A Cultural Inquiry of Maria

Background

The Community

Our city has an older well-established section where many families have lived most of their lives, first as children themselves and now as parents. The small Cape Cod houses in which they live were built just after World War II. By design they were low priced so returning military men could purchase a house for their families. Many blue-collar workers bought these affordable houses also. Most families in this section have little advanced education. In contrast there is a new, more affluent section of the city. Ground was broken about six years ago on these large, luxury homes that are owned by upper management government workers and professionals. Education is a priority in these homes. These “have” and “have-not” groups are clearly visible in this city. An additional group of people has settled in the city. This group has further changed the cultural composition of Arcadia Schools. Many of the incoming families have come from Mexico, Central America, and South America and do not speak English. Their families consist of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all occupying a single residence. The families have purchased the older Cape Cod homes in the original part of the city enlarging many of them to accommodate the large numbers of people living in the home. This influx has resulted in a dramatic increase in student population. Arcadia has welcomed this diverse population into its school system.

The School

The purpose of Arcadia Middle School is to provide a safe, encouraging learning environment. The school is committed to working together with parents and community to develop students into productive and responsible members of society. The students with their unique cultures, abilities, backgrounds, skills and learning styles have the ability to learn and be successful. The school’s mission statement indicates that Arcadia Middle School students will be actively engaged as they develop academic, technological and interpersonal skills in a safe and orderly environment that fosters a positive attitude necessary for success. Parents, teachers, students and community share in the responsibility for our educational success. The current diverse population has challenged the middle school to continue making successful students. The school currently has a population constructed of 53% European American students, 24% Hispanic students, 15% African American students, and 7% Asian American students. The challenge to meet each student’s needs is never ending.

The Classroom

The sixth grade math classroom is committed to carrying out the Arcadia Middle School philosophy. In addition to implementing the school philosophy, the math class is structured so that all students can be successful. The variety in lessons is intended to reach all learning styles (Silver, 2000). Peer tutoring and peer coaching is in place so students can help each other. Re-teaching concepts is always provided since I realize that some students need more practice time to master a concept. I have an open classroom to the extent that any student can ask any question and it will be answered. If I do not know the answer, I will seek the information for the student or send her/him to the person who can address the concern.

The Teacher

I strive to make a personal connection with each of my students. I also spend the time necessary to develop a line of communication with all my students’ parents. It is my practice to call all the parents at least once prior to October 1. This year this has been more difficult than previous years. Many of the students’ parents do not speak English so it has been a challenge to communicate with them. The students interpret for their parents many times. I have made an extra effort to let the parents know that I am available and the school secretary will gladly translate any question or concern they have. To date only a few have responded to my offer. I will continue to try.

At a pre-service meeting in August, 2002, the staff was informed that the school’s English as a Second Language (ESL) program had been restructured and that students in the program would be called English Language Learners (ELLs). The format of the program was each new student would be screened for English proficiency and then placed in classes accordingly. Each student would be assigned to a grade level math, language arts, science, and social studies class. If the student needed English support an ELL class would be scheduled during the student’s exploratory time. Since several students needed additional ELL support they became clustered in their classes.

The Student

When I interviewed Maria (all proper names are pseudonyms) she was somewhat reluctant to discuss family, but when I explained to her that I wanted to learn about her so I could figure out how to help her be successful in class, she relaxed. She was born in Guadalajara, Mexico. Her mother and father are from the same village. Her father came to the United States when he was eleven but returned to the village when it was time to find a wife. Maria’s mother and father remained in Mexico after they married. Their family grew to six when Maria and her twin brother were born. Maria’s oldest sister is ten years older than she. When Maria was seven, her parents moved to Virginia to start a new life. The children were left with an aunt. After the fist year of separation Maria’s sister, two years older than she, came to be with her parents. Her oldest sister had a boyfriend by this time and chose not to be the first child to come to the United States. By the end of the second year of separation Maria’s oldest sister and boyfriend were ready to join the family in Virginia. At the end of the third year Maria and her brother joined the family. The transition of moving and settling the family from Mexico to Virginia took a full three years. Shortly after Maria arrived in Virginia her oldest sister and her boyfriend married and moved to Chicago. A year later Maria became an aunt. When they were in Chicago visiting Maria’s sister, her older sister decided to stay in Chicago with the oldest sister and her family. Family ties appear to be close but not talked about.

