ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the work of researchers attempting to understand and/or explain how classrooms work, including the interactions within classrooms and the enactment of curriculum. Qualitative researchers' questions will focus on the intricacies of interpersonal relationships between the teachers and children or among the children and the meaning that teachers and children give to shared learning experiences. In qualitative research, questions are asked that require an understanding of the qualities of a classroom experience, curricular model, or interpersonal interactions. Their focus was to examine the effects of teaching practices on young children in relation to their development in oral language, literacy, and social competence. The research methods are used to answer these questions come out of ethnographic traditions and are designed to help researchers understand their participants' experiences. Observations of classroom conflicts were conducted by the researchers, which they combined with the teacher interviews and tape recordings of classroom interactions.
