Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Reflecting Back




Reflecting back on my experience in Mexico, there are three really important lesson I learned from my experience. They are: 1) How to deal with the unexpected, 2) How t and when to take the initiative and 3) The importance of befriending everyone. I want to talk about each of these and give a few examples how I came to learn these valuable lessons.
From the very start of my project I realized that now matter how well I planned ahead I was constantly being bombarded with the unexpected. I could start from the many challenges I faced in simply preparing my proposal for my study; because they were many, but I want to start with the my first weeks in Mexico. I will admit I arrived a bit naive thinking that everyone around me would automatically understand my good intentions and allow be to conduct my project in the manner I wanted. It seemed logical that I could march into a school and explain that I was there to do a study for the benefit of the immigrants in the United States and that they would readily comply- drop whatever they were doing, and help me get started on my project. It's easy to tell that that was inexperienced thinking.
When I arrived at my first school I was asked for documentation of permission from qualified professionals, clear explanations of my intentions and methods and how was it that the school would benefit from participating in my study. The professionalism and seriousness they asked for surprised me, and to be honest, it seemed a daunting task to rise to the level they were expecting. To make a long story short, with the help of my host mother and my mentor I was able to put together a packet of three documents: Letter of presentation, Letter of consent from my mentor (In English) and it's translation, all written in formal Spanish diction to present to the school. With that packet and some divine help, three schools accepted to allow me participate in their high school to conduct my research.
After getting into the schools I assumed everything would be smooth sailing from there. I was in the school I just needed to arrange a schedule with various teacher so that I could observe their classroom and interview them and their students. I asked the director if he knew any teachers that would be willing to do this. The director is a great worker and I don't judge him, but my request didn't go much father than though his ears. I decided that besides waiting for him to find time to ask which teachers would volunteer, I would go to the teacher lounge and get to know a few of the teachers. Before long I had five or more teachers willing to help me with my research. From then on I constantly informed the school staff of my intentions and actions, but I stopped hassling them with extra chores that I could do with my own initiative. That became an important pattern for the rest of my experience.
The last lesson I learned stood out to me in a despret time of need. Towards the end of my project I was having an extremely difficult time finding parents willing to participate in interviews. My original plan didn't work and I was left with virtually no parent contacts. Luckily I had made many student friends during my time participating in the schools. These students and a few of the teachers became necessary gatekeeper for the last part of my project. Through them I was able to acquire the necessary contacts for parent interviews that I needed. I learned that by befriending everyone, those I least expected became some of my most important gatekeepers.
By the end of my experience I truly reflect on my experience with aw. I started a project with very little understanding of what I was truly attempting to undertake, but though the help of those around me and God, it seemed that everything worked out better than I could have imagined. I lived my experience in Mexico and I know it has strengthened my character beyond what I could have hoped for.  

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Prominent themes



At this point in my research I have collected 95% of my data and I am more involved in transcribing interviews and conducting taxonomic, componential and theme analysis on what I hear. That is of course mixed in with reading, writing essays and finishing up the assignments for my course classes.  
Though my analysis is still in its primitive stages, I feel confident in mentioning a few of the prominent themes I have noticed in my inquiry research.
1.       The background research I did stated that the teachers in Mexico were relatively authoritarian and took charge of the majority of the responsibility of the education of the youth. I have found this not to me true. Parents typically want to be involved in the education of their children, but often the system restricts their level of involvement.  The preparatory school (High School) is considered a higher education and those who choose to go are expected to take charge of their own education.  A this level the teachers have less communication with the parents of the students and the entire triangle relationship (teachers, parents and students) take the form of what one would expected in the university.  This is of course varies among the different types of schools. I have found the more public t and urban the school, the less teacher-parent communication. Technical schools try to maintain a bit more communication than the public school, and private schools seemed to have the most. The rural school I visited had a lot of communication with the local families from the same town, but the parents of the students that had to travel far have less contact with the teachers.

2.       It has been interesting hearing the various views of what parents feel is the responsibility of the teachers in respect to the orientation they should give to the students. My observations show that the less amount of schooling the parents have, the more they believe the schools should be in charge of teaching morals and values. It is as if the parents who finished high school or went to college realize that school is mainly academic instruction and the parents who have less experience in school expect the teachers to be more like parents and incorporate moral instruction in their classes.

I observed little to none moral instruction from teacher in the classroom. However I did participate in an assembly on sexuality and hear of classes based on ethics and civil culture.  Uneducated parents seemed to be more naïve as to role of teachers as instructors of moral values. The more educated parents wished the schools would teach more moral values but were more aware or accepting that schools were mostly academic instruction.

3.       The last observation was about the teacher-student expectations. Teachers knew that they were only teaching a portion of the material to the students in the classes. Their goal was to “plant the seed” and then the students were to “cultivate it.” The students who exceeded in class were those who understood this best. They dedicated themselves to find other resources outside of class to learn the material; they were less dependent on the teacher. The students that were failing often relied solely on the in-class instruction and did little of their own reinforcement.
It will be interesting to see what other themes emerge from my interviews and field notes.  The research thus far has been very interesting and very rewarding.  I’m excited to extract all the results. 

Saturday, July 14, 2012

The power of Reflection


My personal journals about my personal feeling and reflections has really helped me grow and learn. By the simple act of deep reflection on paper, you can capitalize on your experiences of life and gain wisdom that can otherwise take long years to develop. I always hear Elder Bednar say that we can choose to be agents and act for ourselves or choose to be acted upon. It’s cool that we can choose to learn wisdom at a deeper level and at a younger age by choice.  I feel this field study experience is giving me a greater capacity to reflect and think. In my perspective I'm becoming more capable of learning from the world around me. 

Sometimes we let life just fly by without stopping to think about everything that's happening and how it's affecting us. When I sit down to write in my field journal every night I think back and every once in a while I realize things I hadn't noticed.  Maybe I come to understand better what a student told me about their how they wished teachers taught or why a teacher feels it ok that over half of his class is failing. I read a inquiry the other day about the benefits of teachers conducting inquiry projects or keeping teaching journals. I was impressed by this quote:

"Everyone is constantly telling stories or expressing interpretations of all their experiences. Teachers face entire rooms full students telling stories that may be very foreign to the teachers’ experiences.
Part of the challenge of qualitative inquiry and other education is to learn to read the stories others are telling, to understand them, to have compassion for them.  Qualitative inquiry is about helping educators invite the people they work with and sells to tell their stories more powerfully. It is all about helping educators find better ways to “here” or “read” those stories and share what they learn up through those readings with people they want to help."


