Abstract
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1033 - 1048 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2015 |
Cite this
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Approaching methodology creatively: problematizing elite schools' 'best practice' through a film about perfection and imperfection. / Fahey, Johannah Clare; Prosser, Howard James.
In: International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, Vol. 28, No. 9, 2015, p. 1033 - 1048.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Approaching methodology creatively: problematizing elite schools' 'best practice' through a film about perfection and imperfection
AU - Fahey, Johannah Clare
AU - Prosser, Howard James
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
UR - http://goo.gl/mKigiu
U2 - 10.1080/09518398.2015.1077535
DO - 10.1080/09518398.2015.1077535
M3 - Article
VL - 28
SP - 1033
EP - 1048
JO - International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education
JF - International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education
SN - 0951-8398
IS - 9
ER -