How do they see me as an observer?

This last week when I entered into the physics classroom at Provo High, I became aware of a few concerning variables when it comes to observing. How do the students view me? Do I stand out as an observer or am I be accepted as just another student? For starters, In Mexico my appearance will blatantly tell everyone I’m not a local Mexican.  Luckily at Provo High, most students are American; even still I felt a little out of place, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with myself. I’d like to explain in detail what feelings I experienced as I tried to find where I felt comfortable as an observer.

As I entered the classroom my first thought was to hide; observe quietly. I sat in the back of the room and pulled out my notebook to take notes. I didn’t feel comfortable. I felt like I was spying on the teacher and the students. I then decided to take the role of a student and open my mouth a bit more. Class had still not started, so I was able to introduce myself to the students around me and ask a few questions about the class. I was surprised that the students didn’t seem to mind my presence. They spoke to me as if I was a fellow student, telling jokes and speaking openly.  I could tell they knew I was older, but they didn’t talk to me as an adult.

The teacher started the class with a lab in which the students got together in groups of three to do some observations at different stations around the room. My first thought was to stand back and be invisible again, but I soon felt uncomfortable just as before and asked a group if I could join them. They graciously said yes and I joined in their huddle around a glass beaker filled with a colorful liquid. The three were friends and worked well together but I couldn’t help but feel excluded.  They didn’t feel comfortable talking to me.  At that point the teacher was unoccupied and I decided to speak it him.  That was then when I felt most comfortable, I felt more on equal ground with him. 

So where do I fit in as an observer? I learned quickly that I‘m not one to be a quite observer, I like to participate. It’s easy to take the role of the teacher’s friend, but I also liked feeling like one of the students. I understand that not all students will readily accept me as such, but some do.  And I’m sure more will as time goes on.

How do they see me? I’m hoping not as an observer or a spy. I think the best way is to act like everyone’s friend, teachers and students. The more comfortable they feel around me, the less of an observer I am to them and the more normal they act when I’m there. It’s that normality that I need for my field research. 

Annotated sources Documents

11.       Hellewell, Marianne, The Development of Mexican Schools

Hellewell argues that the education system in Mexico has developed in several stages such as: socialist education reforms, education issues of quality versus quantity, and twenty-first century challenges To prove the Socialist reforms he stated how the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States made attendance to elementary and lower secondary school mandatory. For his quality verse quantity clam he quoted an American researcher who said that the teachers complained how hard it was to keep their students in school because of the low quality education caused by the quantity of students. He didn’t provide any evidence for his last argument about how new technology advances are shaping their educational system. His arguments flowed in order and marked a clear organization.

        It helped me understand what past challenges Mexico has faced that could still be evident today.  This has caused me to expect crowded classrooms and a higher dropout rate

22.       Guichar, Stephanie, The Education Challenge in Mexico

The article tries to prove that the main problem in the performance in the education system in Mexico is not a lack of resources but rather inefficiencies in their spending and weak incentives for teachers to improve their teaching methods. Guichar used results from standard test to prove that the Mexican schools are very much below the global standard. It also provides facts on how much of the system’s spending goes to teacher’s salaries and very little to improve the resources and learning environment of the student.

This paper provided great facts that show the poverty of Mexico and the low performance of their education system.  It provided great resources to look for facts and data to understand a bit better the weaknesses and differences in their education system for ours. It also gives a list of existing programs to improve their education system; ex, Oportunidades and Telesecundaria.

33.       Powell, Kendall, Science education: Spare me the lecture

Powell aims to prove that the lecture technique for teaching science is not effective and give alternative ideas for better teaching methods. He backs up his argument with results from test scores and according to his study, the more interactive methods raid student understanding significantly.

I found this article effective because in my observation, especially in the science classrooms I will want to focus on the style of the teaching. In Mexico is it all lecture or do they have some experimental time.

44.       Hancock, LynNell, Why Are Finland's Schools Successful?

The goal of the article says that the Finnish education system is effective and is a model for the rest of the world. The biggest factors that contribute to their success it that teachers have equal status with doctors and lawyers and thus many apply. This results in one teacher or assistant teacher for every seven students. Struggling students receive extra help from in tutor sessions. The Finish government also equalized the education system and resources of all the schools.