This Field study is teaching me how to read and tell the stories of others. While we think and try to understand, we learn. I know for a fact that if someone else presented to me a write-up of the same inquiry project I would learn little form it. It has been my the means not the conclusion that I have been learning. 





Monday, June 25, 2012

The Analysis


The last few weeks I have been transcribing my interviews and highlighting the different subjects mentioned. This process was pretty tedious, but luckily I bought Dragon software which allowed my to transcribe my interviews by talking to the computer rather than simply re-typing everything. 

I sent an e-mail out to my professor and my inquiry research class. I explained my plans of analysis and asked for some advice. He sent me back an e-mail and I realize how much more work you need to do and the analysis I should have been doing but have not yet started. To be specific I should have been analyzing interviews as I did then to know what questions to ask so my data is not left incomplete. Well, that didn’t happen, so I have to quickly analyze the interviews I’ve done and probably returned to the schools to fill in the blanks. This is frustrating to me, but I’m glad I’m getting the help necessary to make my project the best it can be.  I’m realizing that this project will take a lot more work than I ever imagined.

The plan to analyze is to put everything on a pedigree chart that allow me to look at it as a whole picture and then focus in on small details. This is called Domain and Taxonomic analysis.  I can then create comparison charts and look for patterns and relationships- Componential and theme analysis. I have started making my taxonomy charts, and it’s going to be lot of data to analyze, but I am seeing how it’s going to help me make correct conclusions. 

The daunting part of all this is that all this analysis with for my interviews with teachers. I still have o repeat this process two more times with my students interviews and my parent interviews (which I haven't started yet.)  It's a lot of work, but I'm learning a ton, so it's worth it. 

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Interesting things about teacher-Student-Parent relations


 Let me give a briefing of some interesting things I’m learning.

Students feel that the communication between teachers and parents is non-existent. That there is no one behind their backs making sure they do their work. Not only do both parents work, but they work longer hours.  If the student studies in the afternoon, the only time he would see his parents is from 9:00pm to their bedtime. Therefore they learn to be very independent and they education is fueled by their self-motivation. No one prevents them from skipping classes or leaving the campus. It seems less than a third make it through the prepa without repeating a year of school. The students have to learn to make good decisions.

I was talking with a Trigonometry teacher today (He is LDS and I really respect him) and he said 70% of his students failed the class. He claims it is because the previous teachers didn’t teach algebra well; even though they passed the class. I was thinking that there was a problem because if they don’t know algebra and they will not be taking the class again, who is going to teach them algebra so that they can pass his trigonometry class. He explained to me that it was the student’s responsibility to pick up a math book and train themselves on the subject. I can see that he is very glued to the idea that he was hired to teach trigonometry and it’s not his job to teach the loose ends that other teachers failed to teach.

When students run into problems, they have to find their own solution. Just after turning off the recorder with a group a Juniors, I explained that in the US, I feel like we have more people behind our back making sure we do our work and get our education and here they are encouraged to be very independent. I asked them if they would prefer someone to be more vigilant over their work.  They surprisingly me and said no, they prefer the independence.  This concept is very interesting to me. I want to dig deeper into the question of whether or not students enjoy the independence and freedom given to them or would they appreciate a stricter system and exterior eye on their work?

I am learning that it’s not the quantity of interviews that matters, but more the quality of the ones I do. I have also realized that interviewing is not a simple as I thought. Luckily I feel that the Latin culture is very open and quick to talk about whatever, and I meant it when I say whatever. They are especially easy to interview in groups, their conversations build off each other and I do little talking and more directing the conversations. The only problem is that I’m learning a lot of surface information. I don’t yet feel like I’m digging deep. I’m answering my question my research question, but I feel it is more with general information.  I guess you could say I notice the novicesness in my own work, and that can be frustrating.

I conducted two interviews today, one with an English teacher who taught for some time in the US, and the other with a group of sophomores. Both interviews went very well and I felt like they gave me some quality information. I enjoy the group interviews with the students the most, I don’t feel like my tactics or intentions are judged. Sometimes with the adults I feel they are a bit more reserved.  I very much enjoy talking with the teachers, and hanging out in the teacher’s lounge, but there is a slightly different feeling present under an interview.

At CBTis I walked around talking to teachers and students about different aspects of my project trying to get an idea on what parts of my project needs enriching. I did interview a group of sophomores that provided me a load of information on the changes they experience between middle school and the prepa.  One thing I learned is from the perspective of the students; the teachers have the authority to fail the students for whatever reason. This means that if a student doesn’t have the closed relationship with the teacher, they sometimes fear to question the teacher about a test grade because they think the teacher will lower their grade for questioning it.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Starting in the schools


After over two weeks of talking with school faculty, emailing and even going to the University of Guanajuato, I was able to get permission to start in the schools. Friday the 18th was my first day in CBTis 65; one of the nicer public schools. I was there fro the afternoon classes from three to eight.

At three I went to a physics class with Miguel Vazquez. He’s a good teacher, but it’s true the teaching dynamic here is a bit different. The students stay in the same classroom the whole day, here the teachers rotate classrooms.  The teachers do take an authoritative position. The front of the classroom where he stands is elevated about a foot.  The students stand when the teacher enters, and sit when he permits them to.  They also can’t leave until the teacher indicates; there is no bell. Students are taught to fill up the front seats first, or in other words, if there is empty seat in front of you, you move up. I realized this more during the second class; some students didn’t follow the norm and were asked to move forward.

