The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze the different elements that comprise the practice of “teamwork” in high school in two specific subject areas: Social Sciences and Chemistry. Through a focused ethnography, we collected evidence about the way teams of students work together in these particular fields, how they distribute activities and functions and how different roles and identities are created and enacted. The framework for the study was practice theory with an emphasis on the importance of context and routines established within each field. We discuss in the results the types of participation afforded in each school culture and comment on inclusive and exclusive aspects of each practice.

Teamwork, high school, practice theory, power, participation.