Maria currently lives in one of the modest Cape Cod houses with her mother, father, brother, an aunt, and an uncle. Her father works nights, her aunt and uncle also work but her mother has just recently become unemployed. Currently her mother is actively looking for employment. Maria, her brother, and father are the only members of the family that speak English. I was puzzled by this because Maria’s father came to the United States when he was eleven years old, and I wondered why he does not have more command of English. He speaks fairly well, but reads and writes very little. The mother understands some English words but does not speak it; I wonder why since she has been in Virginia for five years. I believe Maria’s parents are fearful of losing their heritage (Davidson, 1996). This is why Maria’s father went back to the village to find a wife. Maria’s maternal grandparents are still living in Mexico along with several aunts and uncles. As time passes more and more of her aunts and uncles are migrating to the United States. They come with hopes of having their children join them in much the same way Maria joined her parents.

Before I talked to the parents I reviewed Maria’s school records. There was no information prior to Maria coming the United States two years ago. She entered fourth grade a total non-English speaker. She was exempt from the Stanford 9 testing in fourth grade but took parts of it in fifth grade. As expected, she scored in the one stanine in reading. Math was much better. Her total math score was a three stanine with a two in problem solving and reading problems, but a five stanine in procedures. Once she understands a concept she can work the problems. She did not take the writing test; language was in the two stanine along with science and social studies.

The first time I talked to Maria’s parents she was present to interpret for them. Shortly into the conversation the father took control and spoke in English. He was interested in Maria’s schooling. He stated that he and his wife were very supportive of the school and stressed they wanted Maria to do well. Maria is failing language arts class, is barely passing science, social studies, and math. She receives additional ELL support, forty-five minutes daily, but it is not enough for what she needs.

The father stated Maria attended two schools in Mexico. The reason she changed schools was she was living with one aunt but was moved to live with another aunt. I am not sure the father understood what I was asking of him when I inquired about Maria’s school records from Mexico. He said there were no records; school in Mexico is very different. The students do lots of math but very little reading and writing. Maria said she could read and write very little in Spanish. This distresses her mother so she buys books in Spanish and helps Maria study. She wants Maria to know how to read and write in her native language. Having reading and writing skills in her native language is extremely important and has a positive effect on her second language skills (Collier, 1995).

Maria’s father stressed education was the main reason he brought his family to the United States. He urged the teachers to do everything they could to help Maria be successful. The teachers suggested she stay for after school extended learning on Mondays and Thursdays, which the dad eagerly agreed, would be good for her. Maria’s dad stated that he can help her in math but the other subjects are so reliant on English that he cannot help her. The social studies and science teachers recommended that Maria and her brother study their material together since they have both students but the dad said his son was not “into school”. Maria’s father said she would do whatever the teachers wanted her to do and if she needed to stay after school every day that would be great. He emphasized he wanted her to get a good education. During the entire conversation the mother remained motionless. It appeared, Maria agreed, that she did not know what was being said. Occasionally, during the discussion, Maria would whisper in her mother’s ear telling her what was being discussed.

Puzzlement

I have worked with ELL students for many years without supporting help and have been pretty successful, but this year’s scheduling difficulties clustered the ELL students in my third block math class. I did not view this as a problem until too many of the students were so dependent on me for individual help that I could not reach each student. There are twenty-two students in the class with ten of them in the ELL program. Of the twelve remaining students two have been labeled slow-learners and five have been discussed in team meetings several times for lack of motivation. I have five reliable math students who are very willing to assist anyone needing and wanting support. The peer coaching and peer tutoring system that exists in my class needed to be redirected for the ELL students so each of them could get their individual questions answered and have the support necessary to review concepts. With the five peer coaches available the struggling students got as much help as we could offer in class. Although this system was helping, many students did not develop the independent skills they needed to master the math concepts. They continued to rely on individual support, which I know will not always be available.

Math maintenance is an additional student support system I use to continually practice math concepts with my students. This year I discovered I could weave the sixth grade concepts through the daily math maintenance problems the students complete. Some of the math maintenance problems review concepts the students should know to keep the skill fresh while some of the math maintenance problems introduce concepts that the students will be learning in the future. The introduction problems give me a perfect opportunity to complete a mini-lesson on the new concepts; when the concept is studied in class the students already have some experience with the skill and instructional time becomes very valuable because the students have an experience with the concept and can recall good questions and concerns on the topic.

