ABSTRACT
In one of his last papers, our late friend and colleague David Smith (Smith, 2000) reflects on research he conducted in Philadelphia and elsewhere, and mentions how ethnographic research has difficulty in addressing the “real’’ issues in education: disparities in relations of power. He wrote as follows:
In this chapter we want to present and elaborate a concept that attempts to respond, at least in some respects, to David’s challenge. The concept is that of educational sovereignty. This is a term inspired by the work of colleagues doing research in andwith indigenous communities, addressing the need to challenge a long history of control and coercion in the education of Indian students (e.g., Lomawaima, 2000; McCarty, 2002; Warner, 1999; see also Henze & Davis, 1999).
