Between Stranger and Friend

Some Consequences of “Long Term” Fieldwork in Schools

Datos Bibliográficos

ID8222945
AutoresRobert B Everhart (Office of Research, Washington Department of Social & Health Services, autor de correspondencia)
Año1977
Volumen14
Número1
Páginas1-15
Fecha de publicación1977-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAmerican Educational Research Journal (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0002-8312 • E-ISSN: 1935-1011
EditorialAmerican Educational Research Association (AERA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.3102/00028312014001001
OpenAlexW2041155266
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas15
Referencias citadas8

This paper describes some major consequences of doing fieldwork in schools over an extended period of time. Using Powdermaker’s distinction of “stranger and friend,” the paper traces the balance between these two roles and perspectives in terms of role, reciprocity, and receptivity through a description of the author’s two year study of student life in a junior high school. The paper first describes the evolution from stranger to friend by examining role relationships between the fieldworker and his informants. It then focuses upon the problem of the fieldworker having to take on some of the characteristics of the groups he is studying. Finally the paper discusses both the beneficial and counter-productive tendencies of these positions for the fieldworker’s receptivity to insights about a “familiar” setting. Conclusions center around the dynamic interaction between stranger and friend in long term fieldwork in educational settings

Aesthetics · Balance (ability · Developmental psychology · Epistemology · Interpersonal relationship · Pedagogy · Period (music · Receptivity · Reciprocity (cultural anthropology · Sociology · Term (time · Educational Tools and Methods · Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy · Gender Studies · Geography Education and Pedagogy · Psychology · Social Psychology