A big thing to consider...

I need to re-read Lisa Delpit's Other People's Children.  One of the major things I'll be thinking/reading/writing/talking about over the next couple of months is what it means for me- a white, middle class, American woman- to go into and dig around and document an organization that serves largely minority and immigrant populations and- for my specific project- teens from low income families.  How will I navigate that space and document the interactions and the progress and ultimately draw conclusions from my collection of data without setting up a structure of Researcher-Subject that parallels so much of what these kids already deal with on a daily basis (and hate)?  Is it important to be accepted as a part of their group? If so, in which role: as another adult educator or as a peer?  Does it injure my research (both in terms of what I get and how I process it) to become a part of the group rather than a friendly-but-removed observer?  What matters more?  What matters most?

Big questions.  I'm glad to have time to contemplate them and conduct an interview or few on the matter.  Any ideas? Any anecdotes?

FINALLY! A SITE!

After much fretting, much redesigning, and much unanswered outreach, I was beginning to feel like I would never find a fieldwork site.  I do have some fairly specific requirements for my partner-group; They

1. Must be a non-profit organization
2. Must work with underprivileged urban teens
3. Must address and advocate social justice and community building
4. Must employ primarily video in the above endeavor
4. Must employ primarily art (mural, sculpture, theater, dance, video, etc) in the above endeavor
5. Must be in Chicago (my surveys will go to organizations in other places, but I had to be realistic here)
6. Must allow me to document with video the goals and progress of the educators and the teen participants. Sticking point.

But today! Today, over some very tasty sushi and in between political and academic discussions, it was determined that, starting in January, I will follow a group of students at  Insight Arts as they address issues in their immediate community through a theatrical form called Living Newspaper.  I've got a ton of surveys to send to other arts organizations in the meantime and the end of the Insight Arts program will still give me two full months of writing sans fieldwork.  I think this is going to work out just fine.