MITx: 11.

132x Design and Development of Educational Technology

Week 4 assignment 4.1: Amateur ethnography
Eugenio Jacobo Hernndez Valdelamar
November, 2014.

Introduction
Ethnography is the systematic study of peoples and cultures. In this assignment, youll conduct a small
study of the culture of a specific learning community that you identify. Observing how the community
works and how it helps people learn will give you good background for fostering that in your own
project or communities you may be a part of.

Houses of culture in Mexico city

If you are interested in learning to dance, sing, act, paint or perform any other cultural activity, in
Mexico City there are several options to begin or continue your development in the arts.
Throughout the city there are several cultural centers, governmental and civil society organizations that
offer an almost endless list of workshops; from regional dance, ballroom, regional ballet; through
flamenco, Hawaiian, tango, jazz, belly dance; encompassing other disciplines like art painting,
landscape painting, ceramic painting, wood carving; to the most varied expression and development
activities such as tai-chi, yoga, singing, guitar, piano and theater.
Many workshops are offered for free and others require a small fee.

Ballroom dance workshops

A very popular workshop in many Houses of Culture is the ballroom dance one. Many people love to
dance and many seniors are the main audience of these workshops.
The head of the workshop is usually a dance teacher (that maybe officially accredited or not).
Teacher decides the rhythm and music to be practice.
Is notorious that the first to jump on the dance floor are the senior, some are married couples, and some
are ladies dancing with other ladies (about the lack of male). Younger people usually prefers to watch
first at the edge of the room, and that maybe allowed fro the first 10 minutes, but after that, everybody
is dancing.
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Ladies usually transmit their energy smiling, and with some younger men, they orient them about the
cadence.
For first timers this is a difficult experience, because coordination is one of the main problems of why
people don't want to dance (shame).
First timers are usually assigned to veterans. This guidance is very important to give them security.
However, it is amazing how the practice of dancing, greatly enhances the coordination of people (as
they say, even those who have two left feet). A constant person can see these improvements in 2 or 3
months.
Each time a song ends, participants comment if they felt comfortable or any problem arouse at the
dance. If its a difficult piece, it is probable that the same song will repeat 3 or 4 times more.
The teacher usually dedicates a part of the session to introduce a new style or to teach new steps.
The workshops usually get involve in House of culture activities once or twice a year. For these
occasions, the dance group prepares 2-4 dances to show their skills and advances, and these require
rehearse minimum for about a month.
In some groups, they have something similar to a field practice. The group gather in a ballroom and
the objective is to mix with the public and dance. Even some groups organize to attend family parties.
Some anecdotes from the members of the group are related to long term relationships. That is, many of
them know each other for at least 2 or 3 years.

Comments
Learning theories/activities observed:

Constructivism: knowledge is created from genuine experiences.

Active learning: each student is responsible for its own learning and in this case, they do
things (practice their skills all the time).
Scaffolding: primers start with easy basic steps, and they add more to their repertoire as they
assist to more sessions and as they observe other dancers.
Reflection: Taking time to reflect can help you identify approaches that have worked well, and
in that way reinforce good practice. When all the group is involved in a presentation, reflection
is continuous between the participants and with the teacher. Even guests may be involved in the
group's process with a simple do you like it?
Community of practice: passion for dance make this people to practice hard; at the end they
enjoy the music.

About this learning community:

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Gather to make something that you like and share it with others. That is my resume of this
workshop and more important, of this way of life.
Some of these people are related to other dance groups, so sometimes they get invitations to
collaborate in external events.
The environment in the dance groups really re-dignified seniors, as they are seen as experts and
role models.

About my ethnographer experience:

It is very nice to be welcomed as part of the group and allow you to share that time of day that's
fun and hard work.
To follow the group development requires to follow them for a while. Just one session is not
enough to get a clear picture of interactions and what is happening.
It is hard to decide what to observe; do you follow an individual, a group, the whole? What is
important?
It is great to observe something non-academic that its valuable and important to people.