The paper reports on a collaborative research program between a team of university researchers, and partner- schools at lower secondary level and their local communities. The aim is to investigate classroom processes in relation to various structures and discourses at school and local community level. Specifically the project seeks to understand how "what goes on in classrooms" construct and respond to diversity, and how conceptions of the democratic intent of education are translated into the grammar of classroom life. The content of the concept 'classroom processes' is broadly defined. Focusing on central learning arenas, emphasis is put on how membership and participation is constructed in the dynamics of learning - teaching - and curriculum. The paper addresses two issues: " Theoretical and methodological questions concerning the nexus of classroom processes, and conceptions of human rights, equal opportunities and social justice " Questions concerning collaborative research, i.e. allocation of authority and control between partners, and the potentials for creating critical-reflexive conversations on new visions and alternative futures in schools