The second class was a two hour long Chemistry class.  When I walked in there were only girls in the classroom, all the guys were waiting around outside. I verified with one of the girls it was the chemistry class and they gave me a puzzled look about why I was there. (I am the only blond one out of 2200 students, I don't blend in super well) I started to explain myself and they all turned to listen. After a minute or so I realized it was me surrounded by 15 teenage girls and I got worried the teacher might walk in and get the wrong image so I left to talk with some of the guy outside the classroom. That class went well, this teacher was also had the class very controlled and attentive.  The dynamic is actually very different in the sense that all the students pay attention regardless of how interesting the material it. I was impressed not to see any students in the back half asleep on their desks (As is common in the Provo schools I visited)   

At the end of Class I spotted Sergio Cornejo, the English teacher I was going to be with next. We still had 15 minutes until class started so I sat and talked with him. He speaks pretty good English but he does have a thick accent. He told me that the school had science laboratories and I thought that was cool. He stood up and I thought we were going  to his class, and when we showed up at a laboratory, I thought that maybe his classroom was going to be in that classroom. The class was full of students with lab coats and when I entered they all stopped and looked at me. I was waiting for something so happen, but it seemed like all the attention stayed on me. I say “Buanas Tardes” and the responded in unison “Buenas tardes.” Sergio did speak up and say he was there to show me the lab. I still felt really awkward so I turned to leave and slightly tripped over Sergio and made a fool of myself.  There was a lot of laughing as I left the room. I don’t care too much, if was a funny memory.

Sergio’s class was very different than the others.  He is a much more relaxed teacher and really lets the students behave how they want. They sat where they wanted and talk among themselves most of the class period. The good thing was that because it wasn’t a formal lecture, I got to go around and be with the little groups as they worked on their book work. All of them were really good to me and I felt comfortable and respected by them.

When I got back home it was only Javier and me. I made some taco filling with chopped chorizo, hot dog, onion and Jalapeños.  That with some reheated rice, special cheese and hot tortillas, it was a wonderful dinner. 

Monday, April 9, 2012

Final Worries



This Thursday we have the Marathon meeting scheduled and I think it would be a good idea to write out all my worries now so I know the right questions to ask.

Internet usage: One of my classes has all the reading material online.  I assume most of my free time will be while I am in Aldama and I worry about the web accessibility in that small town. If this is going to be a difficulty, I have the tedious option of trying to convert the course material from the webpage into a book.  That would of course need to be done before I leave to Mexico.

Recording interviews: I have no idea what the best devices are to record interviews. I know that my phone has an audio recording device, but you have to speak into it to pick up the sound. My vision of comfortable interviews entails a audio recorded set aside and ignored.  I don’t want to have to pass around a recording device during the interviews.

Communication with my family: This also has a lot to do with the internet usage. If internet is accessible, I will be able to Skype or email frequently. I will also be in the schools most days and that should provide me with a resource of communication to my family. On this topic I simply wonder what is best way to maintain communication with my family.

Water usage: I hear the water there isn’t good to drink. I can comprehend buying water to drink but what about brushing your teach, washing my hands to put in my contacts and cooking? I feel unsure about all the implications of how I will treat the local water.

Clothing and appearance: I would feel weird if I got there and dressed dramatically different than the locals. I want to live their culture and I feel that my appearance is the first then that will set me apart. What is recommended? I could buy a few cloths there? What is the standard of dress there?

Food and health: I keep hearing about student who go there and drink Pepto-Bismol on a daily basis. I have tasted then stuff only a few times in my life; is that the recommendation to stay healthy? What are some suggestions so that I stay as health as possible? Should I have a first-aid kit with any specific contents?

Service: If Aldama is an agricultural community, would it be acceptable or expected that I participate in a small portion to the faming? What about the chores of the house, cooking and doing the grocery shopping?  I’m very willing to do service, but I’d like to have a clear idea of what is expected of me.

Village activities: If Aldama is accustomed to BYU students, I’m sure they have a lot of experience with their participation in cultural activities.  I would like to be prepared and know about some activities in which I might be invited to participate; for example, Catholic ceremonies, traditional dances, holidays and sporting events.

Theft: My last worry is about how protective I need to be of my stuff. I recently inherited an I-phone. It would be convenient to bring it and use it to Skype my family and record the interviews. I don’t know how rare an I-pod is for the community of Aldama. I’d like to have a good idea of what precautions I should take to protect my stuff and my data collection.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Reciprocity



I really hope that after my experience with my host family that they feel that my presence was a blessing rather than a burden. I could gather the best information in the world, but if I leave behind in Mexico a whole bunch of acquaintances anxious to be rid of me, I will have failed my field study experience. Part of the study is complete immersion and that includes being accepted by the natives and feeling united with them. With all this being said, I want to consider what would be effective and appropriate methods of reciprocity.
Starting with my host family, there will obviously be some physical reciprocation for their hospitality, but I think it should extend past that. They should constantly hear and feel my appreciation for their service. I want to take time to get to know them and hear about their lives. I bet that they will also want to get to know me and hear about my life. Some call this process building rapport, but I think that diminishes idea of what really need to take place. In reality it’s building friendships and caring relationships.  By the end of my field study, I hope it’s really hard to say good bye to my host family and I can leave them with a sincere letter of appreciation for their generosity and friendship.
For the teachers, students and parents I work with, my reciprocity will not be as sentimental and personal as with my host family, but it should still be significant, especially with the teachers. I hope as I do my study I will be able to update them about the discoveries of my research and compliment them on their teaching methods. They shouldn’t feel I am critiquing their teaching, but that I want to learn from them. I also plan on being an assistant in his/her classroom in whatever ways possible.
The parents I interview should at least receive a thank-you note for their participation. I hope they enjoy the interviews I have with them and don’t feel that they were “subjects” with the purpose adding to my data.
In conclusion, I can’t think of all the ways I can show reciprocity without having personal experience in the field, but I do have an idea of the impression I want to leave behind. I want all those with whom I associated with to have enjoyed their participation in my project and feel my appreciation for their participation.  

Monday, April 2, 2012

Culture shock



After reading the article “Coping with culture shock” and the class discussion today I realized that it would be a good idea to generate some ideas how I might deal with it.

I already have some experience with Latino culture from my mission in Chile, but I’m realizing that even still I’m not immune to the irritation and frustration that can occurs while becoming accustom to a new culture.  I have a general idea of food and language, but outside of that I feel pretty clueless. By the many personal testimonies of past field study students, the honeymoon stage will end and I will find that some small things will start to annoy me. What will be more important than identifying these annoyances, is how I plan to cope with them.

