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Pedagogies: An International Journal

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Anthropologies of education: a global guide toethnographic studies of learning and schooling, byKathryn M. Anderson-Levitt, New York, BerghahnBooks, 2012, vii + 353 pp., US$95.00 (hardback),ISBN 978-0-85745-273-3

Guat Hua Koh

To cite this article: Guat Hua Koh (2013) Anthropologies of education: a global guideto ethnographic studies of learning and schooling, by Kathryn M. Anderson-Levitt, NewYork, Berghahn Books, 2012, vii + 353 pp., US$95.00 (hardback), ISBN 978-0-85745-273-3,Pedagogies: An International Journal, 8:2, 191-194, DOI: 10.1080/1554480X.2013.767771

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1554480X.2013.767771

Published online: 15 Feb 2013.

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Pedagogies: An International Journal, 2013Vol. 8, No. 2, 191–196

BOOK REVIEWS

Anthropologies of education: a global guide to ethnographic studies of learning andschooling, by Kathryn M. Anderson-Levitt, New York, Berghahn Books, 2012, vii +353 pp., US$95.00 (hardback), ISBN 978-0-85745-273-3

Any “naïve newcomer . . . visiting scholar . . . or . . . brand-new student” (p. 3) entering theworld of anthropologies of education without this guide might face the initial perplexingchallenge of navigating through the voluminous work produced by researchers in this fieldand published as books and journal articles. With this group of readers in mind, KathrynM. Anderson-Levitt, professor of anthropology, has designed a world tour by invitingother experienced anthropologists and ethnographers to share their knowledge and researchexperiences in this field. These invited chapter authors review ethnographic work done indifferent parts of the world – Berlin; the Anglophone World; Mexico; Buenos Aires; Brazil;the French-speaking World of Belgium, Switzerland and Quebec; Italy; Central Europe(Bulgaria, The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia); Scandinavia;Japan; China; Israel and the French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa.

Anthropologies of education, in particular ethnographic studies of education, untiltoday, have often been associated with work done by scholars in the United States, Canada,United Kingdom and Australia. By inviting the authors from countries less known fortheir research in anthropologies of education, Anderson-Levitt hopes to raise the aware-ness of the research community to research in the countries that have, so far, been quietlyignored. This awareness might even spur researchers from other countries not included inthis volume to persevere in their efforts to conduct ethnographic research in education.

The editor poses a series of questions in the introduction to prepare the readers for theirencounters as they proceed to explore the world of anthropologies and ethnographies ofeducation. She also includes a brief discussion of the global development of the ethnogra-phies of education as a preview to the subsequent 13 chapters which provide more detailedreports of the development of anthropologies of education in the respective country/region.

Chapter survey

Even though the book comprises 13 chapters (excluding the Introduction and theConclusion) written by 20 authors from very diverse political, economic, social and cul-tural background, a sense of unity is achieved through the questions raised by the editor tobe addressed by the chapter authors:

• How do you and your colleagues define the “anthropology” or “ethnography” ofeducation? What kinds of scholarship do you include?

• What have been the major themes or the major debates within the literature as youdefine it?

• To what scholars or schools of thought do you point as sources of inspiration? (p. 3)

This set of questions entails careful research of the historical developments of anthropolo-gies and ethnographies of education, which have been painstakingly carried out by the

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various authors, as evidenced by the abundance of information that could be gained fromthe reading of each chapter. Going through these 13 chapters, readers will find that researchin this field has gained more recognition and momentum mostly in the last 30 years. Eachchapter includes reports on the development of the field, from the earliest known dates tomore recent studies in the respective country/region. Ethnographic studies in most of thesecountries have focused heavily on areas like school; work of teachers; performance of stu-dents, in particular those who have failed in formal educational institutions; ethnicity andminority groups and cultural diversity. However, there are also different emphases due toeach country’s/region’s unique background and what the authors hope to achieve throughthe report. For example, the authors of the first two chapters go beyond the objective ofpurely providing a country review of the field.

