Short answer

Design educational experiences that actively involve users in questioning and reshaping their understanding of social constructs like gender and sexuality, rather than simply presenting information.

Field: User-Centred Design
Source: Cadernos de Linguagem e Sociedade (2015)
Method: Collaborative Ethnography
Evidence: Moderate effect

Interventionist ethnography in educational settings can actively challenge and deconstruct ingrained societal views on gender and sexuality by fostering collaborative meaning-making among students and educators. This user-centred design research insight is drawn from a 2015 study published in Cadernos de Linguagem e Sociedade. Using Collaborative ethnography, researchers explored how this design variable affects real-world outcomes. The key design takeaway: Design educational experiences that actively involve users in questioning and reshaping their understanding of social constructs like gender and sexuality, rather than simply presenting information.

Study

User-Centred DesignHigh ImpactModerate effect

Decentering Gender and Sexuality: Collaborative Ethnography Fosters New Perspectives

Cadernos de Linguagem e Sociedade · 2015

Key Findings

01Classroom literacy practices can be designed to 'de-ground' certainties about gender and sexuality.
02Participants' engagement with media texts and hybridity facilitated the negotiation of new perspectives.
03Microsociological encounters reveal that social meanings are not passively imposed but actively lived and performed.
04Tenuous voicing contrasts, indexed by register use, demonstrate a performative flux in understanding.

Application

Design takeaway

Design educational experiences that actively involve users in questioning and reshaping their understanding of social constructs like gender and sexuality, rather than simply presenting information.

How to apply

When designing educational materials or programs that address sensitive social topics, incorporate elements that encourage critical thinking, diverse viewpoints, and active participation from users in constructing their understanding.

Project actions

01Consider how your design project can encourage users to question existing assumptions.
02Explore the use of diverse media or hybrid forms to present information in new ways.
03Think about how to create a collaborative environment for your design process.

Method & Evidence

AimHow can collaborative ethnography, utilizing media texts and hybridity, decenter commonsense views of gender and sexuality within a school literacy context?

MethodCollaborative Ethnography

ProcedureResearchers and a classroom teacher engaged 5th-grade students in history lessons, using media texts and hybridity to challenge conventional understandings of gender and sexuality. The process involved participants jointly deconstructing certainties and negotiating new perspectives through 'trans-experiences' and dramatizing social voices.

ContextBrazilian state school history classes

Variables

IV["Interventionist collaborative ethnography","Use of media texts and radical hybridity"]

DV["Decentering commonsense views of gender and sexuality","Promotion of new perspectives for social life","Performative flux in understanding"]

CV["Specific literacy context (history classes)","5th-grade students","Classroom teacher and researchers"]

Strengths & Limitations

Strengths

+Employs a rigorous ethnographic methodology.
+Focuses on active user participation and co-construction of meaning.
+Addresses a socially relevant and complex topic.

Limitations

The effectiveness of this approach may depend heavily on the facilitator's skills and the specific cultural context of the participants.

Reliability & validity

The study's validity is strengthened by its microanalytical approach to capturing subtle linguistic cues. Reliability might be enhanced in future studies by using multiple coders for the analysis of 'voicing contrasts'.

Think critically

To what extent can design interventions truly 'decenter' deeply ingrained social beliefs, and what are the ethical considerations when attempting to influence users' perspectives on sensitive topics?

Design Principles

"Facilitate critical dialogue and perspective negotiation through participatory design and diverse media engagement."

This research highlights the power of participatory design and research within educational contexts to shift perspectives. By involving users (students) and facilitators (teachers, researchers) in actively questioning and renegotiating established norms, design interventions can create spaces for more inclusive and nuanced understandings of complex social issues.

What This Means for Your Design

This study shows that by working together in a classroom, using different media, teachers and students can question and change how they think about gender and sexuality, making people more open to different ideas.

How to use in your project

1.Reference this study when discussing the importance of user involvement in challenging social norms or when exploring the use of media in design for social impact.

Add to My Project

Quick Cite

Paragraph starter

This research by Fabrício and da Moita Lopes (2015) suggests that interventionist ethnography within educational settings can effectively decenter commonsense views on gender and sexuality. By employing collaborative practices, media texts, and hybridity, participants actively negotiated new perspectives, demonstrating that social meanings are not fixed but are dynamically performed and can be reshaped through critical engagement and microsociological encounters.

Source

Cadernos de Linguagem e Sociedade

TV-school hybrid literacy practices as sites for making another logic possible: voicing contrasts that promote gender and sexuality trans-experiences

journal · 2015

View source

Questions About This Research

What does the research say about decentering gender and sexuality: collaborative ethnography fosters new perspectives?: Design educational experiences that actively involve users in questioning and reshaping their understanding of social constructs like gender and sexuality, rather than simply presenting information. Evidence: Cadernos de Linguagem e Sociedade (2015).
Why does "Decentering Gender and Sexuality: Collaborative Ethnography Fosters New Perspectives" matter for design?: This research highlights the power of participatory design and research within educational contexts to shift perspectives. By involving users (students) and facilitators (teachers, researchers) in actively questioning and renegotiating established norms, design interventions can create spaces for more inclusive and nuanced understandings of complex social issues.
How can designers apply this research?: Design educational experiences that actively involve users in questioning and reshaping their understanding of social constructs like gender and sexuality, rather than simply presenting information.
What were the main findings?: Classroom literacy practices can be designed to 'de-ground' certainties about gender and sexuality.. Participants' engagement with media texts and hybridity facilitated the negotiation of new perspectives.. Microsociological encounters reveal that social meanings are not passively imposed but actively lived and performed.. Tenuous voicing contrasts, indexed by register use, demonstrate a performative flux in understanding.
What research method was used?: Collaborative Ethnography.
How strong is the evidence?: Evidence strength is rated Moderate effect, based on a 2015 journal from Cadernos de Linguagem e Sociedade.
What should I do differently in my next project?: When designing educational materials or programs that address sensitive social topics, incorporate elements that encourage critical thinking, diverse viewpoints, and active participation from users in constructing their understanding.
What are the limitations?: The study is specific to a Brazilian context and may not be directly generalizable without adaptation. The long-term impact of such interventions on participants' views requires further investigation.