I have realized that when I get stressed or frazzled, I have a few habits that tend to identify my emotional imbalance. First, I seek relaxation though nature. I have found that in times of high frustration I have an urge to find a quiet place in nature where I can meditate and be alone. I like to breath in fresh air and mentally slow my life down. Second, if something is on my mind, it’s very for someone else to get me talking about it. I find relief in venting what I’m feeling. This can be to people or in writing.  Last and what causes me the most worry it that I’m very transparent. I have a really hard time hiding my feelings. I can’t put on a poker-face. When I feel antsy or uncomfortable, it is easy for others to notice.  The reason why this worries me is because what could be very normal to the culture in Irapuato Mexico could be very strange and uncomfortable to me. Though my actions and words may be very respectful and polite, I fear my expressions might reveal inner feeling that could offend my host family or others around me. 

I’d like to say this could easily be solved by just practicing poker and hiding my expressions, but I think a better solution is changing my expectations. Frustration and stress occur when one encounters the unexpected. For example, maybe a roommate’s perspective on cleanliness or time doesn’t match my expectations.  This can definitely cause frustration.  There are two ways to deal with it; you try and make the roommate change and match up to your expectations, or you could change your expectations such that it’s expected and no longer bothers you.  Being that I am the foreigner going to Mexico and living in the house of a generous host family, I really don’t think that persuading them to adapt to my expectations in reasonable or appropriate. It is therefore logical that I will have to periodically adapt and change my expectations as I encounter the unexpected.  I believe this type of attitude would classify as what Ferraro called biculturalism. 

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Why choose to learn?



                I’ve had some interesting experiences in the last week as I have observed students in various classrooms. In many instances I have seen students sit through a class lecture completely disengaged and appear to have gained nothing throughout the entire class period. On the contrary, I have also observed other activities where students seemed to be excited about their learning and even go beyond expectations to further their understanding of the concept being taught. Knowing that I will be trying to understand the aspirations of high school students in Mexico, it seems important to try and understand what makes students choose to learn.
Today I participated in an activity in my physics exploration class where a teacher gave us, a group of four college students, two remote control cars. We were given the objective to find the velocities at which they travel and then prepare to make predictions. One of which was to calculate the distance that one car would need to travel so then when it approached the other car traveling a perpendicular paths, they would collide. I have to say I was really motivated to complete this objective and I put in a lot of effort in the algorithms I would use to cause the collision. I also knew I would be able to accomplish this objective and that added to my motivation.
I believe there are two variables attached to the reason why students choose to learn. First, that the students need willingly commit to a short term goal and second, that students feel capable of accomplishing that goal; or in other words, a motivating objective and self-efficacy. 
               I find this conclusion interesting because I believe it applies to a much perspective than crashing cars in a physics lab. If learning lacks a clear and motivating objective, there is no purpose to learn and the students won’t try. At the same time, if one feels incapable of understanding a certain principle and gives up, they again cease to try.
In Mexico I will specifically be testing these two variables. What are the aspirations of students to learn? What do they feel is the level of their capability?  What is the teacher doing to encourage learning? These are all questions I have that I hope to be able to answer in the field. 

Monday, March 26, 2012

My hopes for my field study


My hopes for my field study

I would like to start out by explaining how I originally got involved with field studies. It was only after winter break that I decided to go abroad for the summer. I knew I wanted to do something that would provide experience with the Latino education system, but I had little understanding of what programs were available. I looked in to a few studies abroad and some internships, but I felt like they were cookie cutter programs. The programs weren’t mendable to my expectations; they were very set in stone. I quickly realized didn’t want to study abroad; I wanted to be in the classrooms, to be a teacher’s assistant and to work one on one with students. A study abroad would not provide that kind of involvement.  I started looking outside of BYU  and found about ten other programs in which I emailed for more information. They were slow in their response and in the end I never felt comfortable with any of them.
When I found out about the field studies program, I instantly got excited about the idea. Here was a program that put me in charge of my own experience. There was no set outline of what I would be doing; I could make my experience exactly what I wanted it to be. I also understood that this would mean a lot more preparation on my part, but the workload didn’t bother me.
Now after having finished most of my preparations, I have become even more impressed with the experience that awaits me. As I had originally hoped, I get to be in schools and work with teaches, students and parents. I will even live among then and get a feel for life outside of the schools. I didn’t expect to have wonderful mentors who have worked with me and my plans and provided me with resources to study while I’m there to gain a better understanding for the Latino education system. I will travel in a small group which will provide safety and a more enjoyable experience. (Many of the programs outside of BYU involved large groups and that less desirable to me.) The greatest benefit of all is that I have become very passionate about my research topic and plan to continue my research throughout my entire college experience. Unlike a study abroad or an internship, my field study experience can evolve into a project of a few years. It also has the potential of being published and providing me with that huge opportunity.
By the end of this field study I hope to develop skills in conducting research, publishing and presenting, building rapport, and in preparing to be an effective educator. There is also the great advantage in building for myself a cultural awareness and familiarity with the Latino culture.  As speculated by the U.S Census Bureau, in 2025, half of all high school students will be Latino; this means my three months in Mexico will be a great asset to me throughout my future career. 

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Lessons from the IRB


After having a dramatic experience with finishing my IRB proposal, I feel it adequate to talk about my experience. In short, I have to thank the IRB for their strict requirement because it caused me to better develop my project and learn a valuable lesson on revision.

Let me give a quick overview of my experiences in the last week. After much compiling of my annotated sources, researching effective methodology, constructing my own methods, and filtering through all the risks and ethics of my project, I managed to compile a rough draft. That draft was then revised and then critiqued Friday during class. After a few hours of personal revision, I deemed it ready for submission.  Shortly after that personal conclusion, I received a call from my mother about the many spelling and grammar errors in my proposal. Thanks to a loving parent and a ninety minute speaker phone conversation, my proposal was revised and corrected.   It was then emailed to my professors who graciously responded with much constructive criticism. David Williams critiqued my data analysis and provided me with resources to study and to improve it. Erin Whiting met with me for about forty-five minutes as she walked me though some needed corrections in harmonizing my question and background information. After a few more hours of correction and applying the received advice, the proposal was ready for one last revision by Erin Whiting and then for submitted.

