Entering and Observing in Children's Worlds: A Reflection on a Longitudinal Ethnography of Early Education in Italy

Introduction In this chapter we evaluate theoretical and methodological issues in conducting longitudinal ethnographies of young children. We do this by reflecting on and examining field entry and data collection in the initial phase of our recent study of children's transition from preschool to elementary school in Modena, Italy. The following vignette based on field notes from Bill Corsaro's earlier research in Bologna, Italy serves to introduce the goals of our discussion in this chapter.