Learning about the Finnish system and its successes provides good ideas to know what works and what doesn’t when making my observations in the Mexico schools. For example I will pay more attention to number ratio of teachers to students.

55.       MacIsaac, Dan & Falconer, Kathlee, Reforming Physics Instruction Via RTOP

The article shows how the New Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) helps teachers focus on student so they understand physics better. It is a rating system that can be used universally. It increases classroom participation, retention of material and on task behavior. It discusses the importance for Students to discuss, negotiate, reflect upon, and evaluate one another’s words and ideas in small groups. The RTOP  might be exactly what I need to compare the teaching styles in Mexico to the local teaching styles here in Provo. Learning how to use the RTOP will give me quantitative data I can incorporate into my qualitative observations to better assess the need of lower class Latin education.

66.        Stern, Joyce, The Condition of Education in Rural Schools

Stern compares student education in rural schools with urban schools. Her results show that Rural schools do not provide any less quality of education but that rural student do tent to believe less in their potential. They tend to focus more on work than their education. The article seemed to prove that the culture of the rural communities was a greater detriment to the students than the limitation within the school system itself.  If I already know the difficulties of American rural communities, I can specialize in unique rural Mexican difficulties. It also provided great insight to the source for lack of achievement, vision and motivation.

77.       Gálve, Ruth Carolina, LATINO YOUTH FINDING SELF-ACTUALIZATION

1

This article was more informative to provide information of a curriculum designed to help motivate Latinos succeed in their education in American schools. The program is called Latinos in action. It helps the students find a greater self-worth as it focuses on what makes them different and special from their peers. For example it capitalizes on their bilingual skills to teach and to tutor. It build up their vision of their potential. This article is an example of what is working so I can focus my research on improving existing research and programs rather than rediscovering proven tactics.

18.     Gopnik, Alison, How We Learn

She aims to show that learning is not just a one step process but that it can be broken down into two specific fundamentals: The process of discovery and of mastering what one discovers. She uses a few examples to show the learning process. 1. Very young Hispanic toddlers were able to master the art of tortilla making through observation, practice and correction. 2. Basketball coaches teach by example and correction, but English teachers rarely demonstrate the process of writing and essay. 

With her example she makes two main points. A. That the teachers need to do less lecturing and more exemplifying and practicing with the students. B. That schools are a lot about preparing to play with little playing actually occurring. She thinks that students should feel like scientist in their science classrooms.

 This article helped me realize not to look at learning as one even, but a compilation of steps. Maybe Mexico does one step very well but are lacking on the others. For example, they could be great at practicing but lack understanding.

·        9) Nancy E. Hill and Kathryn Torres, Negotiating the American Dream

This article talks about the unique challenges between teachers and the parents of Latino students. Hill and Torres claim that Latino students are not reaching their potential because of the language barrios and cultural differences between teachers and parents.  For example the Hispanic culture values communalism and interdependence, while in American schools they promote emphasize individual achievement, self-expression and competition.  The American education style of parents and teachers as equal partners is foreign to Latino parents. The Latino motivation for higher education is to support a family while the American dream promotes personal achievement.

This article helped me understand some of the greatest cultural differences that are causing problems for Hispanic student to achieve. Parents are not always being the best supports for their children not because they don’t want to, but because they don’t understand our education system and their role in it. Whatever help is implemented in American public schools to aid the Latino students must also include the participation of parents and be very easily understood. 

·     10) Perkins, David Teaching for understanding,

David Perkins seeks to define understanding and how to effectively teach so it is achieved. He argues that much of the common learning form teachers is learning for the sake of regurgitating processes for test questions.  He states with cited sources that students are learning knowledge and skills, but when it comes to the application of their knowledge to diverse circumstances they fail to capture the idea.  He explains understanding using the words: engage, teach one another, comprehension, make connections, and think through concepts and to carry out a variety of performances related to a topic.  He claims that without understanding, knowledge and skills are almost useless. He ends explaining the best ways to teach to understanding.