The Questions

When I think of all the structures I have in place to assist my students Maria comes foremost to my mind. She works very hard. She will try anything asked of her. Unfortunately, her efforts are not making her successful. To date she has not given up although she has gotten discouraged. She uses her discouragement to try harder. She is always focused paying attention to whatever we are discussing. She writes down notes, asks questions, does her practice work but is not progressing in accordance with her efforts. Her efforts lead to my puzzlement: will the weaving of the sixth grade math concepts in math maintenance increase Maria’s success? Is Maria’s problem strictly an ELL problem? Is there a gender issue since her mother does not understand or speak English? For all the effort Maria puts into her schoolwork is there a processing problem the ELL issue is not allowing me to see? What can I do to help Maria succeed?

Framing the Study: Cultural Questions

After reading Phelan, Davidson, and Yu’s (1998) work on borders in CIP Step # 3.5.1 (Jacob, 1999), I developed two cultural questions I wanted to explore. The first question came from the Students’ Multiple Worlds Model of six patterns of border and transition experiences among students. The third pattern, different worlds/border crossings difficult states some students perceive differences in their worlds and find transitions among them to be difficult. These include students with uneven academic performance. Maria is doing well in social studies and science, average in math, but struggling in language arts.

My second question emerged from the first question. Was Maria resisting crossing the borders of her two worlds? Was her home community keeping her from connecting to her school community? Was the home fearful Maria would disconnect from the family if she moved closer to her school community? I wondered, if Maria became successful in school would she disconnect from home?

Data Collection

The data collection used to inform this study consisted of school records, surveys, observations, interviews, researcher notes and memos. To gather the information I needed to get a detailed picture of Maria I developed a data collection plan. First, I previewed Maria’s school record. The records lead me to survey her fourth and fifth grade teachers. I also surveyed her current sixth grade teachers. Maria also took a survey. I had to read the questions to her and explain what they meant. I made a conscious effort to observe Maria as often as possible. I also interviewed Maria and arranged to visit her parents. I talked to my colleagues anytime a question entered my mind and they in turn approached me with information they observed.

Discussion, Analysis and Interpretation

Maria’s fourth grade class had a bi-lingo teacher. She states that Maria was comfortable with her since she spoke Spanish. She stated Maria was eager to learn English but stayed close to other Latino students. Mrs. Ramirez also remarked that Maria struggled with math concepts (Personal communication, February 4, 2003). This echoed one of my puzzlements as Maria is struggling in sixth grade math.

According to Maria’s fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Smith, she was quite shy and relied on her brother to include her in activities (Personal communication, February 4, 2003). This encourages me to look further into my puzzlement on whether Maria’s difficulties could be gender based. Several times I have noticed her looking to her brother for direction. It is good for Maria that they do not have the same core classes. Mrs. Hunter said that Maria sought Latino classmates to be friend and worked best in a small group setting (Personal communication, February 4, 2003).

Now is sixth grade, Maria continues to strengthen her English skills. She has a daily ELL class to strengthen her skills. The ELL teacher, Mrs. Kelly, sees Maria much differently than her other teachers. The class is very small so Maria participates freely, but she also shows her competitive side. She wants to be first and best. She also shows disruptive signs. She gets up out of her seat and interrupts instruction often (Personal communication, January 27, 2003). I was in disbelief when Mrs. Kelly relayed this to me at a lunch conversation so I immediately asked if I could observe Maria in her class. I managed to observe Maria in ELL class on January 31, 2003. She was up out of her seat four times until Mrs. Kelly finally turned her desk around, then Maria remained seated. The students were reading and discussing a story orally. Maria did not want to take her turn, which she expressed verbally. I thought I might be causing the class undo stress so I left. This was a side of Maria I had never seen. Additional puzzlements came to mind after this observation. Is Maria comfortable in her ELL class so she shows her true self? Does Maria feel she can make progress without the ELL support so she disrupts class? Does Maria disrupt ELL class because she is among her Latino friends?

With these further questions I arranged to observe Maria in Physical Education class. I felt the less structured class might answer my new questions. The class was actively engaged in a game using the crab walk. Maria broke the rules several times and had to be redirected by Mr. Clark. She would play fairly for a few minutes and then break the rules or do something totally not focused on the game, such as roll across the floor. Maria’s teammates kept trying to redirect her to the game. Sometimes she listened other times she did not. Mr. Davis finally relied on the team to try and keep her in the game. Once again this is a side of Maria I had only seen in ELL class. I did not get any data to answer the questions that arrived during my ELL observation. I did come up with another question. Does Maria feel freer to be herself in a non-structured class?

