Moss' Ethnography and Composition: Studying Language at Home

Beverly Moss describes the functions of ethnography, the fundamentals of it and the approach an ethnographer should take. This insight is very helpful to those who are considering doing some sort of ethnography for themselves. Moss explains that "the goal of an enthnographer is to study, explore, and describe a group's culture," (389). I have always found culture to be one of the most interesting aspects of the individual and also believe that studying the culture helps lead one to a better understanding of why people are the way they are. Growing up in San Bernardino, I have always been aware of the mixture of cultures that this city entails and have grown up to embrace different things from different cultures because it was always apart of ME. I have attended quincineras, attended an African American church, and have always engaged with others races. I have always desired to understand and relate to others how I got to be the person I am and that I evolved from a variety of cultures.
When considering doing an ethnographical study of San Bernardino, I see it as a challenge because there is not just one set culture in this city. As Hymes describes the three modes of ethnographic inquiry, (comprehensive-oriented, topic-oriented, and hypothesis-oriented) I feel it would be most logical to take the topic-oriented approach. Although hypothesis oriented might be an interesting evolution of the process. Moss also brings up good points about studying one's own culture. She notes that an ethnographer must be as open-mided as possible. Because you are dealing with a familiar life-style, it may be easy to overlook certain aspects of the culture that seem normal or uninteresting because it has always been part of the routine. This may be hard for someone from the community to do, as well as withholding bias or predjudice about things.
I like the fact that Moss refers to Shirley Brice Heath in this article because I have also read her work, and agree that it is most insightful into a different cultural perception. There was one town Heath observed that was very similar to the lifestyle and cultural beliefs I had been raised with, for example, reading books and talking to babies and preparing for school. The other town took a completely opposite approach to lifestyle, where the children were only to speak when spoken to, put on stage to see how they would react to certain incidents, and having a much different view of what was important in life. At first I was shocked to think that people would treat their children to public humiliation and not encourage education, but after reading more into the ethnography, I discovered how important these things were to their culture and also identified them in their community.
After taking African American Literature, I have always been interested in how their language has evolved from oral to written, and how much of a role the oral language still plays apart in the community. This ethnography seemed to reinforce this concept for me and gave me a more open mind for these sorts of studies. Ethnography has no room for bias or personal opinion but can be very helpful when trying to understand someone's reasonings and ways of life.
Lastly, I would quickly like to address Moss' quote that "finding out what students did outside the class was the key to helping them succeed in school," (388). Throughout my studies on teaching children, I have seen this point reiterated over and over again. I too, believe this is one of the most important things to understand when trying to teach children and ethnographies are a great way to study them. This can be a difficult goal to obtain, but it truly is the key to success for these students. Through a better understanding of the students' lives outside of school, the teacher can look for multiple ways to connect and engage his or her students which is necessary for the student to want to learn at all.