This article added to my further comprehension of what is required to motivate learning.  The more I understand how learning occurs, the better I will be able to judge the quality of it as I observe in the Mexican schools.  This article focused much more on the application to real world phenomenon and circumstances.  That just being able to solve book problems does not necessarily mean you understand the principle being taught.   

Field Research starts today in Provo High!

Matar dos pajeros con un tiro! I start out by saying that because either by destiny, luck or divine intervention, many variables are coming together to aid me in my research.  My teaching and Exploration physics class conveniently requires that I observe local high schools science classes for a few hours a week. Today was my first time and it helped me better understand physics teaching but it also proved extremely beneficial for my research project.

Today I visited Marcus Mayntz’s physics class at Provo High.  He has taught physics 14 years, seven in Florida, and seven in Provo. He has had experience with a wide variety of foreign students and has a sound understanding of the different cultural habits they bring to the classroom. His students were working on a lab and I was allotted a good portion of time to ask him a few questions.

I first asked him what he had experienced with students from foreign cultures. He told me more often than not, foreign students feel the American students are very disrespectful to their teachers.  One example he related was about a student from Nigeria. The student explained that there the teachers hold more of a monarchy over the classroom. What He says goes. The students even stand as the teachers enters the classroom and only sit back down when signaled. The Nigerian student even felt obliged to apologize to Mr. Mayntz for the behavior of his classmates, though to Mr Mayntz their behavior was nothing out of the ordinary.

Our conversation eventually arrived on the Hispanic culture and how if differentiates the Latinos learning styles from the natives. He told me that as Americans we focus on benchmarks and due dates, and when assignments are turned in late they are penalized.  Whereas the Latin ideology, as he said it, is, “It will get done when it gets done.” One can clearly see that unless they abandon that philosophy, their grades will be penalized. I wonder how fair it is to assume they can adapt immediately.

Another unique behavior is that Latin culture is very community based, they enjoy working together. This can cause problems because they don’t feel it’s wrong to asking a friend for help during an exam. Mr. Maytnz told me how he’s had to explain a few times that an exam it meant to test a student’s individual knowledge, not that of the entire class.

Marcus Mayntz also mentioned a few advantages to the Latin culture. He said because they are community focused, they feel no shame in asking for help; whereas many American students take pride in struggling through a problem until they figure it out on their own. He also said that the Latinos seem to get more excited about labs and experiments then the American kids. I assume in their local schools they are not so accustom to hands on activities.

When I asked him if Hispanic students struggled more than the average student, he replied, “It’s hit and miss. Some come from Mexico City or Guadalajara and were the education is really good, but others come from rural communities where the only reason they went to school was so their family would receive a grant for their school attendance.” He said that those students from the rural communities were always very far behind, sometimes up to eight years. That was very significant to me because that is what I will be studying, rural education. I asked him if Provo High provided any special help for those kinds of students. He said they started a program called Latinos in Action: a student run service by bilingual Latin students to tutor ESL and work as translators for the teacher-parent conferences. The meaningful service seemed to promote a greater motivation and self-worth among the students. I plan to research much more about the success of this program.

To sum it up, I know as I visit local schools I will learn a lot of important information about Hispanic culture and their education, as demonstrated.  This will help me narrow down my focus for my research in Mexico so I can take greater advantage of my time there.  

The conditions of Rural Education in America

I have been expecting to find the rural education in Mexico to be low quality and inadequate in comparison to American urban education. I have quickly jumped to this conclusion thinking all rural education must be of lower quality. It is expected to find less experienced teachers and a disadvantages for the lack of up-to-date resources. Today I read an article from 1994 called “The Condition of Education in Rural Schools” and I realized I had hypothesized wrong. According to a field study by the OERI (Office of Education and Research improvement) “Student achievements in small schools equaled or exceeded that of students in large schools, suggesting that the climate in small schools may propel students to excel in spite of certain material disadvantages.”

                In spite of my predictions one cannot put all the blame of poor education on lower quality materials. The article also claims that though it is true that students from rural communities have less educated parents, less educated teachers and limited resources they proved no less capable to succeed in college. But, though that are in no sense less capable than students from urban schools, it’s evident that less rural students pursue post-secondary education.  Therefor on average, they end up with lower income jobs. The problem is not their quality of education, but they envision themselves in lower level, less skilled jobs than the urban students. It’s not a lack of opportunity but a lack of vision.

