Galloway Ethnography -- 1

A Quasi-Ethnographic Study of Galloway School

Mark McCandless

EAS 765 – Dr. Joe A. Richardson

March 11, 1987
 Galloway Ethnography -- 2

Introduction
Ethnography is the purview of the cultural anthropologist who might define it as an attempt to
describe the regularities of social behavior of any social group forming an entity that is governed by custom
and to describe those regularities from the perspective of the insider. An anthropologist conducts an
ethnographic study by being a participant-observer and by bringing an explicit and implicit questioning
process to his or her observations that is based on past professional experience and knowledge of the
anthropological literature. Experience and knowledge encompass a variety of methods as well as
ethnology, which provides a broad, comparative understanding of how diverse peoples in many cultures do
things.
In ethnography, one question leads to another question and to another, ad infinitum. There is never
full closure, but rather only the sense that enough questions have been asked and answered to represent the
studied group both holistically and heuristically. In an ideal ethnographic study, assertions at high orders of
abstraction are supported by levels of evidence down to and including specific observed behaviors. The
fundamental question asked by the ethnographer is, “why is it this way and not some other way?” From
this superquestion come macroquestions such as, “how is status determined within social groupings?” And
from macroquestions come a multitude of questions and microquestions, for example, “how does winning a
national mathematics contest affect the way a female high school student is perceived by her English
teacher?”
An ethnographer working within the broad framework of his or her own society is at a
disadvantage compared to someone who studies exotic peoples in faraway places. Working in his or her
own society, the anthropologist possesses too much emic, or insider knowledge; he or she must
systematically strip away assumptions that may have been held, unexamined, since childhood. To be able to
ask the most basic questions, such an ethnographer must act as if he or she has only etic, or outsider
knowledge. This involves, in Ruth Benedict’s succinct phrase, “making the familiar strange.” There are,
however, decided advantages to being an insider-ethnographer. The insider may have entries into parts of
his or her society that could never be gained were he or she an outsider; no so-called gatekeeper is needed.
In addition, he or she has an intuitive check on informant reliability.
Ethnographic studies conducted within schools offer valuable insights into the diverse cultures that
meet and interact in the schoolhouse. The ethnographer must ask the following questions: what is my point
of view, and how did I arrive at it; what is my level of participation; what have I included and what have I
left out; what parts of the society of the school have I been excluded from and why; what are my biases
with respect to the facets of the school society that I know? To be even moderately successful, perhaps the
insider ethnographer must be passionately dispassionate, must struggle to maintain disciplined subjectivity.
In many respects, a school is like Malinowski’s classic Trobriand Island village. It has social and
political organization; members of the community carry on economic activities and possess a belief system.
In a school, as in island culture, subgroups clash and interact (examples of acculturation); new members –
teachers, students and parents – are enculturated into local mores; nativistic movements arise and fade
 Galloway Ethnography -- 3

within a school. Despite broad areas of similarity between school and Trobriand tribal culture, however, the
analogy breaks down. The school is embedded in a larger American society which is, itself, pluralistic. It
does not operate twenty-four hours a day, and the majority of its members are formally involved in school
for only nine or ten months of the year. In the Trobriand village, social organization is rooted in kinship,
whereas in the school, status and social organization come from a complex interplay of factors including
individual personality, explicit and implicit roles, formal training and seniority. School is not an all-
encompassing, cradle-to-grave phenomenon, but it is an interesting place with much that is worth studying
from the perspective offered by anthropology.
I am an insider-ethnography at Galloway School. I have worked there for five-and-a-half years as
a teacher and as a principal. I am clearly an insider, notwithstanding that many of my colleagues have been
at the school since its inception in 1969. I am also an anthropologist by intellectual disposition and by
formal training (an undergraduate major, a year of graduate work, as well as ongoing study and reading in
order to strengthen my teaching of anthropology to high school students). I do not claim to be objective in
my ethnographic description of Galloway School, but I will struggle to maintain disciplined subjectivity. I
have reflected on my perspective, and I have asked the appropriate questions before embarking on this
study. I think, to paraphrase (or parody) Socrates, that the unexamined job is not worth doing. It is my
intention to examine my position from the anthropological vantage point that forms the basis of my
rationale for presenting my observations as a quasi-ethnographic study of Galloway School.
Social and Political Organization
The four interacting subcultures that make up Galloway School are as follows: administrator
subculture, teacher subculture, parent subculture, and student subculture. Individual members of the
Galloway community may be in two or more cultures at the same time. For example, the Headmaster and
and Upper Learning and Middle Learning principles are also teachers; some teachers are also parents, and
several teachers have roles as administrators; some students act as teachers. In general, individuals view the
school and events associated with it through the lens of their own subculture. Other groups that make up
Galloway School include counselors, librarians, board members (most of whom are parents), alumni,
grandparents, business office and clerical staff (some of whom are parents), and maintenance or janitorial
staff.
The Headmaster of Galloway, John Elliott Galloway, is the chief administrator of the school. Mr.
Galloway, a retired naval officer, is the founder of the school, and many of his personal ideas about
education and schooling are reflected in the belief system of Galloway school and are embedded in its
official philosophy. The administrative hierarchy, under the Headmaster, consists of an Assistant
Headmaster and three principals. Galloway School is structured in three learning levels. The first is Early
Learning and is for 250 children, ages two through ten, with sixteen lead teachers and fourteen assistant
teachers, one part-time counselor and an Early Learning Principal. Two of the teachers – for art and
physical education – work part time. In addition, the music teacher, the band teacher, and one librarian
work in Early Learning but divide the remainder of their time among other learning levels. The second
 Galloway Ethnography -- 4

