Approaching Methodology Creatively: Problematizing Elite Schools' "Best Practice" through a Film about Perfection and Imperfection

Autor/inn/en	Fahey, Johannah; Prosser, Howard
Titel	Approaching Methodology Creatively: Problematizing Elite Schools' "Best Practice" through a Film about Perfection and Imperfection
Quelle	In: International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), 28 (2015) 9, S.1033-1048 (16 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0951-8398
DOI	10.1080/09518398.2015.1077535
Schlagwörter	Best Practices; Foreign Countries; Ethnography; Secondary School Students; Student Development; Educational Practices; Educational Strategies; Models; Institutional Characteristics; Creative Development; Student Centered Curriculum; Didacticism; Film Study; Barriers; Student Empowerment; Educational Methods; Resilience (Psychology); Political Attitudes; Service Learning; Advantaged; Socioeconomic Influences; Altruism; Argentina; Australia; Barbados; Hong Kong; South Africa; United Kingdom (England) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Ethnografie; Sekundarschüler; Bildungspraxis; Lehrstrategie; Analogiemodell; Didaktisierung; Filmkurs; Studienberechtigung; Educational method; Erziehungsmethode; Political attitude; Politische Einstellung; Service-Learning; Sozioökonomischer Faktor; Altruistic behavior; Altruismus; Argentinien; Australien; Hongkong; Südafrika; Süd-Afrika; Republik Südafrika; Südafrikanische Republik
Abstract	Elite schools around the world aspire to produce perfect students and yet there are always obstacles to this perfection being achieved. In this paper, we suggest that this process of perfectionism and obstruction can best be understood using a methodology that looks to the creative arts, rather than the usual social science orthodoxies. Our focus in this paper is therefore not on methodology as a technique, but rather methodology as a resource for thought. Using Lars Von Trier's film "The Five Obstructions" as a point of departure, we suggest that the quest for perfect students, or indeed perfect humans, is one that ignores the inherent obstacles that block pathways to perceived perfection. Our research draws on ethnographic fieldwork from six elite secondary schools in Argentina, Australia, Barbados, England, Hong Kong, and South Africa. We posit a creative methodology permits a coming to terms with the abstractions required when analyzing and interpreting large amounts of data from a multi-sited ethnographic study. This approach makes it feasible to draw some conclusions about a common characteristic--perfectionism--among elite schools around the globe. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01