Description of Research Expertise

Areas of Expertise
Qualitative research (ethnography, practitioner research, and phenomenological research)
Applied research in institutional contexts (educational, corporate, and community contexts)
Participatory action research / International research in developing countries
Multicultural teacher and counselor education

Professional Biography
Dr. Ravitch earned her doctorate at Penn GSE, where she was a Dean’s Fellow and Cantor Fitzgerald Fellow in the Education, Culture, and Society Program, combining anthropology, sociology, and education to study race, culture, identity and inequity in schools and society more broadly. Dr. Ravitch’s doctoral work focused on multicultural teacher education with a specific interest in how teachers learn to critically engage with issues of social location, inequity, and pedagogy. In her earlier graduate work, she collaborated in the development of a conceptual framework for the integration of interpretive philosophies into applied development work, with a focus on theory, research, practice integrations (Nakkula & Ravitch, 1998). Dr. Ravitch’s research in institutional ethnography and practice-based inquiry is grounded in her experiences working with a range of educational practitioners and business professionals across these various domains and content areas. Her work integrates across the fields of qualitative research, education, cultural anthropology, psychology and applied development.

Dr. Ravitch is the research co-director at the Center for the Study of Boys’ and Girls’ Lives. She is the principal investigator of several applied development research projects in developing countries including Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Haiti and of two multi-year evaluations and that focus on professional and organizational development in educational and corporate contexts. She currently serves as Senior International Advisor to the Haitian Ministry of Education to work on educational reconstruction in post-earthquake Haiti.

Research Interests and Current Projects

Dr. Ravitch’s research has four main strands: practitioner research, international applied development research, teacher education, and ethnography within and across fields.

1. Practitioner research: Dr. Ravitch’s work in this area uses an applied ethnographic approach to engendering professional and institutional development and change. She is interested in how practitioners learn about inquiry and how they think about and use research in relation to their daily practices, commitments, and goals. Dr. Ravitch teaches and researches with educational and business leaders across the United States and around the world;
2. International applied development research: Dr. Ravitch is the principal investigator of a multi-year study in a rural coffee farm community in Nicaragua. The study combines community and school ethnography, participatory action research, teacher professional development and curriculum design. She also engages in applied research with systematic family therapists and their supervisors in Ecuador and in applied development work focused on leadership development in Haiti;
3. Teacher education: Dr. Ravitch examines the ways that issues of diversity, inequity, and the context of schooling shape urban teachers’ perspectives on their work. She is engaged in collaborative research focused on the role of reflective writing and inquiry groups on teachers’ processes of learning to teach;
4. Ethnography within and across fields: Dr. Ravitch researches issues of methodology, representation, and media influence on ethnography within and across disciplines.

COURSES TAUGHT
EDUC 545: Fieldwork and Mentoring
EDUC 545: Qualitative Research Design
EDUC 545: Qualitative Modes of Inquiry
EDUC 579: Intercultural Communication and Miscommunication
EDUC 621: Doctoral Proseminar in Professional Education
EDUC 665: Research on Teaching
EDUC 668: Master’s Research Seminar
EDUC 672: Introduction to Ethnography and Qualitative Research Methods
EDUC 690: Advanced Professional Development in School Counseling
EDUC 699: Race and Cultural Issues in Urban Education (Teach for America)
EDUC 701: Advanced Research Methods (GSE/Wharton Executive Program in Workplace Learning and Performance Leadership)
EDUC 801: Qualitative Research Methods (Mid-Career Doctorate in Educational Leadership Program)
EDUC 802: Research Proposal and Instrument Design (Mid-Career Doctorate in Educational Leadership Program)