I wanted to explain this process because it taught me a valuable lesson. Revision! Revision! Revision! Up until now, my concept of a final draft was “the second draft.” Professor Whiting eased my frustration as she explained that some of her papers had required up to sixty revisions or drafts. This concept is vital to research. Quality research is meaningless unless it can be presented clearly.  The need for the skill of communication hit me unexpectedly hard this week, but I am excited that this field study will be great opportunity to develop that skill.   

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Latino in Action conference




Today I had the chance to volunteer all day at the Latino in Action conference at UVU. To summarize the conference, it aimed to motivate Latino teenagers to seek a college education and a professional career. Four motivational speakers, including José M. Hernandez an astronaut, gave powerful discourses about following your dreams and choosing your own destiny. Workshops were also provided to inform students about colleges they could attend and how they might receive financial funding for their future education. There were approximately 1000 Latino students that attended; all from the middle schools and high schools within Utah.
What was so interesting to me is that the leaders of the organization, the speakers, and most of the volunteers were all of Latino decent. That means all the advice and council given to the students was from a Latin to Latin perspective. I however am not of Latino decent, so from an outside perspective I observed how the speakers tried to relate to the student by sharing about their struggles and difficulties as they progressed through their education. This was key for my project, because in essence they are saying, ‘because I was Latino, this was difficult; whereas it was not so much for the Americans around me.’ That is the feeling I got as the speakers talked racism, the challenges of uneducated parents, learning English and the many times they were stereotyped as being a handicapped learner or incapable of success. Other derogatory stereotypes caught my attention, such as alien, illegal, unintelligent, indifferent and trouble maker. To me that seems to be one of the biggest problem for Latinos in America, that they have to brush off the negative generalizations that are often imposed upon them. And if they don’t, they fall into the trap of degrading their self-worth and living below their full potential.
                I really enjoyed that the speaker’s attempts to reverse such an attitude was pure positive and uplifting commentaries such as the following: “You are all so beautiful.” “You are our future, you are the future of our nation.” “Your voice is power.” “Hold on to your culture, you can accomplish whatever you wants, but don’t lose your Spanish.” “People will always try to define you, say you’re lazy, illegal, without papers, unintelligent.  Are you going to live according to these labels? Define yourselves!”
 I also found it effective when the speakers would yell things to the audience to repeat such as: “When I say ‘you are,’ you say ‘talented,” You are TANLENTED! You are TALENTED! You are TALENTED!” Or, “Knowledge gives you power, knowledge gives you what? POWER! Knowledge gives you what? POWER!”
From the faces glued to the speakers and the energetic applauses throughout the motivational discourses, I was convinced that the intended strengthening of the self-worth of the Latino students was working. Their energy proved that they felt more capable of success.
I also find it very interesting contrasting this to what we read in class in Octavio Paz’s book, Labyrinth of Solitude: that the Mexican culture as a whole thinks of themselves almost as a defeated people comfortable in solitude. I wonder if Hispanics view themselves with the same vision of capability as is promoted in the US.  I mean, I have always heard from my youth, you can be anything you want to be, there is no limit to your potential as long as you are willing to put forth the effort. While in Mexico, It could be interesting to pay attention to whether or not this same ideology of being incapable to achieve greatness originate from Mexico, or is it first stimulated by the racism received while in the United States? I would really like to investigate this a bit further, because if it somehow it is ingrained in the Hispanic culture, it is affecting the way Latino students learn. I think a great question to ask the students in the interview is if they truly believe they could achieve a college degree. 

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

How to build rapport


As I have thought through my methods I have realized that a lot of my project will be based on building rapport with my subject. This includes students, parents and teachers; three fundamentally different groups of people. That means for each group I will have to adapt the way I present myself.
Today I was observing a physics class in Mountain View High, and a student teacher was leading the class. She had only been teaching for two months or so, but from my point of view, she seemed very comfortable. She laughed and was very energetic as she the difference between speed and velocity. I was impressed at the level of involvement from the students consisted the majority of them were “mathematically challenged.” When she announced that she would finish her student teaching in a few weeks, the students were legitimately sad about it. They really had developed a strong relationship with her.
There are however there are two student teachers that teach this class, and to me the other gives off a different feel.  She seems at times less sure of herself.  When she lectures, I feel like her mind switches on to “lecture mode” and the class disappears from her conscious. She is not a bad teacher, but her personality doesn’t shine as bright as the first.
The reason I mention these two examples is because I believe self-confidence is a huge part of rapport. The first student teacher was herself and the class trusted her for it. I think about the interview we listened to in class, about the researcher who studied a polygamist community. When she took pictures, she did not act super formal and serious, but was playful and happy. I believe that will need to be the core of how I will build rapport in Mexico, especially with the students. They must see me as an equal and not a future American teacher wanting to use them as subjects for my research.
Now I would like to think of a few specific examples I could use in building rapport. For example, I think that how I present myself is very important. They need to feel that I am normal and can relate to their lives. They may find it interesting that I lived in Chile for two years or maybe that I’m a triplet. In interviews with parents they might find in insane to hear about how my mother raised five kids with only a four year age span between us. I could even carry around a wallet size picture of my family to let them feel even more personal connected with my family. I really believe that’s the trick, all my subjects should feel that I am open and honest, that I have nothing to hide.  My opinion is that once they feel that I am open with them, they will feel that they can be open with me.
It is then when I can use the famous rule found in the Bernard article “Get people on to a topic of interest and get out of the way. Let the informant provide information that he or she thinks is important.” Once they feel comfortable opening up to me, it’s my job to simply let them tell me what they think is important for me to know.
In conclusion, to build rapport, my plan is to be confident in being myself and be very open with my subjects.   By doing so I hope that they feel a confidence in me that will cause them to be more open and honest with me. 

