Naslov
The importance of a critical ethnographic approach for uncovering injustices in higher education

Autori
Doolan, Karin

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Skup
Ethnographies of Higher Education

Mjesto i datum
Prag, Češka Republika, 22.05.2013. - 24.05.2013

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
higher education; qualitative research; critical theory

Sažetak
Critical higher education scholars have been interested in the interaction between individual resources and the institutional practices which (mis)recognize them, i.e. in the ways in which the presence (or absence) of particular institutional structures and practices translates students’ social (dis)advantage into educational (dis)advantage. McDonaugh (1996) and Reay et al. (2001, 2005), for example, elaborate on Bourdieu’s work on social inequalities in education through their use of the concept ‘institutional habitus’. They work with the concept to signal a complex blend of agency and structure which encompasses the influence of gender or social class on an individual’s behaviour as it is mediated through an educational institution. In this paper I argue for the use of a critical ethnographic approach as the most appropriate research design for uncovering the workings of ‘institutional habitus’ expressed through the cultures of higher education institutions which favour the knowledge and experiences of dominant social groups to the detriment of others. Critical ethnography is understood in the paper as an in-depth (primarily) qualitative research design through which the researcher’s role is to advocate against inequality and domination (Creswell 2012). The arguments for a critical ethnographic approach to studying the way in which injustices are shaped through the behaviour of higher education institutions are made on a theoretical and methodological basis. The theoretical arguments focus on the distinction between the competing knowledge claims underlying a realist and a critical ethnography and their resulting research practices (e.g. objective versus subjective account, dispassionate versus engaged). The methodological arguments relate to a more general advancement of a critical ethnographic approach in comparison to a survey (e.g. knowledge claims, breadth versus depth) and a more specific advancement in comparison to a case study approach. In terms of the latter, the paper draws on selected qualitative data (interviews, observations) collected in 2007 at six case study higher education institutions in Croatia in order to illustrate the importance of conducting qualitative research in order to identify ‘classed’ and ‘gendered’ expressions of institutional habitus. Drawing on Reay et al.’s (2001, 2005) discussion of ‘classed’ aspects of institutional habitus at secondary school level the data-driven section illustrates marginalizing institutional practices according to the following categories: organisational practices which include the admission process, group size, assessment, as well as faculty resources and organisation, cultural and expressive characteristics illustrated by student-teacher communication and student social characteristics, curriculum offer addressed through students’ perceptions of course content relevance and its transmission, and finally the ‘prestige’ of certain case study institutions as indicative of their educational status. More specifically, exclusive aspects of institutional habitus are identified as: admission procedures based on grammar school programmes, entrance exam including ‘general culture’ questions, academic staff offering private tutoring to select applicants, unsupportive lecturers, assumptions of prior knowledge, unclear transmission of course content, subjective assessment which can include a gender bias, overcrowded timetable, lack of resources and a socially homogenous student intake. Although the undertaken multiple case study approach is commended in relation to a survey approach for the topic of how institutional practices reinforce (under)privilege, the paper concludes that an ethnographic, one-case focus with its more extensive and open-ended fieldwork would be an even more appropriate choice of research design for capturing the workings of institutional habitus.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Fizika

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