Ethnography is at the centre of the IB Social and Cultural Anthropology course. Perhaps you are teaching this course for the first time, or perhaps you feel it is time to make a change to the ethnographic resources you are using for your course. Either way, here are some helpful guidelines for selecting and sourcing ethnographic material.
The requirements…
SL students are required to learn about 3 societies in detail, and HL students 4 societies in detail. The ethnographies you select to study these societies will form the base from which to learn about core terms and ideas, methodological issues, social and cultural themes, and at HL, theoretical perspectives and theoretical schools. With this in mind, you should ensure that you select a wide enough variety of resources so that you can teach these key aspects of the Subject Guide.
Books, films or articles?
Many teachers choose to use one written ethnography to explore each society. It is also possible to learn about a society by collecting a variety of shorter ethnographic resources such as several articles and films. There is strength in students being able to compare the approach of different ethnographers to the same society. Many teachers go beyond the minimum 3 or 4 societies and include shorter articles (from journals or films) into their program to help them emphasize a theme or idea they are helping their students to learn.
Make sure that the resources you select are ethnographic. While you may accompany ethnography with popular media sources, these should be studied critically. Resources created by academics other than anthropologists are acceptable but will need to be compared with ethnographic resources about the society on which they focus. Students do need to learn about anthropology in a deep manner.
Interest
Select materials that will interest your students, and be deemed acceptable by your school or district. However, make sure that you also select materials that interest you as a teacher. The more you are interested, the better job you will do in exploring the materials in depth.
Diversity
-The resources you select should be thematically diverse enough to allow students to learn about all of the themes listed in Part 2 of the Subject Guide.
-Ethnographers representing different theoretical perspectives and schools help students to gain a broader understanding of the discipline.
-The authors of the ethnographies act as role models. Select authors with whom your students can identify. It is equally important to select a range of authors, as those students see in positions of power now are likely the positions of power they will attempt to reproduce as adults.
-Consider the geographic locations of ethnographies. Some teachers opt to try and represent as many locations as possible. Others try and study ethnographies linked to the region of their school. It is also worthwhile to include a mix of urban and rural studies.
Leave a comment below telling us which ethnographies you use on your course or asking for advice! Alternatively, use the Social and Cultural Anthropology forum on the International Baccalaureate’s Online Curriculum Centre to discuss your ideas with other teachers and to find out which ethnographies are popular among IB teachers. Participating in workshops in also a good way to brainstorm resource ideas with other teachers.
Tags: ethnography, introductory anthropology, introductory social and cultural anthropology
