From collecting data to reconstructing teaching practices: the value of informal conversations in ethnography

This study explores the value of informal conversations as an essential technique that disrupts hieratical relationships between researchers and participants, as well to facilitate a process of rethinking and possible transformation. Data is derived from ethnographic fieldwork conducted over a nine-month period in two small rural schools located in Spain. This research forms part of National Research Project ‘Challenging stigmatisation. Creative and inclusive teaching practices with digital media in schools with special difficulties’ (PID2020-112880RB-I00). This article presents an analysis of the role played by informal conversations as an opportunity for the transformation of educational practices from a critical and collaborative perspective. The results illustrate the value of informal conversations for the collection of information and how the feedback acquired through informal conversations during fieldwork can be used to foster reflexivity and transform creative teaching practices.