Unplayed Tapes -- Chapter 3

I just finished chapter 3 where Fishman and McCarthy talk about the Stenhouse / Berthoff debate. Berthoff says to keep researchers out of the classroom because they usurp the power and control and legitimacy of teacher research. The chapter goes on to demonstrate why and how.

After Maccarthy visits Fishman's class, Fishman suggests they reciprocate, and he visit McCarthy's comp class. McCarthy is teaching the 5PT, and Fishman diplomatically questions her use of this pedagogy. McCarthy says that she never warms to idea of having an outside researcher in her classroom. She finds the arrangement uncomfortable, and she is unable to relax. She feels, no pun intended, like a rat in a cage.

Moreover, the authors take up the issue of narrative in research writing. Originally, McCarthhy argued they would not get published if they did not stick to the "author-evacuated" tone of the social scientist, but after reading the RTE editors reviews, in which one editor suggests Fishman's narrative take a more prominent role in the essay, and McCarthy reads a book by the prominent anthropologist, Clifford Gertz, in which he states that all anthropology, at its heart, is storytelling, McCarthy begins to change her stance towards narrative in researched writing, and, lo and behold, this turns out to be the trend in published findings.

Cool.