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Editorial
November 2006, volume 30, No 11

Micro studies of schooling and life at school were literally non- existent in India till Meenakshi Thapan’s first edition of the book was published in 1991. The book has brought into limelight the sociological forays into the micro-interpretive approach towards education and schooling in the Indian context. This is the first and only attempt so far by an Indian sociologist to bring out insights on the character and functioning of a school with the help of ethnographic method. The book has been successful in at least three respects. Firstly, it filled the vacuum in ethnography of schooling in India. Secondly, the book addressed gaps in understanding interpersonal relations among pupils and teachers and between pupils and teachers within the school. Thirdly, it captured the clash of notions of ideology of schooling and the exigencies of practical life in school.

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