Monday, March 5, 2012

Good questions to ask



My last blog talked about the idea of situation questions. These are questions that cause the subjects to imagine themselves in a certain situation and to explain how they would react. This got me thinking about what kind of situations I would want to present to the students. I’m sure that when I am in the field my questions might change a little, but I can at least have a foundation of situations to build off of.  I also wonder if I should phrase the questions in third-person or first person? Reactivity may be affected if students pretend to give advice from third-person perspective, for example: “If a student arrives late, what would you expect …” or his/her personal perspective, “you arrive late to class, what…”

The following will be a list of topics and questions that could be interesting to investigate for my research.
Retake a test
‘You receive a very low score on a test that you feel does not reflect your knowledge of the subject, how would you react?’
“If you confronted the teacher about it, do you think he/she would provide an opportunity for you to raise your test grade?’

Parent-teacher relationships
              A parent discovers that his/her son/daughter is failing a class, how would she react?
A teacher realizes that one of his/her students never turns in his/her homework, should the teacher contact his parents? What would you recommend to that the students does his homework?
Would you recommend that your parents speak with your teachers on a regular basis? Why/why not?
Teacher –student relationships
A science teacher explains a difficult concept in class and when the school bell rings to indicate classes are over, he/she warns all the students that the following day there will be a quiz on that same subject.  You feel like you didn’t quite understand the concept is not ready for the quiz tomorrow.  What would you do?
After graduation you and your family host a casual party with food and music. You feel an appreciation for a few of your teachers, would you invite them?
Late policy
Friday during school your teacher assigns the class a reading and to write a summary of the article, you arrive Monday at class and realized you forgot to do the assignment, what do you do?
A student turns in an assignment a week late, what reaction would you expect from the teacher?
Absence
A student is absent from school three days in a row with no indication of parental consent, what would you expect from the teacher?

This list also causes me to think about other questions I could ask. I could try gran tour questions such as: If I was a transfer student from the United States, and I asked you to explain to me … what would you tell me? And add in questions like:
What to expect during one day at school what would you say to me, what?
What help should I expect from the teacher?

I could even ask: If you were to travel to a school in American, can you describe to me what you would expect throughout the course of one day? This type of question would really help me understand what the common ideology is about American schools.

I’m sure I could explore much more in depth possible questions to contribute to my research but I know more ideas will come as I continue to visit local classrooms.  To close I must say, just thinking up the questions above got me really excited about the interesting information I will be able to find while doing this project.


Friday, March 2, 2012

Idea for interviewing




I recently read a research paper of a study done to compare the teacher-student relationships in Mexico and America. The data was very interesting, but what I found most interesting was the methodology they used. The study consisted of four questions they asked to students and teachers. These questions had the students (or teachers) put themselves in a situation that could occur in the classroom and respond on how they would react. 
These were the questions the survey used:

1) A student draws a funny picture of the teacher which exaggerates a part of his or her body, like the stomach or hair. The student leaves the picture on the teacher’s desk with no name on it, and the teacher discovers it’.
2) ‘A teacher says something that one of the students disagrees with. The student tells the teacher his/her point of view’
3) ‘The students complained that an activity was difficult to understand and boring. They said they didn’t want to do it but they didn’t mind learning the material some other way’.
4) A student comes to class without having done his homework, what would be the reaction of the teacher?

 After reading this study I was very amazed but the effectiveness of their methods. The data was clear and easy to interpret. The conclusions were hard to deny because of the strong evidence from their study. This study caused me to think about what methods I could use and how I might be able to use situation questions. My original plan was to gather my data with informal interviews.  The idea of sitting down with a student one-on-one seemed overly intimidating. I feel as a one who is blatantly not Mexican, to do individual interviews will require a lot of tact and skill.  But, I remembered that according the research I have found, Latinos prefer a community setting. I gathered that they feel more comfortable in groups. From the Inquiry conference I heard about focus groups and how effective they were in a Navaho education study. I concluded that I can apply all these methods to my research.  I have decided to use mini-focus groups, of three students and ask them a couple of situation questions. 

I still have much to decide, specifically, what variables I want to focus my research on and possible situations to use in my questioning; but for now I am excited about this new ideal to gather data. 

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Role of a teacher



Today I was interviewing a few staff members of the Latinos in Action program and I learned something very interesting about the role of an educator in Rural Mexican cities. The guy that I was talking with was a Latino teacher, and had many experiences as evidence of what he told me. This is what he explained:
Traditionally in small communities the pope held the role of judge, officer, governor, financial advisor, leader of the community and whatever type of concealer you could imagine. They were the go-to men whenever there was a problem. Well with the advancements in education teachers have become the problem solvers.  The teachers are the ones with the most education in the community and therefore earning them the position of the Universal problem solver.  When the Latinos want medical, financial, or political advice, they typically go to their teacher to get it.
In Mexico parents trust the teachers to make a lot more decisions. They are allotted more power. For example, teachers have the right to punish the students. The Latino teacher I was talking to told me that he has had Latino student ask him about how to handle their credit card debt or other random councils. He would answer, “I’m just a history teacher,” but he sensed that they still expected him to be a qualified multi-subject helper.
After hearing about this unique viewpoint, I searched for an article to provide evidence to support it. I found strong evidence that in the Hispanic culture, teachers take the role of an authoritative leader.  This can cause problems when Latino students transfer to an American school because they have a different expectation for the role of the teacher in their education. It will be interesting to dive in deeper to see what are the specific challenges that this cold cause for the transferring students.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Why get an education?


I have this fear that in rural Mexico a student, frustrated from the stress of his academics, is going to ask me, “Why do I need an education? My father is an uneducated famer and I know I will become a farmer, how is any of this stuff I’m learning going to help me?
As one seeking to improve the process of learning for Latino students, I feel I should have a strong conviction of why all youth should receive a full education.  To evaluate the importance of education I want to divide the answer into two parts: the reasons of the world and the reasons provided by God and his prophets.

The world’s view

To be Successful – To be able to own a nice house and a nice car and all the stuff that comes with living a upper-class life style. Those with money are thought of to be happier with a more comfortable life. They have more toys and more time to vacation and relax. Now, I don’t think it’s accurate to correlate money with happiness, but I do feel that money can help life me more comfortable and less stressful.

