ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the methods that frame the study. I followed a qualitative design drawing from critical ethnography and auto-ethnography methods. The research examined traditional values and the local community concerning the formal school system, for cultural description and interpretation. From October 2017 to July 2018, I regained my position as a secondary school language teacher (in French and English) in the region of Thies. As I was teaching and residing in the community, I used critical auto-ethnography methods to frame my account of the story as a participant-observer who was actively integrating local traditional values and practices along with the local community members in formal schools in Senegal. I collected qualitative data through observations and information gathered in the selected community and at middle/high school. At the analysis stage, I drew on translation theories to demonstrate how traditional values are translated into the formal school system, and critical discourse analysis to demonstrate the production and consumption of discourses relevant to school and tradition. To better assess the relevance, implications, and challenges of integrating traditional values in formal teaching practices, while in the field, I first collected information and suggestions regarding this issue. Then, I integrated some local traditional values in my teaching before I critically reflected on the process. The study aligns with these characteristics of ethnographic design.
