Chapter 3: From Field Text to Research Text: Watershed Moments in Critically Rendering Sensitive Issues

It was a hot and dry March afternoon; atypical for our southern United States region known for its high humidity, but indicative of the record drought that had plagued our state for months. Grass that normally would have been a deep green from spring rains now surrounded California High School (pseudonym) with a band of gold. Even the branches of oak trees at the school’s entrance drooped, leaves tipped with brown, life slowly draining out of them. I was there to observe and interview Sarah (pseudonym), a social studies teacher whose first-year experiences I was following with the purpose of learning about what novice teachers undergo and the internal and external factors that influence their persistence in education.