ABSTRACT
As the teachers on the project BC: RLL were invited to take on an ethnographic research stance, this necessarily generated tensions and challenges as the work evolved. However, these also opened up possibilities for new ways of thinking. In ordinary circumstances the teacher role is characterised by planning ahead, knowing what aspects of the curriculum are to be taught and having a sense of what the pupils should learn. The ethnographic researcher role is deliberately much less confi dent of its outcomes; it is characterised by observation, gathering and sifting information and generating ideas about what is under scrutiny as the research progresses. Shifting from one discourse to another is likely to be (even temporarily) destabilising, leaving the individual somewhat unsure of what is expected. As a consequence, the teachers raised many concerns and voiced their anxieties, but as Kemmis (2006) observes, such insecurities can indicate ‘gaps to be explored’ in the research process and ‘openings for new conversations’ (463).
