Discouragement, encouragement, and at risk Hispanic elementary students' self-esteem: an ethnographic case study

The purpose of this study is to describe ways in which self-esteem of at risk Hispanic elementary students are affected by discouragement and encouragement. An ethnographic approach and participant observer method make it possible to document the lives of two students within the educational setting of the classroom so that the researcher can look at the ways in which classroom life affects their self-esteem. Thus, observations by die researcher can be described and contextualized (1988; Eisner, 1991; Erickson, 1986; Wolcott, 1988).