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Virginia Tech

Rules in the kindergarten classroom: an ethnography

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

The purpose of this ethnographic venture was to explore the social interactions in a Kindergarten classroom with a focus on the rules in the classroom. Participant observations were conducted in a public school Kindergarten classroom for a period of three and a half months. Data were recorded through field notes, audiotape recordings and two semi-structured interviews with the classroom teacher. The presentation of discoveries along this journey includes a detailed description of a typical day in the classroom, a taxonomy of the classroom rules, and an elaboration of the process through which children understand the teacher created rules in the classroom. The importance of planning developmentally appropriate rules and affording children the opportunity to negotiate the meaning of the rules through dialogue has been stressed. These interpretations reinforce the importance of the constructivist approach to child development and learning. Implications for researchers and practitioners revolve around the redefinition of rules as tools for negotiation of individual differences among members of the classroom community.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Ph. D.
Level thesis:degree_level
doctoral
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Family and Child Development
Department dc:contributor.department
Family and Child Development
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
1995

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Patet, Pradnya
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Fu, Victoria
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Stremmel, Andrew J.
  • Sawyers, Janet K.
  • Niles, Jerome A.
  • Lichtman, Marilyn V.

Subjects

dc:subject × 3

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright
Language dc:language.iso
en

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
etd-06062008-152052
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/38048

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Patet, Pradnya. Rules in the kindergarten classroom: an ethnography. doctoral thesis, Virginia Tech, 1995. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/38048