Transitions are a significant aspect of the American educational system and therefore of interest to educational anthropology. Based on a two-year ethnographic study, this article explores the transitions between grade school and junior high and between childhood and teenhood for white girls in a privileged suburban community, and examines why the…

Examined how the experiences of a Mexican immigrant para-educator translated into beliefs and teaching, using the "funds of knowledge" concept to consider her experiences as critical to teaching. Results indicated that she had markedly different experiences from mainstream educators, yet numerous factors worked against using them for instruction.…

Examined communicative strategies of deaf children in a mainstream school, assessing how they creatively managed casual communicative interactions with hearing peers across multimodal communicative channels. Asserts that unshared sociolinguistic practices and hearing-oriented participation frameworks are crucial to communicative failure in these…

Describes a joint Hanukkah/Id'l Fitter/Christmas celebration to examine Arab-Jewish coeducation aimed at encouraging students to take pride in their cultural heritage while experiencing and respecting others' heritages. Interviews with students, parents, teachers, and administrators indicated that the ritual highlighted alternative social…

Describes parent-staff relationships at two public elementary schools with significant parent participation. At one, accommodation and community typify parent-teacher interactions, while at the other, interactions are ambivalent and competitive. Suggests that social class and school culture interact to shape what is possible for parents and…

Observed the philosophies-in-action of new versus experienced parent volunteers in a community of learners elementary school, examining three philosophies-in-action: collaborating with students, directing them, and treating them in a laissez-faire fashion. Newcomers were more likely to apply a one-sided philosophy-in-action, while experienced…

Illustrates a variety of play responses that emerged spontaneously in the days following the September 11 attacks, asserting that although this event is similar to other tragedies, it is unique in U.S. history and has affected children intensely. Contrasts the complexities of the healing process of play with the official responses of the…

Investigated assessment and evaluation strategies in a Papua New Guinea community, helping community members reclaim their cultural identity by understanding the significance of educational practices carried out in everyday living and helping them make school practices more culturally relevant. The community principles of assessment and evaluation…

Considers various cultural assumptions embedded within the term community, exploring community in the context of the daily lives of students, teachers, and parents at a small elementary school. Notes the positive and negative aspects of community, arguing that generic calls for community neglect the complex and potentially negative aspects of…

Describes how one school's discourse of liberalism was deleteriously deployed. Views the school's discipline creed as emblematic of the school's liberal curriculum, highlighting the negative effects on four African American second grade boys when the school enacted this creed. The curriculum's liberal underpinnings precluded teachers and students…

Examined how one second language learner answered questions in a mainstream second grade classroom, analyzing two conflicting "language games." Results found that the second language learner was often adept at "passing" as knowing, but that he achieved this identity-preserving expertise at the expense of an understanding of classroom lessons.…

Examines "la ronda," a common event in Spanish schools in which children present oral narratives of non-school experiences. Suggests that la ronda's goal is to help children and teachers build a sense of themselves as a moral community. Despite parallels in organization and content between la ronda and sharing time in U.S. schools, there are…

Examined Japanese children's experiences at a U.S. elementary school, noting their teachers' pedagogical responses. Two discourses of difference (individual and social/cultural difference) were used in the school in somewhat dichotomous ways, and the combination worked against children who had difficulty adjusting. Recommends a nonessentialist…

Explores how a community of learners maintains itself through the inclusion of new generations, using the example of new parent volunteers at an innovative public elementary school. Describes four models of community maintenance defining the relationship between the community and newcomers. (Author/SLD)

Explores the politics of time in a multitrack, year-round school in Los Angeles (California), analyzing different experiences of time within the school and the largely immigrant community. Findings show that the year-round schedule is problematic and reveal how issues of educational equity go to the core of debates over school schedules. (SLD)