Is it Ethnography? Some students’ views of their experience of Secondary schooling in England

The study set out to investigate how official and unofficial discourses of inclusion, engagement and discipline in schools in England at present affect the ways in which students and teachers construct their various identities. The study was carried out in one Secondary school in Middle England, UK, with 36 students in Year 9 (age 13-14 years), 3 of their class teachers, and some of the senior staff of the school. In addition to observation of students’ lessons, students took photographs of their environment to situate themselves in it and provide the bases for reflexive interviews with the academic researchers. Students showed sympathy for teachers working under pressure; annoyance with other students acting in an anti-social manner; a strong sense of justice; expectation that they should be respected in the way they are treated by adults; and acceptance of the necessity of rules and punishments for rule breakers.