AltaMira Press
Pages: 224
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978-0-7591-0311-5 • Hardback • August 2002 • $131.00 • (£101.00)
978-0-7591-0312-2 • Paperback • August 2002 • $51.00 • (£39.00)
978-0-7591-1657-3 • eBook • August 2002 • $48.50 • (£37.00)
Harry F. Wolcott (1929-2012) was professor emeritus in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Oregon and a leading author in anthropology and research methods. Wolcott's major works include anthropological studies of American education: Teachers Versus Technocrats and The Man in the Principal's Office: An Ethnography. He also wrote extensively on fieldwork and writing: Transforming Qualitative Data; The Art of Fieldwork; Ethnography: A Way of Seeing; and Writing Up Qualitative Data and is the author of the more recent Sneaky Kid and Its Aftermath: Ethics and Intimacy in Fieldwork (all published by AltaMira Press).
Johnny Saldana is a Professor of Theatre at Arizona State University, and his studies in qualitative research range from ethnography to ethnotheatre. He has written several articles on theatre teachers' perceptions of their practice, and young people's development as audiences and artists. One of these studies includes the ethnodrama "Maybe someday, if I'm famous...", a one-act case study of an adolescent actor.
Chapter 1 Foreword
Chapter 2 Introduction
Chapter 3
Chapter One
Chapter 4
Chapter 1: Adequate Schools and Inadequate Education: The Life History of a Sneaky Kid
Chapter 5
Chapter 2: The Brad Saga Continues
Chapter 6
Chapter 3: The Return
Chapter 7
Chapter 4: Out
Chapter 8
Chapter Two
Chapter 9
Chapter 5: More Truth, More Consequences
Chapter 10
Chapter 6: The Rebound
Chapter 11
Chapter 7: A Play on Words
Chapter 12
Chapter 8: Drawing Lessons
Chapter 13 Appendix: A play, Finding My Place: The Brad Trilogy
Chapter 14 References and Further Reading
Chapter 16 Name Index
Chapter 17 Subject Index
What a tour de force, a marvelous accomplishment! Such honesty and plain talking is seldom seen in the social sciences.....
— Norman K. Denzin, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Brad's story began as a case study Wolcott completed on the failures of education. . . . Wolcott published an article on the experience and this topic. This article remains a well-reference source among qualitative researchers. . . . [Wolcott] proves hisadeptness as an anthropologist as he is able to capture adequately the specificities of a particular moment and place and, at the same time, indicate their relevance to a much broader social context, in this case, the dilemmas we face as qualitative researchers today. . . . The book's story reminds us again and again of the inadequacies in schooling for many of our youth, the continued stigmatization and suspicions about homosexuality, and the complex dilemmas of ethics in educational research. . . . An ethno drama is included, written by Johnny Saldana, entitled, 'Finding my place: The Brad Trilogy.' Finally, with the includsion of this play as the final chapter of the book, the story of Brad finds its final home. . . . Wolcott's work, in all its complexity and controversy is now offered to a new generation of qualitative researchers and fieldworkers. This intriguing, compelling work is a touching depiciton fo the struggles of a research amid the complexitites of a new and advancing field of research.
— Audrey M. Dentith, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Wolcott is a well-known, iconoclastic anthropologist of education. . . . He provides a detailed, explicit, autobiographical account of the events surrounding the publication of a series of articles on educational inadequacy, subsequently labeled 'The BradTrilogy.' It tells the story behind the trilogy, examining personal, professional, and moral issues raised by the author's romantic relationship with the middle-class homeless man whose story is told in the trilogy. The book chronicles the young man's struggle with mental illness and Wolcott's subsequent encounters with family members, the mental health establishment, the justice system, and the academic world, presenting a firsthand account of the failure of schools, communities, mental health providers, welfare agencies and courts to serve those in need..
— J. Armstrong
This volume is well written and it raises a number of interesting issues, not only about research methods, but also about education, mental health, and the criminal justice system...it is sure to serve as a catalyst for a number of vigorous discussions about ethics and intimacy in the research process....
— Amanda Lewis, University of Illinois
This book is well-written, compelling and enjoyable...Not everyone will agree with Wolcott's conclusions about research and ethics. But that is precisely the point. This book can be used very productively in classes in which the ethics of field research is a topic. It will generate a lot of discussion and debate....
— Don Kulick
• Winner, 2003 American Educational Studies Association Critics Choice Award