McDermott, Ray
Academic Title
Other Titles
Professor of Anthropology (by courtesy)
Contact Info
Admin. Support
Program Affiliations
Research
Dr. McDermott takes a broad interest in the analysis of human communication, the organization of school success and failure, and the history and use of various literacies around the world. His work includes studies of inner-city public schools, after-school classrooms, and the function of information technologies in different cultures. At present, he is workinng on the intellectual history of ideas like genius, intelligence, race, and capital.
Interaction analysis and social structure; the political economy of learning; writing systems; educational and psychological anthropology.
Quote
"Along with great promise, American culture has given education terrible problems and few conceptual tools for finding solutions. Our job is to confront current arrangements enough to do research that delivers on the promise of equality and excellence for all."
- from a recent interview
Education
- PhD (Anthropology), Stanford University, 1977
- BA (Philosophy and Chinese), Queens College, 1967
Time at Stanford
Since 1989
Professor of Education and (by courtesy) Cultural and Social Anthropology; Co-Director, Teacher Education Program (1994-1996).
Professional Experience
Elementary School Teacher, New York City Public Schools (1968-1970);
Assistant Professor, Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition, Rockefeller University (1975-1979);
Associate Professor, Teachers College, Columbia University (1979-1985), Professor (1985-1989).
Courses Taught
- Education and Inequality in American Culture (Ed 203X, 203Y)
- Culture and Learning (Ed 287)
- Technologies of the Mind (Ed 306C)
- Analysis of Social Interaction (Ed 321B)
Recent Publications
2002
Jean Lave & Ray McDermott
Estranged (labor) learning. Outlines 4:19-48.
2005
In praise of negation. Zeitschrift für Pädagogik 50: 150-70.
2006
Situating genius. In Z. Bekerman, N. Burbules, & D. Silverman-Cohen (eds.), Learning in Places: The Informal
Education Reader. Pp. 285-302. NY: Peter Lang.
What is not known about genius. In S. Steinberg & J.L. Kincheloe (eds.), What You Don't Know about School. Pp. 183-209. NY: Palgrave/Macmillan.
Ray McDermott, Shelley Goldman, & Herve Varenne
The cultural work of Learning Disabilities. Educational Researcher 35(6):12-17.
Ray McDermott & Hervé Varenne Reconstructing culture in educational research. In G. Spindler & L.Hammond (eds.), Innovations in Educational Ethnography. Pp. 3-31. Mahwah: LEA.
Perry Gilmore & Ray McDermott " . . . and this is how you shall ask": Linguistics, anthropology and education in the work of David Smith. Anthropology of Education Quarterly 37(2):199-211
In press Does "learning" exist? In T. Koschmann (ed.), Theorizing Learning Practice. Mahwah: LEA Joel Kuipers & Ray McDermott Ethnographic responsibility. In J. Kuipers & R. McDermott (eds.), Fine Description: Ethnographic and Linguistic Essays of Harold C. Conklin. Pp. 1-24. New Haven: Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Yale University.
Ray McDermott & Kathleen Hall Scientifically-debased research on learning, 1854-2006. Anthropology of Education Quarterly 38(1):00-00.
Shelley Goldman & Ray McDermott Staying the course on video analysis. In R. Goldman, R. Pea, & B. Barron (eds.), Video Research in the Learning Sciences. Mahwah: LEA.
Under revision
Nathaniel Klemp, Ray McDermott, Jason Raley, Matthew Thibeault, Kimberly Powell, & Daniel Levitin
Plans, takes, mis-takes: Sequence and learning in jazz (for The Journal of the Learning Sciences).
