The purpose of this study was to investigate the beliefs of six experienced high school science teachers about (1) what is successful science learning; (2) what are the purposes of laboratory in science teaching; and (3) how inquiry is implemented in the classroom. An interpretive multiple case study with an ethnographic orientation was used. The…

This article uses ethnographic research to examine how women and men in rural El Salvador used literacy classes to accomplish their own social purposes. Employing a sociocultural, feminist framework, the author argues that men and women valued classes as an opportunity for social interaction. Moreover, the classes were a gendered social space that…

I use examples from my ethnographic work on early childhood education and care settings in Japan and France to demonstrate that quality standards are cultural constructs and to question the universality of such core U.S. standards of quality in ECEC as low student-teacher ratios and multicultural curricula. My argument is that quality standards…

The facilitation of experiences through group discussion is well documented in adventure education literature. Using an ethnomethodological approach this article draws attention to how the leader in these facilitation sessions structures the discussions. It is argued that the current practice of facilitation based on verbal discussions conducted…

Parents know adolescents can be cruel. They do not want their child rejected by peers. What is it like to be denigrated by one's middle school classmates? How common is a predatory anti-teacher peer culture in junior high school? Does it typically last into high school? How do peer norms of different crowds in a school get established? Who sets…

This study examines how charter school advocates and district administrators in a suburban US school district work in concert, although not in unison, to create a public charter school that reinforces the interests of White, economically advantaged families. Drawing on ethnographic data, interviews, census data and charter school documents, we…

This mentorship project between three artist-teachers from different cultures reveals insights into the transmission of cross-cultural painting pedagogy. A collaborative ethnographic study is described that explores my perspective as a North-American painter participating in a mentorship learning experience with Mayan Tz'utuhil painter Pedro…

In this article, the author argues for a central and critical role for "reflexivity in research" with the aim of developing and strengthening not only everyone's understanding of what everyone does in environmental education research, but also how, and why everyone does it. In a narrative account of methodological issues that occurred…

This article describes a four-year ethnographic and pedagogical project set in an urban community with historical ties to rural Appalachia. It begins with a close reading of pedagogical discourse situated in an after-school reading project for preteen girls. It then traces the deep roots of language seeped in class meanings--words such as "nasty"…

This article, focuses on the experiences of two Ivy League graduates to examine the notion of transformational resistance. Combining data from a two-year ethnographic study with follow-up interviews over a decade, the author analyzes how students acquired skills and credentials that enabled them to serve their tribal communities. Strategies of…

This paper deals with a required methods course, based on the national curriculum of science and technology for junior high schools. The course participants are pre-service teachers who study towards a B.Sc. degree in education in science and technology parallel to their studies in one of the faculties of sciences or engineering. Working in small…

Race and other forms of difference are socially constructed concepts, continually reproduced and redefined in interaction. It is important to focus on how race and class are constructed by future teachers, because the ways in which they perceive their students may affect their interactions in the classroom, including having lower expectations for…

The authors conducted ethnographic research to provide deep understanding of the learning environment of a selection of computer science classrooms at a large, research university in the United States. Categories emerging from data analysis included (1) impersonal environment and guarded behavior; and (2) the creation and maintenance of informal…

Teaching is a profession in which teachers are accustomed to being in the spotlight. In this paper we meet ''Tina''--a newly employed teacher at a Norwegian public junior high school--who is engaged on an hourly basis to teach Arts and Crafts, including a seventh-grade class which has been called ''challenging'' by other members of the staff.…

This article provides an opportunity to extend the discussion about teacher communities as part of complex school reform models, specifically centered on those communities whose membership is drawn on a semi-voluntary basis. Through a sixteen-month long ethnography, I document the activities of an urban teacher professional community (TPC) at a…