The methodology and problems of research on cross-age tutoring are reported. Using a phenomenological framework, the two researchers involved in the study worked toward a research method and design that would account for the backgrounds of both; one was trained in the quantifiable methods of natural science, the other in qualitative methods of…

An ethnographic study explored to what extent Trial Practice facilitates interpersonal skill development. Subjects, nine third-year law students enrolled at a large midwestern university law school, were observed over the course of a semester. Data collection included personal observations, informal interviews, fieldnotes, tape-recordings of…

The development of critical ethnography in education is traced, and the central epistemological and methodological issues in the practice of critical ethnography are discussed. Some of the directions the field appears to be taking are considered. Critical ethnography in education began in the late 1960's and early 1970's, with roots in the…

This article presents ethnographic data to elaborate the nature of teacher resistance and accommodation to the structural context of schooling, and it illustrates the dynamics of group solidarity among a group of eighth-grade middle school teachers. The analysis is predicated on concepts identified by Paul Willis in his study "Learning to…

Teachers can and should use the insights of ethnographic research responsibly in their teaching. Ethnography is an attempt to understand cultures or parts of cultures from the point of view of those who participate in them. It is in the discontinuity between home and school uses of literacy that most ethnographers who study literacy locate the…

Teachers' perspectives on the student assessment process and on the role of testing in that process are presented. Primarily ethnographic in approach, this study includes investigations of teachers' ideas and thought processes as well as observation of actual classroom practice. Six elementary teachers participated in a three-stage process of…

The failure to attain a true synthesis of six ethnographic studies of interracial education in desegregated schools is examined. Detailed individual descriptions of desegregation processes were yielded but the failure of summary attempts is attributed to the lack of a theory of social explanation appropriate to interpretive social science, and a…

During the 1979-80 academic year, a study was conducted to determine the beliefs and attitudes held by individuals in four groups (students, parents, teachers, and administrators) directly associated with the student activity program in a small Mississippi high school using ethnographic techniques. Ethnographic techniques involve the direct…

Two participant observers evaluated the week-long camp experience of adult women in order to assess the appropriateness of participant observation research methods in the camp setting, to identify strengths and weaknesses of this method, and to develop guidelines for its use. The study was part of a larger evaluation of the 9th annual Women's Week…

This paper describes the use of the ethnographer's perspective in applying research knowledge to the improvement of educational practice. The Documentation and Technical Assistance Project (DTA) uses ethnographic methods to study problem solving in urban public schools. In the complicated culture of the urban school, social, economic and political…

Oral interviews with female teachers are used as the basis for an analysis of the personal, cultural, and social lives of women who taught in a small midwestern city during the 1930s. Portions of interviews with teachers are presented, and ethnographic theory and techniques used in the interviews are discussed. Analyses of the interviews focus on…

This report contains the field plan and implementation procedures which were utilized for the observational/focused ethnographic component of Head Start's Child and Family Mental Health (CFMH) Evaluation Project. The introductory section of the document provides the reader with an overview of the Head Start program, its mental health goals, the…

In third world countries a key to the course of nation building is the modernization of the organizational and administrative infrastructures that drive the development process. The focus of this paper is the ministry of education (MOE), an institution that has found its role changed dramatically since midcentury in most Latin American nations. In…

The document discusses a study to describe, analyze, and interpret the cultural climate of an elementary school in Texas which has a special fine arts program. Cultural climate is defined as the atmosphere that surrounds an arts program as defined by comments and actions of school administrators, art teachers, classroom teachers, students,…

This handbook contains activities and other resources to help students in grades 8 through 11 develop an understanding of and appreciation for the folk culture of the Arkansas Ozark. Intended to be used as the basic textbook for a semester course, the handbook can also be used as a supplemental text for a folklore or local history unit in English,…