Shange uses multiple methods to conduct her ethnography, but the one she seems to rely the most on is classroom observations and observing conversations between students and between Sofia, the teacher, and her students. Shange still participates because she is in the same physical space as her co-researchers. However, based on her writing, it seems that she takes on more of the observer role in the participant-observer relationship.
I found her writing structure interesting and would like to discuss it further in class. She switches between narrative descriptions and her analyses of the the societal contexts that laid the foundation for these events to occur. This makes her writing more readable than other research studies I read, which can include large text blocks of data analysis that I can get easily lost in. The example that stuck out to me is Shange’s writing about Abuelita’s, a student, asking the question, “Why can’t we learn African?” This question illuminates the relationship between ethnography and race, specifically how to apply anti-racist principles to your work as an ethnographer. I interpret the question of, “Why can’t we learn African?” to be a product of the U.S.’s white-centered education system. Most K-12 schools depict Africa as a monolith, which conceals the thousands of different languages and cultures in the continent. Years of education that overlooks this cultural diversity could have led Abuelita to ask this question.
Another portion of the text I found interesting is Shange’s discussion of choosing names to protect co-researchers’ anonymity. I used to think choosing names to protect my participants’ privacy was as simple as using a random name generator. However, Shange discusses how name choices can conceal or minimize culture and race, such as if she chose a white name for a Black student. Since my interest in ethnography focuses on ethnic studies, I will be considering this discussion when I analyze and present my findings.