Situated in school scripts: Contextual early childhood teaching

This article presents findings from a qualitative case study of a public Montessori magnet school in the United States. It focuses on two teachers' experiences, identifying how their teaching is situated in school scripts, that is; ways of speaking about teaching and learning within particular school micro-cultures. The focal teachers utilized contradicting school scripts for a variety of purposes and to incorporate diverse practices. This article describes the teachers' experiences of and responses to contradicting scripts. Findings suggest that teaching is contextualized in particular school micro-cultures and that school scripts present contradictions that have the potential to be both indoctrinating and transformative forces for teacher preparation and professional growth.