Support a family – If one plans on raising a family, a higher paying job sure makes it a lot easier to cover the costs of food, health insurance, housing and all other fees required to support a family. 
Money is required to keep bread on the table and an education can help with that.

From the list above I still don’t think isn’t enough to convince a frustrated student why he should get an education, he may think of his father as successful person and capable of raising a family. So why else should one get educated?

To have cultural literacy –Have you ever with been in a conversation with a group but unexpectedly the conversation switch over to health insurance, or the new research being done on stem cells and you all the sudden feel very much out of the loop? This is called cultural literacy and it’s the ability to understand the media around you.   If one is uneducated they can often feel left out, dumb, and unable to contribute to significant conversations.

Key to opportunity- when one is educated they understand the systems around them. Laws, rights and benefits are more easily understood and therefore they are able to use them to their advantage. Educated people are more capable of achieving their dreams because they understand how to use the resources around them.

Other reasons I have found are:
-          Will make you live longer
-          Increase the number of interesting people you meet.
-          Make you happier
-          Make you more attractive

God’s view

By the own words of Christ we read “Seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith” (D&C 88:118) From this scripture we understand the education has eternal benefits as well.


Education increases ones eternal potential. With the understanding of us as eternal beings, the character we develop in this life goes with us to the next. It then makes sense that by training ourselves to be problem solvers and experienced thinkers is not only important for this life that also for the eternities to come.

Example to others: Gaining an education allows one to contribute to society and set an example to others as a righteous and intelligent person.  Respect often follows the appearance on intelligence, and leaders must first earn the respect of their followers, thus education is typically a requirement for righteous leaders.

Ability to serve: An education enables you to better know how to serve God and his children.  Doctors, teachers and professional occupations are great opportunities to serve others with special needs.

Provide for your family now and forever: It’s clear that God also promotes education to provide for our family because family relations are considered eternal. This support is not only for physical needs but as an educated example and leader in the home parents, parents are better prepared to guide their children correctly through life.

In conclusion, if I was to encounter a student doubting the importance of an education, I would encourage him by saying: Yes, you will earn more money and be more equipped to contribute to society, but more importantly, it is only by achieving an educated mind that one can truly reach their full potential. Learning about the world around us causes us to understand the bigger picture and thus enabling us to make wiser decision and empowering us to accomplish our goals. A lack in education limits one’s destiny.


Friday, February 24, 2012

What am I expecting from a Mentor?



I understand that my expectations are high, but I would like to envision the qualities of a perfect mentor so that I understand how to explain myself when he/she asks how to best support me and my project.
Before arriving at Mexico
My Mentor should  be interested in my research.  He shouldn't feel that working with me is busy work, but he should be excited about my results.  I hope he is interested enough to check my blog periodically to evaluate my progress.  I hope he is willing to listen to my ideas and aspirations for my research project and offer some research ideas or articles to aid me in my preparations.  When we plan out my course syllabus, I would expect him to assign me reading that would be beneficial for my project.  I also feel it would be important that he reviews my proposal and methods and adds advice to how my project could be improved.
During my field study
Our conversation will definitely be limited in the field, but that does not mean I do not expect comments and suggestions via email.  I hope that whenever I run into roadblock we have a good enough relationship that I can ask for advice.  It would be useful to ask for guidance on interviewing tactics, or evaluation methods. 
Afterwards
I understand that the field study program requires that we have an oral report or a debriefing session.  It would be helpful if my mentor and I talked about ways my research and how it could be continued or transformed into something useful to the Latino community.  My greatest fear is that my research all ends up to nothing with no application. I want my efforts to aid Latino student in some way or another. I hope my mentor understands that and contributes to my efforts in the application of my research.


Wednesday, February 22, 2012

What would I expect at a Mexican High school?



I realized a clear way to rewrite my question would be based on expectations. Latino students and parents become accustomed to the educational support in their native country and want to know in what way is Provo meeting, exceeding or failing to meet their expectations.  Expectations meaning: Government programs, parent-teacher relations, school programs and the quality of teaching within the classroom.

Thinking about my question in that way I thought: what would I expect if I were a high school student transferring to a school in Mexico?

To do this blog I listed out a five categories to reflect on what I have become accustom to from my own education and why it might be different in Mexico.

Grading
I would expect periodic assessments of my learning.  These not only serve to measure my learning, but to send to my parents as a report card so they know of my progress and difficulties.  At least once a semester parents should be given the opportunity to meet my teachers and talk with them about my learning condition compared to the other students.  This way parents can judge if any extra help is needed to improve academic success of their children.
It was because of report cards and parent teacher conferences that my parents went through so much extra effort to get me tutored and up to level in my literacy in my elementary schooling. I believe parent teacher communication is very important and I’m interested to see how my expectations compare to what is the norm in rural Mexico. From my understanding our parent-teacher relationship is foreign to them.

Classroom management
I am accustom to a time management system that requires all student to be with in their class rooms no later than five minutes after the bell or penalties are issued. I know that if I receive too many “tardies” I will have to go to a lunch detention or an after school detention as a consequence. If I skip school without parental consent my parents will be notified and unexcused absences can also affect my grades. Bathroom breaks and water breaks were normally permitted with permission from the teacher. At my high school, unless with parental consent, leaving campus was not allowed, and I was expected to remain in school to the last class. I know that the Latin culture is much more lax on time management because their culture works more with polychromic time, so it will be interesting to observe how it plays out in the schools

Assignments
Homework is always despised but I understand how it plays a crucial role in the learning process. Teacher can’t provide too much mastery time in class, because that time is dedicated to discovery and explanation. I expected daily math and science assignments along with papers and reports from my other classes.  I was also common to have large projects requiring multiple weeks of work in most of the subjects. Many times large projects required internet research and the use of other advanced technology to complete them.  I am interested how rural Mexico with limited resources will compensate for these learning experiences.

Clubs and sports
I could not count the number of clubs and extra-curricular activities available at my high school. We had everything from hoarse back riding to golf for sports, ceramics to science clubs for educational based clubs, and even clubs such as breakdancing, debate team and ethnicity clubs.  Most students were involved in some out of class activity they choose based on their personal interest. I have a hard time imagining that rural high schools in Mexico will provide such a diverse selection of extra-curricular activities. I wonder what they consider to be the fundamental clubs that are most beneficial to the students.