Sixth grade language arts class is very difficult for Maria. She responds to questions when called on but does not participate voluntarily. She is pulled from the main class for small group reading and writing instruction. The small group consists of Maria and two of her Latino friends. She works hard but lacks background experiences to understand the readings. The lack of background experiences also hinders her writing. Maria’s language skills are several years below level. She puts effort into whatever is asked of her but she needs assistance with every product she produces.

When I decided to use Maria for my study I immediately realized that the principle for my work would be that the students’ community represents a resource of enormous importance for educational change (Moll, 1992). I needed to come to know the culture (González, 1995) from which Maria came from so I made an appointment to visit Maria’s parents. When I arrived Maria greeted me and told me that her father had to work late so he would not be visiting with me. Maria and her mother were the only ones home. Maria’s mother was very meek and appeared uncomfortable. Maria tried to calm her but I sensed she was uneasy so I explained to Maria that I wanted to write a paper on her for my class, my students know I am in school. I told Maria to tell her mother that I wanted to use her because she worked so hard in school and I wanted to see if I could discover something more I could do to help her be more successful. I waited as Maria explained my request to her mother. They chatted back and forth. Maria later said she answered her mother’s questions. When she finished explaining and listening Maria said that her mother said “Fine.” I then told Maria that her father could contact me if he had any questions about my project. Since the mother still appeared nervous I said my good-byes and left.

Interventions

I believe the special connection Maria and I have developed is my first intervention. The fact that she has made me her personal mentor for school activities deepens our connection. The level of our relationship strengthened further when she brought two of her Latino friends for me to become their sixth grade contact person. This relationship could possibly lead to Maria being able to navigate her school and peer borders with less difficulty (Phelan, Davidson, and Yu, 1998). I intend to become connected to any student wanting the connection.

The second intervention I made was to pursue a relationship with Maria’s parents. From my reading I know that I must implement Maria’s funds-of-knowledge (Moll, 1992) into my class for her to really become successful. To date I have not been as successful developing my relationship with Maria’s parents as I would like. I will continue to seek this relationship.

The third intervention for Maria was the after school extended learning program. Since her parents stated they were not able to help her with her schoolwork the extended time after school was a good choice for Maria. According Azmitia, Cooper, Garcia, and others: “Parents usually became unable to provide direct guidance but many drew on resources to help their children” (p.13). She has been attending the class twice a week since her parents gave permission. The extra time to practice concepts has led to Maria being more successful in science, social studies, and math. She continues to struggle in language arts but is learning her heritage language, which will assist with the transference of knowledge in English. These findings are positive, but are only preliminary due to the compressed time-line allocated for the study. However the indications lead me to believe Maria will be successful in sixth grade.

The fourth intervention involved using Maria’s home experiences to develop math problems. The students complete a Daily Oral Math problem upon entering class each day. I used some of Maria’s stories to develop problems. Many of my Latino students like the idea and gave me stories to use in problems. This intervention gave me another way to use my students funds-of-knowledge (Moll, 1992).

The fifth intervention was to keep track of Maria’s performance on her math maintenance quizzes. If she missed a particular concept I would re-teach it. If she made calculation errors I would give another mini lesson on the need to recheck work.

Monitoring

Since Maria and I have developed a special bond I need to let her know it is all right for her to bring her friends into our relationship. Allowing Maria and her friends to navigate their home and school borders with less difficulty will build their self esteem (Phelan, Davidson, and Yu, 1998). Making attempts to develop a working relationship with Maria’s parents is on going. I am hoping that the bond Maria and I have will open the way for me to get to know her parents.

I will continue to use experiences Maria related to me to develop instruction. The more I learn about her from what she shares the more I can use in class (Moll, 1992). I will continue to use the math maintenance to weave the sixth grade curriculum throughout the year. If Maria misses a concept after I re-teach it I will re-teach it again. I will look to Maria for assistance on helping her grasp sixth grade math.

While trying to develop a relationship with Maria’s parents I need to make them understand that I know Maria must not loose her heritage (Collier, 1995) that she will learn to move between the two borders of her cultures (Phelan, Davidson, and Yu, 1998). I will continue to observe Maria for a gender problem but currently do not have enough data to respond.

Conclusions and Implications

After working through the Cultural Inquiry Process, I have come to understand that my pride in making a parental contact before October 1 of each year is not sufficient. I now realize I must strive to develop a relationship with each of my students’ parents. I need to learn their funds-of-knowledge (Moll, 1992) to enhance my instructional time with their student. Learning about their heritage and then using that information to develop parts of my curriculum is essential to students’ success. In addition to developing a relationship with parents I need to make a connection with my students. I feel I do this now, but currently feel that my connections with my students must become deeper. I know that the students will be more successful if I can become a significant adult at school.

