In Search of Cultural Themes and Their Expressions in the Dynamics of Classroom Life

Abstract

This qualitative study investigates the existence of cultural themes in classrooms serving low-income African American students. A classification scheme categorizing classroom dynamics that evidenced cultural themes is developed and used to record teachers and students'behaviors. Four hundred sixty classroom observations are specified to either a mainstream or Afrocultural ethos. Results support the home-school cultural misalignment argument. There are more observations of mainstream classroom behaviors than Afrocultural ones. Mainstream cultural themes emerge from teacher-initiated behaviors, whereas Afrocultural themes are most often recorded as student-initiated behaviors. Instrumentation limitations and implications of the observed cultural dissonance between teachers and students’ behaviors are discussed.