Man in the Principal's Office

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).

Wolcott's (1973) study of an elementary school principal . . . has been described by anthropologists as a classic ethnography.

• Part 1 Preface, 2003Part 2 Preface and Acknowledgements, 1973Part 3 About the AuthorChapter 4 Chapter 1: A Principal Investigator in Search of a PrincipalChapter 5 Chapter 2: A Day in the LifeChapter 6 Chapter 3: The Principal as a PersonChapter 7 Chapter 4: The School and CommunityChapter 8 Chapter 5: What a Principal Does: Formal EncountersChapter 9 Chapter 6: What a Principal Does: Informal Encounters and Daily RoutinesChapter 10 Chapter 7: The Annual Cycle of the PrincipalshipChapter 11 Chapter 8: Maintaining the System: The Socialization of the PrincipalChapter 12 Chapter 9: Maintaining the System: The Principal as SocializerChapter 13 Chapter 10: Behind Many MasksChapter 14 Chapter 11: Patience and PrudencePart 15 Epilogue: Reactions and Reflections