Ethnographic fieldwork is subject to a number of tensions regarding the position of the researcher. Traditionally, these are discussed from a methodological perspective, and draw attention to issues such as "objectivity" of the research and the supposed need for "distance" in the process of knowledge-building. Approaching the…

This paper argues that there is merit in the study of students' identity constructions as a means of understanding inequalities in schooling outcomes. However, the effectiveness of such accounts remains limited by the hiatus between the identity theories deployed in research studies and the empirical data used to illuminate such theories. The…

The work of John Furlong on school and classroom ethnography is located in its context and its achievements celebrated. The paper focuses on class, ethnicity and gender issues as it explores the changes and continuities in the ethnography of education over the 66-year period covered. The qualities of a good ethnographer are playfully compared to…

Based on ethnographic field research at the Miraikan National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo, this article uses the "Hands-on Model of the Internet" in the Future, Innovation, and Society section of the museum as a case study in the various issues related to effective public engagement in science museums. Museum…

This article presents narratives of 2 women faculty of color, 1 early career Latina and the other tenured Asian American woman, regarding their ontological and epistemological struggles in academia, as well as the hope, impetus, and strategies for change that they constructed together. Drawing on a critical pedagogy perspective, mentoring is…

Research indicates that inner-city neighborhood effects are correlated with school dropout, substance abuse, crime, violence, homicide, HIV risk related behaviors, and incarceration for adolescent African American males. Parents of adolescent African American males face many challenges as they try to keep their children safe in high-risk…

In this closing essay, Lois Weis offers a broad overview of the contributions of this Special Issue on class production in elite secondary schools in the twenty-first-century global context. Drawing upon her own research within US privileged secondary schools, Weis explores the contemporary social, economic and political landscape as connected to…

The aim of this article is to describe and analyse learning processes among bodybuilders in bodybuilding environments, focusing on the ways activities form the basis for incorporation of both physical and cultural knowledge. Emanating from an ethnographic study, the arguments are based on a constructionist approach to knowledge. The result…

Research demonstrates how enjoyable and meaningful learning is for children when there is smooth transition between home and classroom. This autoethnographic research used in-depth interviews and observations to examine the Ethiopian people's spiritual centered lifestyle at home and whether this style is carried into science classes in the…

This paper presents a summary of preliminary findings regarding the perceptions of the legitimacy and quality of the higher education (HE) student experience through the lens of those studying animal/equine studies foundation degrees and BSc degrees within a small, ostensibly further education (FE) land-based college setting. As part of a PhD…

How can scholars trace the global production and circulation of educational policies? The vertical case study incorporates three elements: "vertical" attention across micro-, meso-, and macro-levels, or scales; a "horizontal" comparison of how policies unfold in distinct locations; and a "transversal," processual…

Educational research is increasingly turning to conceptual frameworks from a range of disciplines in order to enrich understandings of education, pedagogy and learning. This paper draws on the work of Henri Lefebvre, specifically rhythmanalysis, to explore the nature and the function of pedagogy. The context is an ethnographic study of parenting…

A policy consensus has emerged in Australia that there is a workforce literacy and numeracy crisis, similar to many other Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. The study informing this paper examined this framing of crisis by interviewing and observing production workers in three manufacturing companies. Each company was…

Choice of a new president is a decision of great importance to individuals within the organization and to the community the college serves. An issue in the search process is the continued domination of presidential candidates by Whites, particularly White males, contrary to changing demographics of student and national populations. For the most…

In early childhood education, children's daily practice revolves to a great extent around order and discipline. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork from a Swedish preschool class, the present study further explores how the task of being a teacher's assistant can be critically understood in terms of how gender, discipline and order are expressed in…