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(2012) Action research methods, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.
Teachers are "naturals' at the art of observation since "deliberate data collection is the extended eyes, ears and soul of the teacher" (Phillips & Carr, 2010, p. 72). Participant observation is a methodology derived from ethnography fieldwork that includes direct observation as a primary method for "discovering the hidden side of classroom life, where every day practices become so ordinary and so routine, they become invisible" (Pine, 2009, p. 209). Participant observation often involves prolonged engagement in a setting. As such, observation allows teachers to become ethnographers within their classrooms (Angrosino, 2007) who can engage in "the in-depth study of naturally occurring behavior within a culture or entire social group" (Ary, Jacobs, & Sorenson, 2010, p. 459).
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Zieman, G. A. (2012)., Participant observation, in S. R. Klein (ed.), Action research methods, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 49-67.
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