learning level, Middle Learning, is for 100 children, ages ten through thirteen, and has five assistant
teachers and five lead teachers, one of whom teaches advanced Latin in Upper Learning. One teacher is
also the Middle Learning Principal. In addition, there are part-time art and music teachers and a physical
education teacher who is both Upper Learning Athletic Director and boys soccer and basketball coach. The
third level at Galloway School is Upper Learning and is for 170 students, ages thirteen through eighteen.
There are nineteen Upper Learning teachers, four of whom work part time. The typing teacher is also a
school secretary, and one teacher (ego) is the Upper Learning Principal. Upper Learning has one part-time
counselor and shares a second counselor with Middle Learning. Middle Learning and Upper Learning
coaches come from all three levels of the school.
Lines between learning levels are not completely clearly drawn, as can be seen from the
enumeration and jobs of the teachers. Most full-time staff and faculty have more than a single job; it may
be coaching, department head in Upper Learning, director of admissions, director of the after school
program, or instructional duties at a second level or even all three learning levels. Secretaries serve as
receptionists, typists, bookkeepers, registrars, and nurses; the individual in charge of public relations has
some secretarial duties. One principal supervises maintenance and one (ego) has partial responsibility for
curriculum planning. Galloway School has a total of three librarians, one of whom works part time. The
business manager oversees all income from tuition and donations, handles employees’ salaries and benefits,
and takes care of purchasing for the entire school. Galloway School employs three custodians, one in a
physical plant manager capacity, and a groundskeeper.
Most of the positions listed above, including the level principalships, do not have formal job
descriptions. The absence of formality leads to both redundancies and gaps in responsibilities; however, the
overall organization is small enough, and communication of sufficient scope – that is, people in different
jobs and at different learning levels actually talk to one another – that the lacunae are keep to a minimum.
Principals are instructional supervisors, evaluators of teacher performance, communicators with parents,
managers of the day-to-day operation of their levels, and coordinators between levels. In addition,
principals select personnel – although the Headmaster has final authority for both hiring and separation.
The Assistant headmaster is primarily responsible for fundraising and alumni matters as well as for teacher
certification. The Headmaster, being responsible for the entire school, does many of the things the level
principals do, including dealing with parents, but he also raises money for the school and coordinates long-
range goals and planning. Much of the whole school planning takes place during weekly meetings of the
Headmaster, Assistant Headmaster, the three level principals, and the full-time counselor. These meeting
function to set school calendars, to share concerns that affect other levels, to review meetings of the Board
of Trustees, to strategize about the implementation of policy, to foster inter-level communications, and to
provide mutual support. These meetings are collegial and democratic, although the Headmaster exercises
considerable control. Level faculties meet approximately every other week to discuss concerns that are
specific to their level. These concerns include but are not restricted to the following: evaluating individual
students, policies and procedures, scheduling events, and curriculum planning. Each level faculty meeting
 Galloway Ethnography -- 5

