Sociology,ethnography and teacher practice

It is argued that the increasing use of qualitative techniques, especially ethnography, in the study of education offers strong possibilities for bridging the traditional gaps between theory and research, on the one hand, and teacher practice on the other. Its potential lies in its ability to produce information that teachers value, its role as an aid to the appreciation of theory through its inductive processes, its practical importance, and its emphasis on the self, which helps give teachers a sense of control over their lives. In preservice teacher education, ethnography might be used chiefly to induce reflectiveness and to encourage observational skills. But it is in inservice education that it is likely to have most impact, for teachers are themselves, by this stage, ‘participant observers’. There are even greater opportunities in the rapid growth of joint enterprises between academics and teachers, such as the use of life histories, action research, and role sharing.