There have been many studies in information science looking at the nature and frequency of information seeking activities by different groups. Instead of looking at groups of potential users who have already been studied in detail, this study identified a specific group who have had little attention paid to their circumstances. This paper…

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the epistemology of a discipline is interactionally accomplished, acknowledged, and appropriated in a university oceanography course. Drawing from sociological and anthropological studies of scientific communities, this study uses an ethnographic perspective to explore how teachers and students came to…

This paper opens with a story of what was once cutting-edge, state-of-the-art technology and its integration into preservice teacher preparation. It is a story of the technology, in this case video recording, the theories applied to its educational use, and a specific teacher training method--microteaching. The historical context of microteaching…

This document is a collection of three parts: two extended papers and one shorter commentary on the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS). These originally appeared in "Literacy Across the Curriculum" in response to an invitation for comment to several prominent international researchers. The first of these entitled "The…

Discusses how key ideas from ethnography can be translated into principles that can guide assessment and evaluation in early-childhood-education settings. Notes that when ethnographic principles are used in education settings, assessment and evaluation are integrated with teaching and learning, are interrelated, reciprocal processes, and are used…

Investigates how teaching and the teacher's role in elementary and secondary school writing classes have been conceptualized by leading workshop advocates. Uses M. Bakhtin's writing on F. Dostoevsky to develop a metaphor of the writing teacher as novelist. Argues that workshop visions of teaching and the teacher's role mystify meaning-making and…

Illustrates how to use ethnographic techniques to acquire a better understanding of classroom dynamics. The article focuses on the characterization of "success" in an Italian class through analysis of interaction patterns and purposes of the participants. Findings reveal the need for a continuity of teacher and students' goals, methods, and forms…

Examined children's play in indoor and outdoor environments at a New Zealand child care center. Identified four dimensions of difference illuminating the relationship between outdoor and indoor playspaces and the play occurring there: physical versus constructive play, change and stability continuum, freedom and control dimension, and differences…

Provides a real-life scenario of one teacher who sought to cope with the technology of using computers to teach writing. Looks at some reasons why teachers feel they have failed and suggests several staff development strategies that may make the computer learning process less stressful and more successful for a teacher new to technology. (MG)

Integrates the results of a formalist discourse analysis of Freire's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" with field observations of his programs in Latin America. Identifies some features of Freire's discursive construction of knowledge. Documents the practice of Freire's rehumanizing discourse within consciousness-raising programs in both…

This article focuses on the variety of cultural meanings students articulate when asked about their experiences within the special context of a multiethnic California high school. The article presents excerpts from verbatim accounts in which four Black students, part of a three-year study, describe their worlds in their own words. (IAH)

Correlates an ethnic group's preparedness to adapt in a foreign country with its success in establishing and maintaining a cultural enclave. Examines the effect of socioeconomic adaptation on the daily lives of "persistent peoples." Attempts to balance psycho-cultural and social-structural perspectives in the study of "middleman…

The relationship between language use and second culture acquisition is examined in this study of first generation Iranian immigrants and exiles in the United States. The use of both Farsi and English is found to be instrumental in the process by which American culture is incorporated within the Iranian worldview. (AF)

A major but neglected area of gender inequality in education involves social relationships among teachers and teacher-teacher interactions. This article discusses ways in which gender relations in school influence the lives of women teachers, focusing on staff common-room milieu, staffroom humor, "women's work," and perceptions of…

Describes an ethnographic study of an inservice graduate course designed to help teachers use computers to teach writing and other skills to the academically able. Claims the course significantly reduced teachers' computer anxiety and their writing apprehension. (RS)