The cogency and applicability of ethnography as it pertains to the improvement of research on the social studies classroom are the focus of this paper. The evaluation asks how close the relationship is between ethnography as defined in anthropology and the classroom ethnographic approach presented by Shaver and Larkins, and how viable the need is…

Examines the society of a sixth grade class, which relies on "unofficial literacy" to cope with the social hierarchy and conflicts of home, school, parents, teachers, and friends. Concludes that teachers must be aware of how formal reading and writing skills are transferred into the classroom culture. (MM)

Assesses the effects of the introduction of a computer into the writing program of a first and second grade classroom on cooperation and collaboration among the students. Results show that collaborative work at the computer created a new social organization that affected interactional patterns. (SRT)

Three non-Christian social scientists spent a year studying the educational environment and practices of a fundamentalist school, the Bethany Baptist Academy. One of the researchers describes how he reacted to the field work and describes the deception that researchers as participant observers often use to obtain data. (RM)

Summarizes and analyzes W.E.B. DuBois's publications on race and class, particularly as he observed the relationships between White and Black Americans from about 1890 to the 1960s. Contends that DuBois's work has been seriously underrated and cites William J. Wilson's work as corroborating and extending DuBois's theories. (CJM)

This ethnographic study explores the underlying structure of the design practices in the Oxford Studio, a design studio course taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Architecture. The study describes elements of the practices in the Oxford Studio and then analyzes the connections among these elements at three levels: (a)…

Noting that outdoor play is a significant yet frequently overlooked aspect of young children's development, this book uses a framework of initiation, negotiation, and enactment to show how early childhood teachers can support self-directed pretend play and to connect theories of play and children's culture. The book's preface details the…

This book addresses issues related to teen mothers and schooling, examining how teen mothers have become scapegoats for social anxieties, how schools respond to these stigmatized students, and what helps/hinders the success of schools attempting to form more inclusive settings for teen mothers. The book links an ethnographic study of two schools…

This new version explores the philosophical underpinnings, history, and key elements of each of five qualitative inquiry approaches: narrative research, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, and case study. Using an accessible and engaging writing style, the author compares theoretical frameworks, ways to employ standards of quality, and…

An ethnographic study described a successful educational environment for students from low-income families and examined what it is about those environments that makes them successful. The subject class was a combined fourth and fifth grade class at Taft Elementary School in a predominantly African American working class community two miles from…

Using ethnographic research methods, semistructured interviews were conducted with three women involved with a gay/lesbian/bisexual student organization. All three individuals were sophomores at an urban university in a large metropolitan area. The students discussed the fluid nature of the definitions of lesbian, gay, and bisexual, noting that…

A study explored the storybook reading experiences between Ms. Garza and her children. A broad conception of the zone of proximal development, involving use, adaptation, and transformation of culturally shaped tools in the process of shared activity, provides the framework for examining this particular Mexican-American family's reading behavior.…

This book presents an ethnographic study of a school and community in East Africa. It focuses on the role school plays in the development of the children's identity and relationships to their parents and community, and in the development of the region. At issue here are the competing influences of Western modernity and the cultural traditions of…

Peer mentoring among African-American males (referred to as "homies") on the west side of Chicago was examined in an afrocentric ethnographic study. The study used three data collection methods: a survey (of respondents' definition of the word "mentor") administered at bus stops, elevated train stations, gyms, and libraries to…

A study investigated the perceptions of Portuguese-speaking parents of children with disabilities concerning their involvement in their children's education. Specific aspects studied include their understanding of their involvement, nature and extent of current involvement, their ideals concerning involvement, and comparison with parents'…