ABSTRACT
We intend this chapter to be cross-cultural, holistic and anthropological in the traditional sense of the discipline. Much current work in school ethnography has been microanalytic rather than holistic and it has been confined to our own schools without comparative reference. Attention to the inner dynamics of the classroom, and even to smaller segments such as reading groups, has been productive. The broader comparative scope, however, can give us useful perspective on our schools and our assumptions about education. To do this we will regard schooling as a form of cultural transmission, and we will be particularly concerned with a special form of cultural transmission called ‘initiation.’ In the course of our analysis we will make various broad statements about education that express our understanding of the phenomenon. Though they may seem assertive, they are to be taken as tentative and subject to modification or replacement as our understanding grows.
