From: Eugene Matusov
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Date: 25 Oct 1996
Time: 14:44:26
Hi Annie, Ed, and everybody--
I agree with Ed that "Next, I believe that there is going to be some variability in the context at Barrios Unidos each time you go, in terms of the mood the kids are in, and even in terms of how you and your fellow students are in. Thus, at times you may feel and actually experience allot of interaction with kids. However, at other times, you may be in a position that calls for you to sit back, observe, and reflect on what you are seeing. Lets see what Pablo, Eugene, and other students say. Nice discussion topic."
I believe that there is no strict boundary between observation and participation (there are different for of each other), but sometimes there is more observant participantion, sometimes there is more participating observation. Feel free to experiment with that as well as contextualize in ongoing events and moods of the participants (including your own). Also let's report on your observations and finding wile changing format of your participation, OK?
Eugene