Two education professors conducting research on the curriculum planning at a high school near Boise (Idaho) found that their status as observer and/or participant in discussions among teachers, administrators and parents made things more difficult. Usually in ethnography it is assumed that the hard part is to achieve insider status--to be accepted enough to be confided in, or to be let in on the inner workings of the "culture." During the first semester of observation, the professors attained insider status without difficulty. In the second semester, though, their experience underscored how important it is to maintain outsider status too; in fact, of the two, it seems the harder. For instance, in a discussion between teachers and parents, a teacher turned to one of the professors and essentially asked for validation--the teacher perceived the researcher's role as that of a redeemer. In order for research to be a success, it is very important that the researcher appear to everyone to be unallied. This is difficult, however, since some people are simply easier to get to know than others. It is natural that they would want to spend more time with "key informants." These professors did not expect to be "flies on the wall," but a few times they did find themselves pulled into power relationships and influences they mostly wanted to observe. They found themselves constantly renegotiating their relationships with all of the teachers in order to maintain an interested but neutral stance. (TB)