Reports on a small-scale ethnographic study carried out with lower secondary students of Urdu and Bengali at a mainstream school in East London. Focused on the use of the Internet and multi-lingual word processing within a Web publishing project and examined the role played by information and communications technologies at different stages.…

The voices of African American students reveal sociocultural factors that influence their achievement in science and mathematics classes. Using a sociocultural theoretical framework (Mercer & Covey, 1980), this ethnographic study interpreted the perspectives of five African American students as they discussed their learning experiences in science…

A growing number of schools have implemented inclusion programs for students with disabilities. Yet, there is hardly any acknowledgment of the presence of minorities in the inclusion implementation literature. This article uses ethnographic data to examine the experiences of one Black family in an urban middle school inclusion program. The study…

Professional sensitivity to cultural issues during augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) design and implementation has gained increasing attention in the professional literature. This article describes four cultural domains in which core values characteristic of Native American tribes are discernable: spirituality, trustworthiness,…

This article addresses the issue of the hidden cultural dynamics prevailing in teaching and learning English as a foreign language. The study examined the extent to which teachers' oral feedback and the resulting classroom interaction were affected by aspects of the cultural backgrounds of the teacher and the learners. Evidence is based on an…

This ethnographic research examined two out-of-school science practica where preservice elementary teachers learned to teach science. We wondered what teachers learned about science and teaching science, how their sense of themselves as science teachers changed, and how such settings might contribute to reform in science education to promote…

Since the events of September 11, 2001, Islamic institutions of learning have received much attention. Indonesia's "pesantren" (Islamic boarding schools) have been increasingly described as fostering radicalism and violent militancy, particularly in light of purported links between a few of the country's "pesantren" and some of…

This book examines the settlement process of undocumented migrant workers through an ethnographic study of a Houston (Texas) community of Mayas from a township in Totonicapan, Guatemala. The community is traced from its genesis in 1978, when a few men left the township in search of economic opportunity, to the complex effects of the 1986…

An ethnographic study examined the attitudes of Chinese American families toward success in school and learning. The first cohort of 5 families stayed in the study for 3 years, while the second cohort of 5 families stayed for 2 years. All the first cohort children and two from the second cohort were from the same Boston (Massachusetts) school. The…

Conversations with and among students in their residential environment illuminate the role of peer subcultures in shaping what students learn and how they define learning. An excerpt from a year-long ethnographic case study examines the ways in which residents of an undergraduate women's residential unit at a state comprehensive university talk…

This paper explores questions about the ways in which students, teachers, administrators, and parents negotiate new sets of roles and expectations for schooling in the innovative climate of a new middle school. A new school in an Australian city has implemented a coordinated package of approaches including integrated curriculum, portfolio…

The progress of a novice ethnographic researcher is traced from problems associated with a pilot study through the production of a final draft of her dissertation--an observational case study. Focus is on the data analysis process, the development of conceptual maps leading to an emergent grounded theory, and writing the dissertation. Research…

This training manual for early childhood special education service providers aims to develop an understanding of the roles culture plays in interpersonal dynamics, how adults blend to form unique family life ways, and how families arrive at appropriate early intervention techniques and activities for their special needs children. Participants…

This paper explores the range of arguments and sentiments regarding the promotion and/or abolition of types of Chinese scripts. The written representations of Cantonese in Hong Kong, Mandarin in Taiwan as well as Mandarin in China are examined via issues of identity and of discourse both at national and international levels. Chinese scripts are…

The evaluation of a high school teacher by his principal in Alberta, Canada, was examined by analyzing the conversations that occurred between the researcher, the principal, and the teacher he was evaluating. The analysis reveals much about why the principal undertook teacher evaluations, and what counts as evidence for good or poor practice.…