Social Capital of Researchers: Hurdle or Handle?

Scottish Educational Research Association Annual Conference Perth 27th -29th November 2008 Social and Professional Capital--hurdle or handle? A discussion paper

Paper 28

The case study Social Capital of Refugee Pupils was conducted as part of the Schools and Social Capital network within the Applied Education Research Scheme (AERS). The researchers investigated in one primary and one secondary school in Glasgow. Both schools have GASSP units (Glasgow Asylum Seekers' Support Project) to support refugee children. The project investigated if and how Social Capital was built and used in schools to enable effective education and integration of refugee pupils.The team adopted an Ethnographic approach to the research and used a range of methods including observations, fieldnotes, interviews and photography.Although the project’s focus was on the refugee children, the team discovered that the researcher’s own social capital played a significant role in accessing and collecting data. Entering and negotiating the field was accompanied by very different experiences for the researchers dependent on their own Social Capital. The team conducting the research included a PhD student, an established teacher educator and a well respected local teacher. The significance of the issues occurring have merited further investigation and discussionThe Social Capital of the researcher appears to act as either a hurdle or a door opener (handle) to the field. The differing Social Capital of the researchers has had an influence on the conduct of the fieldwork. The paper addresses different approaches to the field and the impact of the researcher’s Social Capital on the conduct of the research.