In Teachers Versus Technocrats, author Harry Wolcott draws on his dual perspective as an educator and an anthropologist to provide a unique and penetrating look at the dynamics of a federally funded research and development project and to analyze what happened when university researchers and school district administrators attempted to introduce an experimental planning and evaluation system in an operating school district. Based on three years of research in which Wolcott uses a variety of anthropological field techniques, this study into the school's SPECS (School Planning, Evaluation, and Communication System) program reveals insight into the project's impact on teachers and administrators and analyzes the basic cultural patterns and relationships among educators. Originally published in 1977, this new edition includes an updated preface by the author and should be valuable to educators and anthropologists alike.
Harry F. Wolcott (1929-2012) was professor emeritus in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Oregon and a leading author in anthropology and research methods. Wolcott's major works include anthropological studies of American education: Teachers Versus Technocrats and The Man in the Principal's Office: An Ethnography. He also wrote extensively on fieldwork and writing: Transforming Qualitative Data; The Art of Fieldwork; Ethnography: A Way of Seeing; and Writing Up Qualitative Data and is the author of the more recent Sneaky Kid and Its Aftermath: Ethics and Intimacy in Fieldwork (all published by AltaMira Press).
Table of Contents
Part 1 Preface, 2003 Part 2 Foreword Part 3 About the Author Part 4 Introduction: Bias at Work: Proceed with Caution Part 5 Part I. The Case Study as an Event Chapter 6 Chapter 1: Challenge: The Project's Early Days Chapter 7 Chapter 2: Response: The Pilot Study's Early Days Chapter 8 Chapter 3: Challenge: The Pilot Study's Later Days Chapter 9 Chapter 4: Response: The Project's Later Days Part 10 Part II. The Case Study as a Class of Events Chapter 11 Chapter 5: Moieties: A Perspective for Analysis Chapter 12 Chapter 6: Moieties in Traditional Anthropological Literature Part 13 Part III. Educator Moieties: An Analysis of the Case and Examination of Education Subculture Chapter 14 Chapter 7: Educator Moieties: An Overview Chapter 15 Chapter 8: Educator Moieties: Antithesis and Rivalry Chapter 16 Chapter 9: Educator Moieties: Reciprocity Chapter 17 Chapter 10: Educator Moieties: Complementarity Chapter 18 Chapter 11: Summing Up