is chaired by the level principal and is largely democratic. Most decisions that fall within the purview of the
level faculties are arrived at consensually.
There are no teacher organizations at Galloway School. Teachers communicate problems and
needs through their level principal and sometimes directly to the Headmaster. Socializing among teachers
occurs mostly during school hours (8:15 am to 3:15 pm or to 6:30 pm for the after school program),
although there are several events during the year at which teachers in voluntary attendance have
opportunities to socialize. There are friendships among teachers within learning levels and a few between
Middle Learning teachers and Upper Learning teachers; some of these relationships are carried on outside
of school. Early Learning teachers are physically separated from the faculties of Middle and Upper
Learning, although there are occasional chances for socializing. Early Learning has its own coffee service
and its own duplicating machines (photocopy and ditto); both coffee and copying provide socialization
opportunities. Early Learning teachers are more classroom-bound than teachers at other levels because of
the ages of the children they teach. The general sense that Early Learning is a thing apart is engendered by
the developmental level of the children it serves, by its parent population, and by the leadership and
leadership style of its principal. The entire faculty has socializing opportunities at several junctures; these
include the teacher appreciation luncheon that is put on by the Parents Association and the headmaster’s
annual holiday party.
Newly hired teachers find no formal structure their orientation and inculcation into the belief
system of Galloway School. It is the responsibility of level principals to accustom new teachers to the
school, but the loose-knit organizational structure and the fact that much of the value system of the school –
The Galloway Way – is implicit make this difficult. Each of the principals handles enculturation differently,
working more or less closely with new teachers; however, the total period of adjustment for new teachers
may be as much as three years. Adding to the difficulty and ambiguity faced by a teacher new to Galloway
School is the relative reserve of the faculty as an entity – individual openness, helpfulness, and friendliness
notwithstanding. There is comparatively low teacher turnover at Galloway School at all levels. The fact that
most teachers have been at the school for many years (teachers who have been at the school since its
beginning are referred to by a Naval term, plank-holders) contributes to the sense of shared purpose among
senior faculty but also to the perception by new teachers that the old-timers are stand-offish.
While all parents of Galloway students are automatically members of the Galloway School parents
Association, the numbers who are active in the school community are comparatively small, on the order of
one parent in ten. Some parents, those with sufficient time to devote to the task (almost half of Galloway
mothers are homemakers), serve on the steering committee which exercises organizational control over the
Parents Association. In addition, individual parents and groups of parents manage fundraising activities
such as a wrapping paper sale, a book fair, a fun run and road race, and an annual white elephant sale.
Money earned by these events is earmarked by the Parents Association for the purchase of durable goods
for the school (computers, copy machines, library books, and science equipment) and for student
scholarships. Individual parents are involved with the running of the school store that sells school supplies
 Galloway Ethnography -- 6

and Galloway memorabilia, with annual giving fundraising, and with the capital campaign to raise money
to build new facilities for the school. Within the steering committee of the Parents Association, there are at
least two informal factions. One group is made up of parents of Early Learning students who are
comparatively new to the school community and who are, themselves, fairly young; the other is composed,
for the most part, of older parents of older students whose commitment to Galloway is of long standing.
Each faction, without any open declaration of intent, watches out for the interests (viz., percentage of the
Parents Association money spent) of the learning level of its members’ children. The annual cycle at
Galloway School includes a teacher appreciation luncheon and a party at which parents and teachers may
interact socially. In addition, each learning level invites parents to the school for an open house; these serve
as a medium for communication between parents and teachers.
The Board of Trustees of Galloway School consists of between 15 and 25 members (currently,
there are 23) and it has a Chairman, a President who is also the Headmaster, one or more Vice-Presidents, a
Secretary, and a Treasurer. Members of the Board of Trustees are elected, serve three year terms and may
be on one or more of six standing committees (Nominating Committee, Education Committee,
Development Committee, Executive Committee, Finance Committee, and Building and Grounds
Committee). The Board of Trustees meets four times a year to discuss and decide issues relating to all
aspects of the organization of Galloway school. Individual member’s influence depends on a variety of
factors, including broad social contacts, personal leadership ability, and length of association with
Galloway School.
Student social organization at Galloway School has two major facets. One is the makeup of the
student population and its interactions within the school (and to some extent without the school). The other
is the formal organization, the degree to which students influence the operation of the school through
circumscribed channels. Some administrators and faculty members at Galloway School characterize the
student population by saying that there is no typical Galloway student, but rather, that each student is an
individual(ist). This is patently true of any collection of human beings, yet even at Galloway School,
apparent types occur. These types are most discernable at the Upper Learning level when students begin to
take on their identities as separate from their parents’, when they both dress themselves and buy their own
clothes, and when their interests and tastes begin to stabilize. Since Galloway School is philosophically
committed to allowing students to express individuality within acceptable limits (whatever that means),
there exists no explicit dress code for Upper Learning students. It is very risky to assume that dress,
hairstyle, and adornment reflect some broader social meaning – status, anti-status, political inclination, or
predilection to drug use. In Upper Learning, there are students whose chief interest is in participatory
athletics. There are some students whose chief interest in one form or another of rock music. There are a
few students who come to school dressed mostly in black. There are, in Upper Learning, some young
women who dress and make themselves up according to the latest vogue. There are some students who may
use marijuana or cocaine or alcohol more than once a week, and there are some who would not touch drugs
whatever the incentives to do so are. There are a few students who spend at least an hour a day working on
 Galloway Ethnography -- 7

