful; helping the researcher do the research at different spots on the basis of the survey one his own informed research site so as to find intensive and representative problems in teaching theory and practice.With the development of class ethnography in China, some scholars apply this method to classroom research and classic cases take shapes. One can understand how this method is used in practice and draw s some experiences through these cases.As a research on method, it is not enough to remain in words. The author has snatched the chance of taking the students to Shaya County of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region for aid-the-poor practice for one term of school, based on the problems derived from participant observation on classroom teaching given by Intern students, investigated the underlying reasons to these problems through depth interview, and showed all with a text in order to illustrate how to apply this method to classroom research.