Mehan1978

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Mehan1978
BibType ARTICLE
Key Mehan1978
Author(s) Hugh Mehan
Title Structuring school structure
Editor(s)
Tag(s) EMCA, Education
Publisher
Year 1978
Language
City
Month
Journal Harvard Educational Review
Volume 48
Number 1
Pages 32–64
URL Link
DOI 10.17763/haer.48.1.208101354lw53713
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title
Chapter

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Abstract

In this article Hugh Mehan calls for a new approach to the study of schooling. He notes that the research methods that dominated the study of school effects in the last two decades—large-scale surveys and field observation—have failed to examine the processes by which school participants create school structures. The approach Mehan advocates, "constitutive ethnography," would give equal attention to the processes as well as the outcomes of structuring activities. He outlines the method of constitutive ethnography and illustrates its application in studies of classroom organization, testing encounters, and counseling sessions. Mehan concludes by calling for "constitutive career studies" of individuals as they participate in a range of school events.

Notes