An investigation focused on communication demands of the workplace, specifically those placed on checkout operators at a supermarket in Queensland, Australia. Key questions organized the investigation: What is the nature of communication in this workplace? How can this information be obtained? and How can the information be used to develop…

In fall, 1991, La Frontera Center, the Tucson Council for Alcohol and Drug Dependence, and the Community Organization for Drug Abuse Control were funded to carry out an educational program to reduce alcohol and other drug abuse in the Tucson, Arizona area. The resulting project, Pasos Adelante (Steps Forward), is an early intervention…

Results from an ethnographic study reveal the meanings and social actions of teachers and administrators that were used to support a teachers' theory of empowerment. This practitioner's model offers a definition, principles, and behaviors that reflect teacher empowerment as it occurs in the school. Implications of this model for building…

An ethnographic investigation was conducted for the purpose of elucidating the impact of cultural contexts on teachers' values and classroom practices. Data were collected in a classroom in a Head Start center located in a small, economically depressed town in rural, central Pennsylvania. The study focused on the head teacher, the assistant…

This booklet presents a variety of perspectives on educating for world cooperation. Section 1 discusses major world problems and calls for the reorientation of education as a potential solution. Section 2 deals with the design of such a reorientation and offers three approaches to teaching and curriculum development--knowing, being, and doing. In…

This paper examines factors in the very low college participation rate in certain south-central Pennsylvania counties, in order to develop strategies for increasing participation. The paper examines college participation through a series of interviews with elementary school students, recent high school graduates not attending college, school and…

This paper identifies two broad types of "critical" ethnographic research. One type attempts to empower social actors by providing emic-oriented accounts which tend to emphasize the integrity of their constructs, thus laying the groundwork for a redistribution of social power. The other type attempts to combine analysis of phenomenal, micro-level…

A rich description of the ways in which an effective principal utilizes symbolic leadership to develop shared school meanings and purposes is presented in this paper. Methodology involved the following: (1) individual and group interviews with 42 teachers, several other staff members, and the principal of an effective urban elementary school…

This case study of a central office school improvement initiative in an urban school system examines instructional leadership practices of two junior high school principals. The school-based research focuses on correlates of school effectiveness in "low achieving" settings and the principals' capacity to "reflect-in-action," an ability to make…

Reported are findings from the first phase of a longitudinal study concerning the impact of the first year of school on the development of young children's social gender identities. Ethnographic research in two primary schools in the south of England identified six aspects of settings which can be used to mark gender: social categories, group…

The procedures used in an ethnographic study of a classroom language learning community are described. The research was undertaken to gain insights into adult language learning taking place among students who were not foreign language majors in an elementary French class at Michigan Technological University during the 1986-87 academic year. The…

This paper details how classroom reading instruction can be studied by using microethnographic techniques, wherein classroom events are videotaped and then carefully analyzed to determine their social organizational features. A short introduction to the use of microethnographic methods is presented, followed by an analysis of a lesson taught by a…

A detailed description and sociological analysis were made of peer interaction in a public school kindergarten located in a large urban school district. Data collected over a 5-month observation period included field note transcriptions of hundreds of interaction events, records of formal and informal interviews with classroom participants, and…

Five ethnographic researchers worked with five elementary school teachers to develop individualized research topics related to teaching in multiethnic classrooms. The teachers were familiar with the ethnographers, having participated in previous naturalistic studies in their newly desegregated schools. Subjects included two teachers from a…

This study, based on the 1970 U. S. census, concerns Francophones and French influences that are evident, particularly in Louisiana. Four aspects of the question are treated: (1) linguistic minorities in the U. S., especially those of Hispanic and German origin; (2) the history of Franco-Americans; (3) the present state of French in Louisana; and…