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and Spinelli
70's went from artic > L. disorders, 80s > pragmatic and discourse
problems.
Ethnography - method of study of events and persons that enable us to
ascertain the underlying rules that operate for the participants.
Traditional assessment and intervention has been developed around
deductive reasoning, premise that measurable variables can be
manipulated and that regular and universal laws can be developed based
on the relationships between the variables across all situations. i.e. a
standardized test of L. abilities will demonstrate the child's level of
linguistic competance. Scientific method. Reflects adult view of
education, children are passive, "products" of the ed. system. Interested
in measuring how often a child performs a task correctly.
Growing consensus that something as complex as communication or
teaching and learning cannot be studied using only deductive methods.
Ethnographic - examines the quality of interactions as well as the
quantity of events. Use inductive reasoning; impose and manipulate
persons and events as little as possible. Child centered, constructionist
view. Interested in the manner in which chn. arrive at the correct task
performance. Only by experiencing can we become sensitive to certain
elements in a context.
Wilson's 2 hypotheses that underlie the rationale of ethnographic
approach:
Ethnographic assessment –
1. database is not constructed in lab instead arises from the "real
world"
2. Its methodology is rigorous and systematic, results are verifiable
3. its techniques are in keeping with a generous view of the scientific
method.