This article argues that Robert Brandom's work can be used to develop ideas in the area of social epistemology. It suggests that this work, precisely because it was influenced by Hegel, can make a significant contribution with philosophical anthropology at its centre. The argument is developed using illustrations from education: the first, from…

This article reviews advances of interest to multicultural educators and researchers in the complementary disciplines of multicultural education and educational anthropology including the culture concept; biological and sociological conceptions of "race;" postmodern understandings of identity and subjectivity; and ethnographic accounts…

This chapter is about culture and mathematics teaching and learning. The authors' goal is to offer a thoughtful treatment of the role of culture in the teaching and learning of mathematics and to synthesize literature that is relevant to this concern from multiple subdisciplines in education, including math education, educational anthropology,…

Over the course of 30 years of academic work, the late educational anthropologist John Ogbu had an enormous influence on educational research, and on educational anthropology in particular. In this paper, I lay out the tenets of his cultural-ecological (CE) theory of minority student responses to schooling. I also offer critical commentary and…

The articles in the volume on ethnography and education are seen as an attempt to think through the underlying conceptions of ethnographic method in order to provide a context and logic for its application to education. They represent an effort to bridge the gap between anthropological and educational ethnography. Some of the discussions address…

Children's school problems are often blamed on either the individual or one of the groups to which the child belongs. An interpretive approach views individuals and groups, the worlds of actions and ideas, as mutually defining and constitutive. (Author/LHW)

This article serves to introduce the papers from a colloquium on ethnography and education (1978). It points up the major themes that emerged from the conference and traces their evolution in the research efforts during the 3 years between the colloquium and the present. Four themes in particular are discussed: (1) the discontinuity between school…

Analyzes nine ethnographic educational evaluation studies and shows how the theories chosen resulted from a negotiation of values among three participant groups: evaluators, funders, and practitioners. The studies reveal that the funder-evaluator relationship can become explosive when value differences are pronounced. Therefore, the evaluator…

This essay, based on field observation and interviews centered in California, examines the aims and activities of both school ethnographers and school administrators, concluding that the methods and resources of the former could greatly benefit the latter. (DM)

Studies of the brain and of the human culture can be used to demonstrate the limits of traditional approaches (based on psychological perspectives which are often narrow and restrictive) to learning styles and to offer additional perspectives on the complexity of learning. The study of the hemispheres of the brain and its triune nature indicates…

An adequate theory of educational administration demands an emphasis on understanding rather than legitimation; the inclusion of qualitative as well as quantitative constructs; and the incorporation of philosophical concerns, especially those dealing with epistemology and ethics. Developments in the "new sociology" of education and in…

Describes the relationship between education and anthropology and characterizes the subfield of educational anthropology. Information is presented on research interests, models, ethnographic methodology, objectives, and data needs within the subfield. (Author/DB)

A review of observational and discourse analysis research argues that observational research is bound by a characteristics discourse with roots in early anthropological descriptions of education and suggests that, while observational methodologies and techniques have changed, the discourse of observation has always served to promote a single view…

Examines the role of school social work from an anthropological perspective with a specific focus on the transmission of culture and the gendering role of social workers in schools. Asserts that school social workers seek to transform and to aid students, particularly female students, in asserting their own experiences and in developing new…

Social studies educators are encouraged to investigate propositions that have been extracted from anthropological literature in order to determine their value in shedding new light on learning and teaching. For example, anthropologists believe that learning and teaching are processes associated with cultural transmission and that social…