This study examines thought, language, and related action in sixth-graders working to understand concepts related to mass, volume, and density. Students from a heterogeneous urban classroom worked in various social contexts including individually, in pairs, in groups of four, and as a class. Their work was examined via videotapes, field notes,…

A study investigated the role of the Aboriginal Student Enclave, one of five campuses of Edith Cowan University (Australia) as a discourse community. The relatively small but cohesive university subcommunity is designed to provide additional support for Aboriginal students enrolled in standard programs and an environment in which the students are…

This critical ethnographic study examines the discourse systems experienced by three migrant fifth-grade boys during an apple harvest season in south-central Pennsylvania. Numerous examples reveal the discourse collisions facing these boys, whose home language and culture did not reflect the mainstream, and how dominant mainstream discourses…

Many adult literacy programs invite their clients to become authors by articulating their life experiences, ideas, and opinions in writing that is published. Theoretical perspectives from feminist poststructuralism were used to determine what happened when clients were positioned as authors in light of their identities other than authors. The…

This paper describes a sequence of lessons based on a modified version of the ESS Colored Solutions problem posed in an urban multicultural middle school setting in which students often worked in collaborative groups. As students encountered observable phenomena, they were encouraged to record techniques and observations, search for patterns in…

The relationship between life history, gender, and the discourse of modernization was examined from the perspective of a researcher with extensive experience performing evaluations about modernization within human services in Denmark. Three stories about site-based management in two human service institutionsa youth center and a boarding school…

This document critiques various discourses about mentoring within the context of adult learning environments in general and adult literacy programs in particular. Mentoring is defined as an enabling or developmental relationship that occurs in partnerships wherein experienced individuals kindle knowledge and offer support to protgs in joint…

The National Reading Conference (NRC) Yearbook represents an archive of conference reports that have undergone the rigorous review that research demands, as well as an indicator of topics, ideas and concerns that occupied participants during the annual conference. With this 52nd volume of the Yearbook, the editors hope the reader finds a broad…