In Chapter 1, readers are provided with a short sketch of an example of historical cul-tural anthropology, “The Berlin Study of Rituals”. Readers will learn from Wulf that, bypenetrating into the inner-city school to study the roles of rituals in four areas of socializa-tion, namely, families, schools, children’s and youth culture and the media, a combinationof the diverse methods can be used by ethnographers for research. Wulf also deals withissues that are more “internationally significant” (p. 30) and aids the readers in under-standing the “educational phenomena, processes and institutions in a globalized world”(p. 30) through his discussion of the development of anthropology of education in Germanythrough five major anthropological paradigms.

Chapter 2 provides valuable information concerning ethnographic research in theAnglophone world. Rather than merely reviewing the development of the field, Delamontinclines towards a more critical analysis of the academic research arena and the ethno-graphic studies carried out in this part of the world. Although a lot of work has been doneon anthropologies of education, according to Delamont’s research for this chapter, most ofthis work has been concentrated in the North American region, in particular, the UnitedStates. Delamont notes that research done by North American scholars has been the cen-tre of attention of researchers in the field, and, with reference to the countries other thanthose in the Anglophone world, comments, “We and our countries do not exist” (p. 62).This signals a call for the research community to begin to pay more attention to studies bynon-Americans.

Delamont evaluates the studies done so far and points out several shortcomings ofthe North American research. She is critical of the narrow focus of research on schools,which is also true of the studies reported by many of the other chapter authors, with thelenses zoomed in on minority groups and immigrants. For example, the North Americanresearchers have focused heavily on Native Americans and the other ethnic minoritygroups, paying particular attention to the poor performance of these minority studentsin the mainstream schools and investigating the cause of their failures in school. Yet,those who have succeeded often disappear from the researchers’ field of vision. Failures ofminority students have been attributed to the clash of culture between the students and thestate school. It should be noted here that many of the research foci of researchers from theother countries are similar to these highlighted by Delamont.

A survey of the other chapters reveals the influence of each country’s diverse political,economic, social and cultural background on the authors’ reports of the development of thecountry’s research in anthropologies of education. Several of the authors explicitly refer tothe political influence on the direction of progress and the themes of focus. Neufeld’sbrief sketch of Argentina’s history shows the suppression of the military government onresearch in anthropology, which led to preferences for topics related to the effects of thatperiod of dictatorship, when research and teaching of sociocultural anthropology in the

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Pedagogies: An International Journal 193

country resumed. Ouyang from China recounts the political leadership’s ban on the disci-pline during the Cultural Revolution and its revival after a change of political leadershipin 1978. Shlasky and his colleagues from Israel comment that the diverse research topicsengaging researchers reflect “the problem of identity” (p. 270) that the State of Israel, madeup of Jewish immigrants from other parts of the world, has to grapple with.

In addition to political and economic factors, a region’s social and cultural history alsoexerts a strong influence on researchers’ choice of topics. Among the many themes thatRockwell and Apodaca have identified in culturally diverse Mexico are themes related toculture, power, identity and indigenous rights. In Brazil, another culturally diverse society,Gomes and Gomes report that culture and education and race relations and education, areamong the focal themes. The Roma issue has been a prominent focus for researchers in fiveof the six countries making up Central Europe, Poland being the exception. Eröss describesthe Roma people as a numerically and symbolically important minority group of people inthese countries. Gobbo notes that anthropological research in Italy has been influenced bythe cultural, ethnic, occupational and religious diversity existing together with immigrantdiversity in the Italian society. Research themes include cultural diversities and minoritychildren’s schooling.