computers. There students who are sexually active. In Upper Learning, there are students who are
passionate about sports cars or expensive European sedans. There are students who would rather make
pottery or paint or play a musical instrument or sing or dance or ride horses or motorcycles than anything
else. In the end, stereotypes prove useless as social tools and predictive tools.
Socializing among students takes place between classes and often within classes; during lunch and
during what the faculty calls study periods and the students refer to as free periods. During each of the
seven periods of the Upper Learning day, there are at least some students using the halls for socializing and
studying and using the library for studying. In the periods around lunchtime (11:20 am until 1:15 pm) many
students use the halls for eating and socializing. Different groupings – some by age and some by common
interests – stake out different parts of the hallway. Galloway School maintains neither a cafeteria nor a
lunchroom, leaving younger students two options: eat in the halls or eat outside. Students in their
sophomore year and above, with their parents’ written consent, may leave campus during periods in which
they do not have a class. It is a common practice among students to leave school to go to local restaurants
to eat and, often, to bring back takeout for their peers or younger associates. Many friendships develop
during school hours, some of which are carried on outside of school as well. However, because students
live in scattered locations throughout the northern half of metropolitan Atlanta, relatively little socializing
occurs during the evenings or on weekends. Male-female friendships develop during school and flourish,
often briefly, outside of school.
The student forum for influencing school policy is the Student Association, and it is fairly
circumscribed. Student Association is made up of students from each of the five classes of Upper Learning
(Pre-Upper, Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior classes). There are a total of 21 students, four each
from the younger classes and five from the Senior class. Student Association members, by their own
consensus, are appointed by the faculty for one year terms. They elect their own President, Vice-President,
Secretary, and Treasurer, and they form several committees, including entertainment, service, and prom
committees. The Student Association meets with its two faculty sponsors on a weekly basis to discuss
fundraising activities and plans. There is no Student Association charter, although the members believe they
need one. All of the Student Association activities are subject to the approval of the Upper Learning
Principal and, indirectly, to the Headmaster. One of the perceived functions of the Student Association is to
build student morale; this is attempted through sponsored dances, student town meetings – in which the
entire student body gathers in the school courtyard – for presentations, discussions, and events such as an
Arbor Day tree planting. The Student Association promotes service activities designed to benefit the school
and the larger community.
Throughout the school year, Upper Learning students, and sometimes Middle Learning and Early
Learning students as well, gather in the courtyard of Galloway School for town meetings or assemblies.
These meetings are planned by the faculty, the administration, or the Student Association, and they serve
the following functions: exchange of information pertinent to all students (for example, to welcome
students back to school in the fall and to inform them of any changes that have transpired over the
 Galloway Ethnography -- 8

summer), entertainment by various dramatic or musical groups, and honors presentations (Galloway School
recognizes students with awards for academic, artistic and athletic excellence, and for outstanding service
to the community.). Any student is welcome to speak at a town meeting; however, it is rare that a student
who is not on the formal program for the meeting speaks up. Upper Learning students may air grievances
or voice concerns to the Student Association, to the counselor or any teacher, and to both their Principal and
the Headmaster.
Galloway School exists to teach children and young adults the skills, concepts, and facts they will
need to pursue college education (nearly 100% of graduates attend some college) and to function in
American society. All of the activities that go on in carrying out this purpose take place in a social context.
It is, therefore, impossible to view the educational process as separate from its social embeddedness.
Economics
Economic activity is seen by Westerners as anything having to do with the exchange of money;
however, the ethnographer sees economics as encompassing any exchange of goods or services. Galloway
School takes in money from tuition and from fundraising and donations. The school also receives volunteer
labor and gifts-in-kind. The chief economic activity of the school is the exchange of knowledge for tuition
paid and for student labor. Parents pay as much as $4345.00 per year so that their children may attend
Galloway School. Teachers are paid salaries for their services as teachers. However, much that is economic
in nature takes place outside of the direct exchange medium – dollars for knowledge. Teachers work with
students beyond the formal hours of the school day, and they spend time in the evening preparing lessons
and correcting student work; students spend hours poring over books and class notes, and some students
volunteer their time and labor for the benefit of the school (for example, by acting as timers and station
monitors for the Galloway Road Race). Parents work at the school gratis, at a variety of tasks. The
economic activity of the school is inherent in its social and political organization.
Belief System
The belief system of Galloway School is both individual and collective; that is, individuals bring
to it their own experiences, ideas, and interpretations. The belief system – sometimes referred to as The
Galloway Way – is multifaceted and complex and consists of written dogma and a folk philosophy that is
nearly the magnitude of myth. Further, the belief system helps to define the organization by expressing
principles of valuation, rules of logic, and causal relationships. The belief system predicts and underlies
outcomes.
The official philosophy of Galloway School follows (from Self-Study, 1985, p. 35):
The Galloway School is dedicated to developing academic excellence, self-reliance, critical
thinking… , discipline, self-respect and respect for others within an atmosphere of personal
attention and encouragement. We value the uniqueness of each person and assume the
responsibility to help each student reach his or her potential. We believe that the student can
share the excitement and joy of the process of development and of the opportunity to risk and
explore. We hope that the experience at Galloway stimulates a life-long interest in learning.
These carefully chosen words were written by a committee of teachers and administrators, parents, and
students as part of a school self-study for renewing Galloway School’s accreditation by the Southern
 Galloway Ethnography -- 9

