Topics and methodologies used by researchers of teacher development activities are examined in this paper. Selected studies in educational research are analyzed and grouped into four areas. The first research design considered is the traditional empirical-analytic, or hypothesis testing paradigm, through which studies are conducted to test the…

This paper presents a model for a systematic method of training field workers in classroom research projects. The model was found to be necessary because classroom ethnographers have to hire and train others to gather data for research. According to this model, people are hired on the basis of personal skills in interpreting events and are trained…

This report provides information on feedback from a consultant panel concerning the initial phase of the ethnographic component of the multimethod evaluation of the Head Start Bilingual Bicultural Curriculum Development Project. Adjustments made as a result of feedback are indicated. The document is organized into several sections. First, a brief…

Three non-Christian social scientists spent a year studying the educational environment and practices of a fundamentalist school, the Bethany Baptist Academy. One of the researchers describes how he reacted to the field work and describes the deception that researchers as participant observers often use to obtain data. (RM)

Contends that qualitative research is now an acceptable and respected methodology in the various fields of educational research. Concludes that considerable imagination and flexibility is necessary when evaluating research into educational issues in developing nations. (CFR)

This paper examines research in science education, making a case for the interpretive researcher to value both reason and emotion for generating a reflective and reflexive understanding of the classroom experiences of teachers and students. It discusses the role of rationality and emotions in fieldwork, and presents two impressionistic…

Describes an ethnographic study conducted in a grade four classroom during language arts instruction to discover patterns of a traditional approach, a whole-language approach, or a combination of the two. Compares and contrasts traditional and whole-language approaches according to specific dimensions: concept of learning, curriculum, pedagogy,…

Participant observers conducting research among other cultures must use what is learned without betraying the confidence of those with whom they interact. Two Native American examples illustrate how current protocols are insufficient in cross-cultural situations. Recommendations include negotiating responsibilities before seeking consent,…

This paper reports on a short-term ethnographic participatory action research project that engaged urban Canadian, street-involved "queer and questioning" youth in a multi-media enabled inquiry into peer housing and support needs. The "Pridehouse Project" (http://www.sfu.ca/pridehouse) was initiated by, and accountable to, a…

Correctionist models of error, problem, and omission presume that Standard English (SE) is the sole language variety of America. America's classrooms, however, are neither culturally nor linguistically monolithic. Instead, they are diverse, and current teaching metaphors do not reflect the linguistic and cultural realities of the classrooms. This…

This paper constructs a framework for understanding research partnerships with youth and uses this framework to examine a project in which university researchers collaborated with youth to examine their educational institutions and the contexts of their learning. Adult researchers trained and supervised 21 "youth ethnographers" to carry out…

This paper presents an analysis of narrative participation frameworks in bicultural situations between "Gitano" (Spanish Gypsy) children and non-Gypsy Spanish ("payo") researchers in institutional and informal settings. Data were obtained in two contexts, a public school in a large urban city and a summer school in a mid-sized city. Narratives…

Focusing on the emerging nature of teacher voice in educational change, this ethnographic study examined the process of teacher-initiated change through collaborative research in an elementary school. Four elementary school teachers, their principal, and a university professor were involved in the research. Qualitative data was collected through…

Ethnography as a classroom observation method addresses itself to the situations, events, patterns, and contexts that exist in a classroom at a given time. A priori categorical observation and evaluation systems measure what the system is designed to "see," and may fail to record anomolies and salient events that affect teaching and learning in…

A non-Native researcher describes undertaking an ethnography of perceptions about Native control of education among staff and students at a Native adult educational institution in British Columbia and discusses concerns about her role in the power struggle and the legitimacy and adequacy of such research. Contains 40 references. (SV)