This presentation highlights the methodological part of a doctoral project which intends to study cultural conceptions of the student among educators within teacher training for early childhood education (TTECE). The presentation aims to discuss the insider and outsider position occupied by the researcher in critical ethnographic research in order to contribute to the discussion about critical theory and critically oriented studies in a Nordic context. When and why does it become a challenge to be an insider? Where, when and how are boundaries set up between the researcher and the research subjects? When does such boundaries become limiting and when do they provide opportunities? What does being an active part of the empirical production in critical ethnography (CE) imply for the research? 

CE is a theory-informed methodological approach which, in this doctoral project, departs from a pragmatic and critical perspective in which higher education is, or should be, understood as a practice built upon deliberative democracy and communicative action as important prerequisites for creating good education for all (Habermas, 1996;Englund, 2008). The fundamental purpose of CE is to question what becomes normalized within a field of study and to consider, or suggest alternatives to, what appears given or natural in such a field (Thomas, 1993;Madison, 2012). The critical approach of CE provides the researcher with a possibility to take an active part in the field, to influence it in certain directions and to question culturally accepted norms within it. Simultaneously, the informants are continuously invited to participate in and contribute to the creation and interpretation of the empirical material. 

The empirical material was collected during a five-month long fieldwork at a Swedish university that provides TTECE. Data was gathered through participant observations of formal and informal every-day collegial work, semi-structured conversations and group-sessions. The empirical material consists of fieldnotes, transcripts from recorded conversations, documents and webpages. 

Being an insider turned out to be an advantage in relation to understanding the circumstances of educators’ sayings and doings, to access the field of study and to gain trust from the informants. At the same time, to assume the role as an outsider can be preferred in some situations due to e.g. the degree of commitment at the field. Being open and transparent with my interpretations of the empirical material has enabled me to have discussions with the informants in a way which have given the informants opportunities to provide more nuanced interpretations. In some sense, seemingly insignificant situations puts the insider/outsider position into play and affects the investigation and its results. To balance the insider/outsider position requires a continuous pursuit of reflexivity through every part of the research process.

Englund, T. (2008) The university as an encounter for deliberative communication, Creating cultural citizenship and professional responsibility. Utbildning & Demokrati, 17(2), 97-114

Habermas, J.(1996). Kommunikativt handlande: texter om språk, rationalitet och samhälle. (2. uppl.) Göteborg: Daidalos.

Madison, D.(2012). Critical ethnography- method, ethics, and performance. SAGE

Thomas, J.(1993). Doing critical ethnography. Newbury Park: Sage.