Association of Colleges and Schools. Key words and phrases – for the most part, emic terms) have been
emphasized.
The following are quotes of Elliott Galloway that embody the folk philosophy of the school:
“Learning how to learn is what school’s all about; it’s what Galloway is all about.” – from a
school publicity brochure.
“Education is a continuous process.” – from a speech to a group of parents.
“You’ve got to understand that you can’t have freedom without responsibility.” – from a talk to a
group of students.
“If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.” – as quoted from his father.
“You can do Algebra I in three months or in three years as long as you master the material.” – to
a student in the presence of his parents.
“We will proceed on that with all deliberate speed.” – in reference to a minor crisis.
“It’s not going to rain.” – before a presentation in the school courtyard.
“If you put a bunch of kids together without a responsible adult, they’re going to kill each other.”
– to a teacher about to embark on a fieldtrip.
“Do these four things, and you can become anyone you want to: read for an hour a day, behave
yourself and try, take responsibility for your own education, and take responsibility for your own life.” – to
a student.
“In the Navy, we had a couple of words for that: scuttlebutt and @&#!.” – in reference to a rumor.

Each of these statements has been frequently used, sometimes in different contexts to make a
point, sometimes to allude to a larger truth. As with homilies, in general, there is a great deal of wisdom
couched in these expressions. Elliott Galloway uses his large repertoire of wise sayings as a foreshortened
way of communicating with diverse audiences. Because of his age and stature, his words are usually well
received.
The Galloway School logo pictures two children, a boy and a girl, standing next to one another;
their round heads – presumably full or filling up – form the two O’s of Galloway School. The school is also
symbolized by the old school bell in the courtyard that is used to call town meetings and on other
ceremonial occasions (for example, to call parents and others together during open houses or to
commemorate the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.). One Upper Learning student coined the following
expression: “Galloway school, where the ordinary is impossible and the impossible is ordinary.” The boys
soccer and basketball teams, who have no formal mascot or moniker, have named themselves the Freebirds,
a name with no official recognition (other mascots have been suggested; the Owls, for example, connoting
wisdom).
Students state that they like to come to school at Galloway School. They appreciate the
atmosphere of tolerance, but often construe the much touted freedom at Galloway School to mean freedom
from something (parents, restrictive rules, or peer pressure) rather than freedom to strive for something
(excellence, self-actualization, or truth). Most students are only partially inculcated into the belief system of
the school, particularly those aspects of the system that stress responsibility and respect for others, although
most do make progress toward a balance of freedom and responsibility during their sojourn at Galloway
School. The students’ understanding of the philosophy of the school is quite varied, but most individual
students can articulate parts of the whole. What a student deems important enough to internalize is both
interesting and instructive.
 Galloway Ethnography -- 10

Conclusion
Galloway School is a loosely-coupled organization made up of diverse subcultures communicating
with each other imperfectly. Yet I am struck by the good will that pervades the school. Each subculture sees
what it wants to in Galloway School and muddles through, often helping and rarely hindering others. There
is something quite beautiful and different at Galloway School, even though the beauty is sometimes lost on
those who would see only that it is different.
As I immersed myself in this writing project, I realized that I had taken on a huge task. What has
emerged is, at most, a quasi-ethnographic study of Galloway School, incomplete and fraught with emic
terms. Whether I ever attempt to complete the ethnography, I can not help seeing the school from the
anthropological perspective.
 Galloway Ethnography -- 11

References
Erickson, F. 1984. What makes school ethnography ‘ethnographic’? Anthropology and Education
Quarterly. 15(1):51-66.

Self-Study. 1984. The Galloway School Self-Study. 1983-84. The Galloway School.