4.5 Gather information about individual students' cultural "negotiations".

See the CIP Step 4 page for general suggestions about collecting and analyzing information about your puzzlement. In gathering and analyzing information about how students negotiate their cultural worlds and construct identities in relation to those worlds, it is important to remember (again) that understanding students' perspectives (without judgment) is central.

Collecting multiple forms of information, from multiple "worlds" (e.g., home, school, and peers) would be a useful way to approach gathering information. Interviews could be a valuable source for understanding students' negotiations of their "worlds" and construction of their identities. Observations of students in a variety of settings, with particular attention to (and recording if possible) their naturally-occurring talk, would also be useful. Naturally-occurring talk can give you valuable insights into students' meanings, which they may not always be able to express clearly in interviews. See, for example, how Jacob (1999) used students' naturally-occuring talk in cooperative learning groups to identify what these groups meant to the students.

Suggestions specifically related to subquestions are provided at the following links:

• 4.5.1 Individual students' negotiations of home, peer, and school cultures.
• 4.5.2 Individual student's negotiations of their cultural identities.

Success Stories & CIP Studies Related to Individual Students' Cultural Negotiations

Reconsider question: 3.5 
Develop intervention: 5.5 
Guide for Reading Step 4 and Step 5 Pages