Objectives
Materials
Presentation
Student Practice/Exercises
Assessment
Content Objectives:
Students will
- learn what ethnography is
- define an ethnographer’s job
- explore how ethnographers gather information
- learn about the tools they rely on
- apply these tools
Skills Objectives/Learning Strategies:
- Directed attention
- Deduction/induction
- Note taking
- Inference
- Self Observation
Student Materials:
At Recess observation worksheet (pdf)
My Favorite Holiday interview worksheet (pdf)
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Presentation:
1. Write the following words on the board by suggested grade level. Feel free to add any that you feel would be appropriate for your students.
K-2 | 3-5 | 6-12 |
The 5 Senses
Exploring
Tasting
Watching carefully
Doing | Listening
Participating
Everyday Activities
Recording
Culture | Ethnography
Observation
Immersion
Analysis
Field Research
|
Ask students
3. Explain that you will be exploring ETHNOGRAPHY and what ETHNOGRAPHERS do before you begin learning about Latino Communities in Philadelphia. Ethography is a word with Greek origins that literally means “writing about people” (“ethno” meaning “people,” and “graphy,” meaning writing). Clarify definitions of the terms you listed. Have students draw a picture to share the meaning of one of the terms you discussed.
2. Explain that ETHNOGRAPHY is a research (learning) method and that ETHNOGRAPHERS work to learn about people and their cultures. The idea behind their work is to gather information about everyday life and to better understand how and why people do what they do. Some ethnographers call their work the “science of the everyday” and aim to increase cross-cultural understanding and appreciation for human differences. Ethnographic methods are used by anthropologists, historians, sociologists, folklorists, and even business people.
Ethnographers use many tools to observe the world. They participate in events and gatherings as well as visiting places that are new to them in order to observe with all their senses. Ethnographers will immerse themselves in a culture in order to observe situations, people and places very carefully, then they record their observations by taking notes, called “fieldnotes.” They conduct formal and informal interviews with individuals, and distribute written surveys and questionnaires. They also record culture in multiple media, taking photographs, making audio recordings and videos. Ethnographers later analyze what they experienced in order identify patterns and understand cultures more deeply.
Ask students:
- Why they think ethnographers do all this?
- What are the benefits?
- What would make an ethnographer’s job easier/harder?
- Do you think being an ethnographer would be an interesting job?
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Student Practice:
Share with students that their task is to be an ethnographer by participating in two exercises that represent two important methods ethnographers use: observation, and interview.
Exercise 1: Observation At Recess
It would be best to have them work solo, in silence and to have them observe a younger or older grade other than their own. Print and distribute worksheet. Instruct students to spend 10 minutes of recess observing everything around them, then step back from things and pretend you are a visitor from another place. Ask them to record their observations using the worksheet.
Exercise 1 Variation: Observation In the School Lunchroom
Exercise 2: Interview about “My Favorite Holiday”
Have students conduct an interview with a peer or family member Interview about their favorite holiday. Have students generate a questionnaire, or use worksheet.
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Assessment/Evaluation:
- Name or list 3 tools an ethnographer uses
- Draw a picture of an ethnographer at work and then describe what they are doing in the picture
- Define Ethnography and why it is helpful in understanding human diversity
- Explain what the 5 senses are and why they are important in observation
After the lesson/Community Links:
- Try to use your ethnographer’s tools whenever you experience new places, people and foods. Write your observations in your journal.
- Visit a friend’s house and help them make dinner. Afterwards make a detailed list of the steps involved in the preparation of the meal. Include who was present, where they sat and what the behaviors were during dinner (did people talk or were they quiet? Was there music playing, the radio, T.V?
- Visit a new restaurant specializing in food from a country you know little about. Consult the yellow pages for ideas.
- Record the sounds around you, take notes of the smells, read the menu carefully and make a list of any ingredients that appear in several dishes
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