School Sites and the Haunting of History: Unmasking the Past in Field-Based Research

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Bibliographic Details
Title: School Sites and the Haunting of History: Unmasking the Past in Field-Based Research
Language: English
Authors: Ferguson, Daniel E. (ORCID 0000-0001-7646-9831), Nichols, T. Philip (ORCID 0000-0002-8648-1276)
Source: International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE). 2021 34(9):843-856.
Availability: Taylor & Francis. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 14
Publication Date: 2021
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Education
High Schools
Secondary Education
Descriptors: Privacy, Educational Research, History, Qualitative Research, Elementary Schools, High Schools, Public Schools, School Location, Field Studies, Stakeholders
Geographic Terms: New York, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)
DOI: 10.1080/09518398.2021.1942301
ISSN: 0951-8398
Abstract: In field-based research, masking practices, as well as the general practice of relegating historical context to abstracted 'site descriptions' in a paper's methodology section, can produce a tacit inattention to historical specificity. By juxtaposing two case studies of schools, this article examines the ways school sites are haunted by histories--that is, how the past is revived and revised in the present, and in turn what this means for field-based qualitative inquiry. Pairing archival and field-based methods, we trace how the haunting of history animated the present-day practices of stakeholders in two schools. In doing so, we show how history itself became an actor in these sites--as something administrators and teachers put to work in their approaches to schooling--and suggest expanding views of unmasking within qualitative inquiry that allow for these ghosts of the past to announce themselves more openly.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2021
Accession Number: EJ1314330
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:In field-based research, masking practices, as well as the general practice of relegating historical context to abstracted 'site descriptions' in a paper's methodology section, can produce a tacit inattention to historical specificity. By juxtaposing two case studies of schools, this article examines the ways school sites are haunted by histories--that is, how the past is revived and revised in the present, and in turn what this means for field-based qualitative inquiry. Pairing archival and field-based methods, we trace how the haunting of history animated the present-day practices of stakeholders in two schools. In doing so, we show how history itself became an actor in these sites--as something administrators and teachers put to work in their approaches to schooling--and suggest expanding views of unmasking within qualitative inquiry that allow for these ghosts of the past to announce themselves more openly.
ISSN:0951-8398
DOI:10.1080/09518398.2021.1942301