There are two ways of addressing the
insider/outsider debate: as a continuum and as a dichotomy. It has been argued
that whilst conducting research the researcher can find themselves at some
point along a continuum of insiderness (Mercer, 2007). On one side is the
complete insider: the person who understands the inner workings of what they
are researching. On the polar opposite side there is the outsider: the
researcher completely new to the field with no knowledge of the topic.
However, can one truly be an outsider? Although I would describe myself as an
outsider to French art, I still have an opinion or a vague idea of what I think
about the topic. Similarly, can anyone be a true insider? Although one may
think they know everything about the topic they are researching, they do not
know what they do not know (Krunger and Dunning, 1999). Following this logic, I
must agree with Mercer (2007) in that the researcher is located along a
continuum of insider and outsiderness rather than the dichotomy representing
the researcher as either an insider or outsider with no in between. Below is a
visual representation I have created to show the continuum vs the dichotomy.
Continuum:
Dichotomy:
Mercer (2007, p.2) writes that the
insider/outsider debate is under researched yet important to an "ever
increasing number of educational researchers". Indeed, when I decided to
enter the teaching profession, I thought the experience would be beneficial for
my future career ambitions as an educational researcher; the idea of being more
of an insider appealed to me. I had decided that being a secondary STEM teacher
allowed me to be in the midst of education; this would help me better
understand the institution as well as its current issues. On the continuum, I
wanted to be located more on the insider side than I currently was.
Of course, there are many critiques of researching
one's own educational institution, Simmel (1950) argues that the insider can be
easily influenced and "blinded" by the familiarity of the setting. In
contrast, advocates for insider research actually argue the opposite: the
insider is able to comprehend the setting through their expert knowledge of
status, culture and power relations (Merton, 1972). Looking back to when I was
an undergraduate I can see why we were told to research an institution that we
were a part of. Obviously ease of access played a part, but thinking back it
could be possible this was due to understanding the culture and group which
would help first time researchers. For instance, Mercer (2007) writes that an
advantage of insiderness is flexibility; during my undergraduate degree I
interviewed two of my undergraduate housemates at around 11pm after watching
Made in Chelsea. The insider also negates the disadvantage of the outsider as
Parades (1977) and Zinn (1979) found that these researchers are likely to be
presented with a distorted image; hello every school when the famous outsider
Ofsted comes for a visit.
However, one of the disadvantages of being an
insider is that colleagues’ "willingness to talk to you and what they say
to you is influenced by who they think you are" (Drever, 1995). During my
PGCE year, my then school mentor sent an email around the school asking if any
colleagues would allow me to observe them. It could be seen that their idea of
who I was and what I would observe influenced their decision to allow me into
their classroom. It could be that those who agreed saw me as an inexperienced
trainee teacher and they held epistemological power. This highlights the type
of power relationship between the researcher and the researched which Mercer
(2007) describes as a dimension of the insider/outsider continuum. Whilst
observing colleagues I was located at differing parts of the continuum: I am an
insider to the school policies and familiar pupils but an outsider to unknown
pupils, possibly the subject I am observing and the teacher’s techniques
(Olson, 1977; Mercer, 2007; Deutsch, 1981).
It will be interesting to see how these relationships change when I ask
to observe colleagues for my masters. Will those who do not hold the
qualification feel epistemologically challenged? Will those who hold a masters
degree feel more powerful, allow me in their classroom and treat me as an
insider?
References:
Deutsch, C. P. (1981) The
behavioral scientist: insider and outsider, Journal of Social Issues, 37(2),
172–191.
Drever, E. (1995) Using
semi-structured interviews in small-scale research (Edinburgh, The Scottish
Council for Research in Education).
Kruger, Justin; Dunning, David (1999).
"Unskilled and unaware of it: How difficulties in recognizing one's own
incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments.". Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology. American Psychological Association. 77 (6): 1121–1134
Mercer,
J. (2007) The Challenges of Insider-Research in Educational Institutions: wielding
a double-edged sword and resolving delicate dilemmas, Oxford Review of Education, 33(1), 1-17.
Merton, R. (1972) Insiders and
outsiders; a chapter in the sociology of knowledge, American Journal of
Sociology, 78 (July), 9–47.
Olson, D. H. (1977) Insiders’ and
outsiders’ views of relationships: research studies, in: G. Levinger & H.
L. Rausch (Eds) Close relationships: perspectives on the meaning of intimacy
(Amhurst, University of Massachusettes Press).
Parades, A. (1977) On
ethnographic work among minority groups: a folklorist’s perspective, New
Scholar, 6, 1–53.
Simmel, G. (1950) The sociology
of Georg Simmel (New York, Free Press).
Zinn, M. B. (1979) Field research
in minority communities: ethical methodological and political observations by
an insider, Social Problems, 27(2), 209–219
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