Summarizes and discusses a set of interviews with program specialists and managers conducted early in the spring of 1974 in several federal government agencies. These interviews attempted to determine the status of anthropology in educational research programs, to identify issues and problems concerning anthropology's role in educational research,…

Reviews some major characteristics of ethnography as they apply to policy issues and policy formulation, and ethnography's utility from the perspective of how public educational policy is made. Discusses the potential contributions of ethnography and the responsibilities ethnographers must consider if their work is to have an impact on public…

Demonstrates that the whole of an anthropological study (from deciding who, what, and where to study to publicizing results) can be termed an "ethnographic process". Within this process, four major components can be identified: research conditions, research design, research implementation, and product creation. Discusses each part of this process,…

Presents two articles: "Modular Flexibility in an Individualized Introductory Cultural Anthropology Course," by Daniel D. Whitney and Patrick J. Dubbs, and, "Physical Anthropology as a Laboratory Science Course in a Community College," by Yechiel M. Lehavy. The former describes an individualized approach to anthropology, whereas the latter…

Asserts that power relations in all societies are partially defined by who has access to and knowledge of the component cultures in complex, multi-cultural societies. "As multi-culturalism becomes more pronounced and elaborated, and the field of power becomes greater with increasing social complexity, multi-culturalism becomes an ever more serious…

Presents five approaches to multi-cultural education: education of the culturally different or benevolent multi-culturalism; education about cultural differences or cultural understanding; education for cultural pluralism; bicultural education; and, multi-cultural education as the normal human experience. (Author/JM)

Examines the implications for education of Goodenough's cognitive view of culture and of the conception of culture as a learned, shared symbol system. Suggests that "the failure of American schools to achieve efficient academic instruction is in part a result of their relationship to the existing class structures of our society." (Author/JM)

Advocates that "the principal goal of education become the training of culturally pluralistic individuals....From our point of view, equality in terms of education will be measured by the student's relative awareness of the range of possible statuses and roles, and by the student's relative ability to effectively compete for those statuses and…

Argues that "multicultural education cannot be defined apart from specific communities and is more a matter of local ethnographic description than one which is easily generalized throughout the country." Presents "some anthropological categories which should serve a local educator in defining whether and to what extent a multicultural population…

Argues that "there is a need to know more about what types or aspects of knowledge are crucial in meeting minority goals, a need to know more about how the concept of 'culturally relevant curriculum' is actually being implemented, and a need to develop ways of evaluating such implementations to determine whether the children are learning what…

Argues that theories of sociocultural processes in education should take into account the heritage of racial discrimination in the schools. To be effective, educational policy must be formulated from the point of view of the minority groups who have most at stake in promoting student competencies in several cultures and who have experienced the…

Asserts that clarity about the concept of culture and about the role of cultural competence in the conduct of social interactions are not the key components in the establishment and continuity of multicultural programs in or in connection with school settings. Rather the central factor is the distribution of power to judge competence. (Author/JM)

Qualitative anthropological research on formal and informal child care arrangements is lacking. Research topics should include: informal arrangements such as babysitting and sibling care; comparative ethnographies of different types of centers; centers' effects on children's experiences; staff-parent interaction; and the effects of government…

In addition to learning academic content, school children learn to become socially competent members of the classroom community. This study uses microethnographic techniques to discover and describe important aspects of the social competence acquired by kindergarten and first-grade children. (Author/RLV)

Ethnography can encounter such problems as timing and sequence, validity, superficiality and bias toward the typical. More than just participant observation should be used by anthropological researchers. Ethnographers should be active, joining in the responsibility for changing the circumstances of everyday life in schools and school communities.…