3: Learning About Democracy Through Ethnographic Study of Citizenship in Local Communities

Chapter 3 considers an ethic of democracy made visible through indigenous ethnographic research activities, which pupils and teachers adopted and adapted during their field inquiries. We define an ethic of democracy as participatory citizenship and respectful social relations that develop ethical self-discipline. Through their ethnographic inquiries, pupils are encouraged to take responsibility for educating themselves about the concerns of inhabitants of local communities. In turn, pupils’ inquiries encourage community members to raise important questions and develop significant insights about the world around them. In this chapter, we discuss these ideas about an ethic of democracy in more detail. We begin by considering historical movements that supported the development of an ethic of democracy on the steppes of Central Asia. Then we introduce a group of teachers and their pupils’ ethnographic studies in their local communities. We discuss the concept of an ethic of democracy in connection with the pupils’ studies of everyday life in local communities.