Learning outside the classroom
I have a clear recollection of many field trips and outside learning experiences that contributed to my education. I remember visiting a cadaver lab at a local university for my biology class, or a museum of art or history for other classes. Often in physics we would go outside to do experiments or have class in the gym to test catapults. My point is that class was not just confined to the classroom and that contributed my excitement about learning. I wonder if in Mexico they take advantage of learning opportunities outside the class room as was common to me.  They may not have the resources of huge school busses, but maybe they capitalize on local excursions. 

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Why should I learn this?



I feel like that question can be asked often in a boring class or while learning a principle that seems inapplicable.  The more I learn about how we learn and different teaching tactics, the more I look forward to investigating the common Hispanic methods of teaching in Mexico.  I had the chance to observe an elementary school science fait today and it blew my mind the kind of experiments these ten year old students had done.  What really hit me it the concept of motivation. I feel like whenever I study the learning presses, it always boils down to the underlining motivation factors.  It they are there, students will push through the learning process despite the difficulty, and if they are not there, well, teachers can try to force-feed knowledge but it is very ineffective.
In this entry I want to focus on one of the most powerful motivation factors that I plan to keep an eye on when observing schools in Mexico.  It is the factor of showing-off or publicizing your effort. This is probably the number one reason why some students are so passionate about sports and so indifferent about their schooling.  A high school football team works themselves to death just because every Friday half the school with be watching them and critiquing their skills. I was a wrestler in High school and let me tell you, I can’t think about anything more motivating than a one on one duel under a spotlight surrounded by a crowed of my friends and schoolmates.  I pushed myself farther than ever so I wouldn’t make a fool of myself.  But on the other side, when my performance was exceptional, there was no better reward than the public approval.   
Now I say this because at the science fair today I interviewed some ten year olds that were explaining principles in physics that I didn’t learn until my senior year at high school.  I saw kids who otherwise had little interest in science telling me about the science behind their favorite activities.  One young girl explained the importance of each ingredient in a chocolate cookie recipe. Another about the best type of protection to use to protect yourself from the UV rays when playing at the beach.  One boy tested all his model airplanes and explained why some flew better than others.  Not only were the subject matters focused on something they cared about, but as I approached each project board, the students were extremely giddy and anxious to explain to me what they had tested.  One team of young girls, all dressed in homemade matching shirts with the title of their project written across them, could not stop interrupting each other because they were so excited to explain to me what they had discovered about avalanches.
In Mexico I eager to see what are the motivation factors the schools used to promote learning. It’s possible that I find a lack of effective motivation, even still, that would be an important observation to report. 

Friday, February 17, 2012

Ideal Living location, Irapuato vs Aldama



In this blog I want to talk about the pros and cons about living in the city (Irapuato) verse living out in the country (Aldama.)

Aldama
PROs
Aldama is a great location because BYU already has good contacts there and from what I understand the town is accustomed to BYU students.  It’s a safe place with low criminal activity.  If I wanted to interview parents about their involvement in their children’s education, I’m confident the people there will be very willing to participate in my interviews because of their previous experiences with BYU students. I will also get a full experience of a rural community and to better understand the challenges these students face to achieve their education. If I choose to study about rural schools, it would be important to live the part; but currently is appears that that will not be one of my main variables of study.
CONs
There are no High Schools in Aldama and I would have to travel daily to do my observations.  Daily travel time will take away over an hour each day from my research.  Also I will be very limited to the bus schedule to go and return to Aldama.  According to Google maps the closest High School is in Irapuato, and it would not be very convenient to travel there daily.  Because students have to travel far to a high school, I can assume a lower amount of parent with kids in high school. 

Irapuato
PROs
Irapuato has over six high schools, and some are public and others are private and higher quality.  I will be able to easily visit multiple high schools and work with different teacher who have diverse teaching styles. My sample size can be much greater because of the greater density of people. There will be plenty of parents with children in high school that I can interview for my research.  I will be able to travel with a much more flexible schedule.

CONs
Locals in the city are probably are more hesitant to participate in my research because they are less familiar with BYU students.  I would not be able to experience the country life and will understand less the life of rural students.  The city environment will also be a bit more dangerous than the rural environment.

From the variable I have considered, I think that it would be most convenient to live in the city where there are more schools and more people to interview.  Also travel is much more convenient in the city. 

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

The challenge of interviewing


Over the past few weeks I have had the opportunity to have a lot unstructured interviews with faulty members from the local schools. I have discovered that interviewing can be a lot harder than I had originally anticipated.  This is especially true using the unstructured interviewing format.  I have found the hardest variable to control it the image of the interview.
What I mean by the image of the interview is the perception or feeling of the interview, which can range between a casual conversation and a formal interview.  Thus far most of my interviews have been spontaneous, when teacher or students have an available moment.  When this occurs, I tend to ride a line between casual conversation and formal interviewing depending on my focus in recording their words. I believe that one is more open and willing to reveal their personal opinion in a conversation than in a formal interview.  This is because one is much more aware of his speech when he knows it will be recorded and documented. 
Note taking is a tricky skill because I feel if too much of my attention goes into the writing down notes and the interview becomes more formal and the person I am interviewing feels less comfortable. Also I feel note taking takes away from my ability to show respect from eye-contact and listening tactics.  I feel an important communication skill is active listening and it allows people of feel more open and willing to answer your questions, but when I have to take notes I feel I’m less of an active listener.
This brings me to the idea of using a voice recorder. I like the idea because I don’t have to worry about note taking and I can be an active listener, but it’s impossible to deny that when you are being recorded the thought of it is always in the back of your mind and it can affect reactivity.  But if I were to compare the reactivity of both methods I actually think using a voice recorder would cause less of it.  The only problem is that spontaneous and unstructured interviewing if often not the ideal or most comfortable situation to stop the interviewee and ask permission to use a voice recorder.
I have settled with the plan to use a voice recorder when the interviews are planned, but in spontaneous conversations, it is best to stick with the note taking.