Focuses on the role of overhearer participation in kindergarten students' learning to write. Uses E. Goffman's notion of the participation framework as a linguistic structure that organizes, and is organized by, talk and interaction in activity. Discusses how shifts in participation roles contribute to text construction using data drawn from an…

Compares the qualitative method of grounded theory (GT) with Ranganathan's construction of faceted classifications (FC) in library and information science. Both struggle with a core problem--the representation of vernacular words and processes, empirically discovered, which will, although ethnographically faithful, be powerful beyond the single…

Reflects on a researcher's journey while embarking on a study that was political in its intentions and participatory in its orientation. Discusses a doctoral-research study that was a critical ethnography of a school and community engaged in a socially critical approach to environmental education. (Author/CCM)

Describes a fieldwork training school for graduate students sponsored by the University of Georgia (UGA). Bringing graduate students to the summer program at the school gives school organizers new perspectives on their own work, surroundings, and relationships. (SLD)

Explores the convergence between projects in ethnographic research and composition pedagogy that emphasize the critical power of experience. Argues that critical ethnography and pedagogy need to redefine "experience" and its function for research and teaching and that composition can help this redefinition by looking for ways to build…

Social Uses of Literacy project in South Africa interviewed Xhosa-speaking and Afrikaans-speaking blacks. Results showed divergent opinions about schooling and multiple ways of communicating without schooling. Results should be used to inform national policy about school restructuring and the National Qualifications Framework. (SK)

An ethnographic study of Kalhor nomads in Iran showed that the government's top-down approach to development and weak local institutions obscure the impact of technology on women and poor people. Despite rhetoric about participation, these groups are not consulted about their needs, priorities, and interests. (SK)

An ethnographic study of organizational change in a bank considered issues surrounding virtual teamwork in virtual organizations. Problems in communication, management control, and approach to customer service were found. An underlying cause is that "virtual" work involves "real" customers, workers, and problems. (Contains 36 references.) (SK)

Examines theoretical and methodological concerns of the new ethnographic writing, analyzing writing practices of both professional anthropologists and student ethnographers who undertake ethnographic research as part of a modern languages degree course in universities in the United Kingdom. Emphasis is on qualitative writing as a heuristic…

Offers a response to Kristi Yager's critical interpretation of the author's book about his teaching of freshman composition. Argues that his classroom practices, as he would represent them, do not constitute "shaming," which he regards as necessarily negative. (TB)

Describes children's participating in dramatic play activities that are teacher or peer governed. Illustrates children's use of cultural symbols as material for story construction and social affiliation. Argues for a literacy curriculum in which cultural symbols are open to critical examination. (Author/SK)

Examines Shirley Brice Heath's letters and other materials at the time she was researching "Ways with Words." Finds that "Ways with Words" can most fruitfully be read as a story of the persistence of prejudice, suggesting the failure of the arguments in favor of desegregation to broker lasting reforms toward equity. (SC)

Describes the process that two professors used to help their graduate students begin to study their respective practices through ethnographic teacher-research. Notes that the systematic and intentional inquiry of teacher-research provided a relevant context for investigation of teaching and learning about literacy. Describes their processes of…

Provides a description of passing for a native speaker as a form of second language (L2) ability. Discusses ethnographic research into success in second language learning and explains why other approaches tend to identify a significantly lower incidence of high-level achievement. Data suggest age of exposure to the target language is less crucial…

Describes having students conduct micro-ethnographic research projects, in which students study how participants construct the meanings of social practices in the worlds of school, home, peer group, or various virtual worlds. Discusses research procedures, adopting a cultural perspective, selecting research topics, becoming a participant observer,…