Resources: Teaching Performed Ethnography
Performed Ethnographies about Pursuing Equity in Schooling
Tara's work with performed ethnography began in the late 1990s with an ethnographic play she wrote from my ethnographic research project on multilingualism and schooling called Hong Kong, Canada. Two years later, she wrote a second ethnographic play script, Snakes and Ladders, from an ethnographic research project on homophobia and schooling.
Hong Kong, Canada (2001)
Originally written in 2001 and published in 2003, Hong Kong, Canada is based on findings from a four-year critical ethnographic case study (1996-2000) of a Canadian high school that had recently enrolled a large number of immigrant students from Hong Kong. The play tells the story of Joshua, Wendy, and Sam, the editor, assistant editor and advertising manager of the student newspaper as they struggle with the fallout of having published a controversial issue of the school paper.
The script is published in Tara's book Teaching and Learning in a Multilingual School: Choices, Risks and Dilemmas which is available from Lawrence Erlbaum/Routledge/Taylor&Francis.
An academic article about Tara's use of Hong Kong, Canada can be found here.
Snakes and Ladders (2004/2010)
Snakes and Ladders presents findings from an 18-month critical ethnographic research study (2001-2003) on anti-homophobia education in the Canadian city of Toronto. The play tells a story of what happens when high school teachers and students in a fictional high school attempt to put on a Pride Day at their school. Coalitions are built, homophobia is resisted and reproduced, and teachers and students learn that they can’t take their human rights for granted. Originally written in 2004, the script has been updated and edited for publication in the International Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy in 2010.
The script can be found here.
An academic article about Tara's use of Snakes and Ladders can be found here.
Harriet's House (2010) and Ana's Shadow (2012): Learning from Other People's Families
In 2014 Tara wrote an academic article about teaching with Harriet's House and Ana's Shadow, two plays about the lives of a transnationally adoptive same-sex family, entitled "Learning from Other People’s Families" in Teaching Education Journal, 25(1): 65-81.
Here is the abstract:
While the call for teacher education students to learn about their students’ family and community lives remains urgent and compelling, educating teachers about the Other is tricky business. In this article I discuss the use of two performed ethnographies, Harriet’s House and Ana’s Shadow, to provide opportunities for teachers to learn about Other people’s families in ways that work against presenting a singular, dominant narrative of the Other’s experiences and positioning Other students as experts. Although the outcomes from educating teachers about Other people’s families are unpredictable and do not always disrupt the prior, potentially harmful, knowledges teachers bring with them to teaching, I argue, along with Kevin Kumashiro, that ongoing labour to stop the repetition of harmful knowledges is important anti-oppressive educational work.
The article can be found here.
The script for Harriet's House can be found here.
The Discussion Guide for Harriet's House can be found here.
The script for Ana's Shadow can be found here.
The Discussion for Ana's Shadow can be found here.
Tara's work with performed ethnography began in the late 1990s with an ethnographic play she wrote from my ethnographic research project on multilingualism and schooling called Hong Kong, Canada. Two years later, she wrote a second ethnographic play script, Snakes and Ladders, from an ethnographic research project on homophobia and schooling.
Hong Kong, Canada (2001)
Originally written in 2001 and published in 2003, Hong Kong, Canada is based on findings from a four-year critical ethnographic case study (1996-2000) of a Canadian high school that had recently enrolled a large number of immigrant students from Hong Kong. The play tells the story of Joshua, Wendy, and Sam, the editor, assistant editor and advertising manager of the student newspaper as they struggle with the fallout of having published a controversial issue of the school paper.
The script is published in Tara's book Teaching and Learning in a Multilingual School: Choices, Risks and Dilemmas which is available from Lawrence Erlbaum/Routledge/Taylor&Francis.
An academic article about Tara's use of Hong Kong, Canada can be found here.
Snakes and Ladders (2004/2010)
Snakes and Ladders presents findings from an 18-month critical ethnographic research study (2001-2003) on anti-homophobia education in the Canadian city of Toronto. The play tells a story of what happens when high school teachers and students in a fictional high school attempt to put on a Pride Day at their school. Coalitions are built, homophobia is resisted and reproduced, and teachers and students learn that they can’t take their human rights for granted. Originally written in 2004, the script has been updated and edited for publication in the International Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy in 2010.
The script can be found here.
An academic article about Tara's use of Snakes and Ladders can be found here.
Harriet's House (2010) and Ana's Shadow (2012): Learning from Other People's Families
In 2014 Tara wrote an academic article about teaching with Harriet's House and Ana's Shadow, two plays about the lives of a transnationally adoptive same-sex family, entitled "Learning from Other People’s Families" in Teaching Education Journal, 25(1): 65-81.
Here is the abstract:
While the call for teacher education students to learn about their students’ family and community lives remains urgent and compelling, educating teachers about the Other is tricky business. In this article I discuss the use of two performed ethnographies, Harriet’s House and Ana’s Shadow, to provide opportunities for teachers to learn about Other people’s families in ways that work against presenting a singular, dominant narrative of the Other’s experiences and positioning Other students as experts. Although the outcomes from educating teachers about Other people’s families are unpredictable and do not always disrupt the prior, potentially harmful, knowledges teachers bring with them to teaching, I argue, along with Kevin Kumashiro, that ongoing labour to stop the repetition of harmful knowledges is important anti-oppressive educational work.
The article can be found here.
The script for Harriet's House can be found here.
The Discussion Guide for Harriet's House can be found here.
The script for Ana's Shadow can be found here.
The Discussion for Ana's Shadow can be found here.
