Ethnographies of Education for Social Justice

Social justice is a complex construct that invariably lacks unproblematic operationalization within social research. This book uses ethnographic research to situate a rich and complex model of social justice, foregrounding the potential of the participant to generate emancipatory spaces. How can interactions between ethnographers and research participants influence the development of the research process, the practices being investigated, the perspectives of participants, and the contexts in which the research takes place? What are the possibilities for these approaches to ethnography of education to generate knowledge that is truly useful for educational change and social transformation for social justice? This monograph explains the creation of spaces where researchers and participants acknowledge the research process to generate possibilities for mutually transformative dialogues. The analysis of information during the research process provides knowledge that serves to stimulate and focus participants' awareness of what they know. It also enables them to develop that knowledge and allows them to have a point of reference for adjusting their own experiences. It broadens this lens of analysis beyond teachers to students, parents, community leaders, and anyone else who may claim an interest or concern in educational processes, practices, and praxis from a social justice point of view. This book was originally published as a special issue of Ethnography and Education.