Language & Social Processes – serie

This is a book about knowledge for teaching reading and for evaluating first graders' performance. It describes HOW teachers actually teach reading. The book uses ethnographic research and cross-national comparisons to make visible elements of teaching culture that are usually taken for granted. The book proposes that teachers draw on ""national classroom cultures"" to generate their own, more detailed professional knowledge for teaching.

In the revised edition of this popular volume the author takes the position that sex and gender are things created by individuals and within individuals as they learn the discursive practices through which the social structure is created and maintained. The social structure is something individuals can attempt to change through a refusal or certain discursive practices or by practicing new and different forms of discourse.

This text presents the authors observations of Japanese preschool children in classrooms and playgrounds. Questions addressed are: what does it mean in Japan to be a boy or girl?, what impact does traditional Japanese culture have on children?, are Japanese girls seen as powerful and more.