I have come to understand that Maria is an ELL student but her problem is not solely ELL. She also must learn how to negotiate the borders between her two cultures (Phelan, Davidson, and Yu, 1998). Even during the short time I have been doing this study I have noticed Maria moving between her borders with more ease than my first observations.

Maria has changed in sixth grade math since I started my research on her. She continues to work hard in class but her efforts to improve are more evident. She is improving her mastery of the concepts covered in math maintenance. This is evident in her improved scores. She seeks my approval on everything. She asks questions in class instead of approaching me personally. She willingly engages me in conversation. She has come to rely on me to assist her with sixth grade activities not connected with class. For example, she gave me her permission slip for the Freedom Center field trip instead of her homeroom teacher. She also turns her Math for Life paychecks in to me instead of Mrs. Stephens. She has made a special personal connection with me.

I now understand that Maria’s struggle in school is not just an ELL problem; it is a cultural mismatch problem as discussed in CIP Step # 3.5.1 (Jacob, 1999). She struggles with her cultural borders (Phelan, Davidson, and Yu, 1998) since her family wants to maintain their heritage but she realizes she must cross to the English border to be successful. She is struggling with navigating these borders.

Maria’s problem is not a processing problem. The problem is a “mismatch of world’s” problem (Phelan, Davidson, and Yu, 1998). Maria will learn to navigate between her two cultures and become successful. I have made a special personal bond with Maria, which I will continue to strengthen. I see the positive benefit to my efforts to strengthen this connection. Maria is making progress in math.

Maria continues to put forth a lot of effort in school. She is seeing success from her hard work in science, social studies, and math. I feel the after school program has strengthened her learning. Maria continues to struggle in language arts. I feel her struggle come from her lack of language arts strength in Spanish, which then makes the English concepts more difficult. I am confident weaving the sixth grade math concepts in math maintenance has strengthened Maria’s mastery of math concepts. The concepts that have been repeated several times she has mastered. Introducing new concepts in a mini lesson has given her an insight into what will be coming in class.

Future Steps

I am struggling with a result that I have come to understand is important to student success. The sixth grade teachers need to form a reflective teacher study group (González, 1995). We need to make home visits to learn about the students funds-of-knowledge (Moll, 1992), which we can use to develop curricula so our students have the opportunity to succeed. Knowing the contraints on my colleagues’ time I fear this will not happen in the near future. There is also the issue of resistance to change that will hinder the onset of such a study group. Colleagues can so easily settle into routines and attitudes (Merchant, Willis, and Erlbaum, 2001) that interfere with change even if they truly recognize change needs to be made. In addition to colleagues, administrators may tend to resist change.

In conclusion, my research has changed me. I will use my results to improve my teaching. I will use my influence to push my borders in hopes my colleagues will join me by changing. This is very important since studies indicate Mexican Americans face several important challenges in the years ahead, including the need to increase the educational status of its youth, to close the income gap between Mexican Americans and the total United States population (Banks, Allyn, and Bacon, 2003).

References

Azmitia, M., Cooper, C., Garcia, E., et al (1994). Links between home and school among low-income Mexican-American and European-American families. Educational Practice Report: 9. Santa Cruz, University of California.

Banks, J. (2003). Mexican Americans. Teaching strategies for Ethnic Studies. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Collier, V. (1995). Acquiring a second language for school. Direction in Language Education, 1(4).

Davidson, A. L. (1996). Making and molding identity in schools: Student narratives of race, gender, and academic engagement. Albany: SUNY Press.

González, N. (1995 Summer). The funds of knowledge for teaching project. Practicing Anthropology 17(3).

Jacob, E. (1999). Cultural Inquiry Process Web Site. [Online]. http://classweb.gmu.edu/classweb/cip/

Merchant, B., Erlhbaum, L., Willis, A. (2001). Multiple and intersecting identities in qualitative research. Mahwah, N.J. Association Publishers.

Moll, L. C. (1992). Bilingual classroom studies and community analysis: Some recent trends. Educational Researcher. 21(2): 20-24.

Phelan, P., Davidson, A. L., & Yu, H. C. (1998). Adolescents’ worlds: Negotiating family, peers, and school. New York: Teachers College Press.

Silver, H., Strong, R., & Perini, M. (2000). So each may learn: Integrating learning styles and multiple intelligences. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.