This micro-ethnographic study investigated pedagogy in two English primary schools, following a change of government and challenges posed by economic austerity. Unlike the previous decade's emphasis on children's curiosity and agency and valuing arts and partnership, emphasis on knowledge and attainment was now foregrounded. A two-stage…

Using fieldnotes from the non-formal adult education classes run by a non-profit international education with ground operations in rural Mozambique, this article documents how the comments made by class facilitators and class participants in those classes reflect inherent power inequalities between non-profit staff and local participants. These…

This paper is a re-engagement with some ethnographic data, originally analysed using a sociocultural approach. It makes use of a recent proposal that Lacan's "mirror stage" when applied to an analysis of classroom settings and interactions can offer a fruitful way of explaining and understanding classroom lives, identities and…

The uptake of mobile phones has been especially remarkable in the developing world. For the first time in history, people at the bottom of the income pyramid can also take part in the telecommunication society. Mobile phones can play a unique role in reaching those who are outside the scope of formal or institutionalised schooling and open doors…

This article analyses the school exclusion and subsequent educational inclusion of pregnant young women participating in a course of antenatal and key skills education at an alternative educational setting. It examines the young women's transitions from "failure" in school to "success" in motherhood and re-engagement with…

To identify the possibilities for collaborative professional development; a research-driven model was adopted to assist an English First Additional Language teacher to appreciate how he could teach effectively by using an approach that takes into account the students' culture. Using critical observation and stimulated recall discussion, this…

This article uses the notion of a "sensitising concept" in order to understand insider and outsider dynamics in cross-organisational field research. The analysis is based on a study of learning and innovation in the social and health care educations in Denmark. As these educations combine classroom training and workplace internships, the…

In 2010, I volunteered at Green Shoots, a service-learning educational non-profit school focused around environmental justice. While the school claimed to operate under an egalitarian, empowering "community of practice" framework, the experiences of youth and myself revealed a hierarchal power dynamic that put unequal demands on youth…

In this article I describe how a multiple perspectives framework drawn from the field of social work informed my analysis of interview data obtained from Australian preservice teachers who had gone on an international study trip. One incident recounted differently by three separate interviewees meant that the sometimes-similar and…

Drawing on 12 months of fieldwork in Hyderabad, India, this paper describes the emergence of "international" schools that are only accessible to upper-middle class and elite families and provide forms of cultural capital increasingly important for middle-class employment--"communication skills", "open-mindedness" and…

This article explores the parenting practices of wealthy Danish families and offers insight into the workings of dominant parenting norms within contemporary Danish society. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted among 15 families living north of Copenhagen, Denmark, this article identifies the parenting strategies of people with ample…

This paper traces insights into the challenges and dilemmas experienced whilst researching students' interpretations and understandings of the Behaviour Management in Schools policy in Western Australia. Journal records, supported by student transcripts, are woven together in a reflexive ethnographic journey--from the beginning phase of…

Becoming familiar with "the field" location and its inhabitants is a natural and important part of ethnographic research. However, little has been written about how operationalising a "familiarisation period" within an ethnography can form the foundation on which fieldwork can be built. By reflecting on the experience of…

The authors investigated the differential effect of retention on the development of academic achievement from grades 1 to 5 on children retained in grade 1 over 6 years. Growth mixture model (GMM) analyses supported the existence of two distinct trajectory groups of retained children for both reading and math among 125 ethnically and…

Current education policy and reform advocate for increasing the level of challenge in K-12 classrooms in order to maximize students' learning and academic success. This study examined middle school teachers' views about implementing challenging instruction while participating in a whole-school professional development initiative. A…