In the other countries, a different set of factors exists. In the French-speaking worldof Belgium, Switzerland and Quebec, Raveaud and Draelants report an increased interestin the ethnography of education through the influence of American and British literature,with research focusing on primary and secondary school students and their learning inschool and in the playground, school culture and practices and educational segregationand discrimination. Anderson, Gulløv and Valentin write from the perspective of the wel-fare state of Scandinavia where children and youth are seen as social actors. Minoura’sreview of the research history of Japan, a relatively homogeneous society with only 1.6%non-Japanese by year 2005, shows an emphasis of studies on the country’s “ordinaryeducational institutions” (p. 214), management of student behaviour and teachers’ workand exhaustion. According to Diallo, in recent years, research themes in the French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa have been largely dictated by international funding agencies.Some examples are studies on improving the quality of education, higher education, girls’education, citizenship and the impact of ICT and HIV/AIDS on education.

The survey mentioned will provide newcomers with some understanding of the kind ofwork done in the field and the kind of influence external factors exert on the researchers’choice of themes to study. I shall next discuss some of the challenges this volume poses forless-initiated scholars in this field.

Challenges for newcomers

One challenge newcomers reading this volume would have to confront would be under-standing the many technical terms – anthropology and anthropologies, sociology, ethnog-raphy and ethnographies and ethnology, just to name the few more frequently used.Embedded in the chapter reviews, readers will come across the authors’ differing perspec-tives and definitions of the various terms. The editor herself notes in the Introduction theterm “‘anthropology’ does not mean the same thing everywhere” (p. 5). Her explanationof the terms (pp. 5–6) will serve to clarify the interrelatedness of the concepts for read-ers who already have some knowledge of the field, but newcomers might need more help.Likewise, in the Conclusion, Professor van Zanten’s insightful global analysis of the fieldof anthropology, ethnography and the role of ethnographers themselves is again valuableknowledge for the more experienced scholars, but can overwhelm newcomers who arepreparing to take the first step into the field.

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Throughout the volume, the many references to prominent scholars, past and present,with whom experienced anthropologists and ethnographers are familiar would pose anotherchallenge for the newcomers. To appreciate these great scholars’ impact on ethnographicstudies in anthropologies of education and their theoretical perspectives, newcomers whomight not have much knowledge in this field might need to do further research concerningtheir background and their contributions to the field. So it appears that more homeworkneeds to be done in order to participate in this world tour.

Opportunities for further exploration

Newcomers will be able to find many unexplored areas to venture into. Taking heedof Delamont’s criticism above of the narrow focus of ethnographic research in theAnglophone world, future exploration could focus on education outside schools whereteaching and learning are also taking place. Investigating minority students who are ableto defy the bane of “culture clash” to succeed in state schools will be another refreshingangle. Another potential area of research would be to focus on main stream populationrather than on minority group and immigrants.

Potential researchers should also take note of Delamont’s criticism of the anthropologyof education carried out in North America as an “undertheorized field” (p. 60) where stud-ies have been carried out without any anthropological theory. Another point raised is thatthere has been little discussion on the methodology employed. Such comments serve as areminder to potential researchers of the need to consider these issues.

Conclusion

This volume not only contains a vast amount of information concerning ethnography ofeducation but also introduces to the world the works of previously unknown ethnogra-phers. Anderson-Levitt’s “early effort” (p. vii) might just be the catalyst for further fruitfulexploration of the field.

Guat Hua KohSchool of Foreign Languages, Shaanxi Normal University,

People’s Republic of ChinaEmail: guathua@gmail.com

© 2013, Guat Hua Kohhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1554480X.2013.767771

Anthropologies of education: a global guide to ethnographic studies of learning andschooling, by Luciana C. de Oliveira, Charlotte, NC, Information Age, 2011, xviii +152 pp., US$45.99 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-61735-336-9

In order to successfully “think like historians” (p. 15) and interpret and write abouthistorical content, secondary level students, especially English Learners (ELs), need anunderstanding of the subject-specific ways in which language is used in historical dis-course (Fang & Schleppegrell, 2010). In this important new study, Luciana de Oliveira usesfindings from her work with the University of California Davis History Teacher Projectto discuss the expectations that participating history teachers tend to have about student

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