                Somehow rural students are envisioning a lower potential than those found in urban communities. This could be traced back to many reasons: lower educated parents, less local jobs requiring a college education, the low percentage of advanced degree graduates found in the community, and many others.  The point is, somewhere along the path they lose their motivation to achieve an advanced education. The article says backs this up saying that often the rural students value their high school job more than their education.  

                This article had a huge effect on me, because I have been so convinced that money was the real issue to low quality education in rural Mexico. I might ask myself, if a rural school in Guanajuato Mexico was provided with modern resources and better qualified teachers, would they succeed just as well as those in urban communities? I feel the answer is no because of the rural culture is based on agriculture and other employment that does not require a college degree.

                I will end with this question; if my end goal is to help Hispanic immigrant student succeed, do I adhere to correcting neglected education for lack of resources, or in promoting the renewal of their expected potential?

Proposal Part A - Draft

Proposal  Part A

If one was to travel to the outskirts of Guanajuato Mexico, one would find teenage students eager to learn but with the limited resources and a struggling school system. They do not have the same opportunity as would be found here in Provo Utah.  Some of these students, either by family relations, immigration or other means, end up in an American public school like Provo High. There they find a very different atmosphere and a new culture. They then have to dive head first into a classroom to collaborate with other student and teachers who have little to no experience or knowledge of the magnitude of their recent transition.  These immigrant students find themselves bombarded by new benchmarks quantifying their intelligence in comparison to the others. Luckily, ESL is substituted in for their English classes to aid with the language barrier, but there are other needs left unattended.  The sciences already provide difficulties to many native English speakers, but the change is magnified even more to those from limited foreign communities.

 After a thorough study of the local high schools, I will travel to Guanajuato Mexico and experience firsthand their education system. I will investigate its quality using RTOP and simple observations to determine to what degree it compares with what is found in Provo Utah. The purpose to this research is to better understand what changes are needed to better accommodate to the needs of transferring immigrant students in science education.

Considering that I aspire to be a high school physics teacher, this experience will greatly prepare me to accommodate to the needs of students from diverse cultures. I will also gain the significant understanding to what works well when teaching science to teenagers.

I estimate that my research will conclude that the science education is Guanajuato is of a greatly lower quality due to inadequate resources and inexpert teachers. To then accommodate to the specific need of immigrant students, a curriculum could be designed in the format of an after school club, that will focus on engaging exploration activities that teach science principle that are commonly omitted or misunderstood  in their science education.

To carry out my research I will conduct various RTOP grading procedures of the public high schools, both in Provo and Guanajuato Mexico. I will also compare observations in science classrooms in both locations.

RTOP Scoring

One of the main parts of my research in Mexico will be comparison. How does the quality of science education in Guatajuato Mexico compare with what is found here in Provo? I recently found a new way I would be able to compare the two with quantitative data. It is called the RTOP (Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol.)

I was introduced to this protocol in my Exploration of Physics Teaching class. It is an evaluation that determines how well physics teachers do in making their lessons student focused. Research has showed that the traditional lecture method is very ineffective when teaching physics.  If a teacher scores high on the RTOP, above 50, their class was more student driven. The students explored the principle, predicted and tested science. The learning process was involving and experimental. If a teacher scores low, the class was very teacher focused with low levels of student participation.

The RTOP consist of five topics, each with five questions. Each question is worth zero to four points; providing a total score out of a hundred. Here are the five topics:

(1) Respect student preconceptions and knowledge, - Do teacher recognize what they already know?

(2) Foster learning communities, - Are the student really learning?

(3) Explore before formal presentation, - Are the student experimenting with the physics principle?

(4) Seek and recognize alternative approaches, - Are the student learning with multiple perspective?

(5) Include student ideas in classroom direction. - Is the teacher focused on helping the class understand?

This has a lot to do with the engaging factor I talked about in my last post. What’s so exciting about the RTOP is now I have a way to measure it. In my physics teaching class, we have been viewing recording of physics classes and scoring the teaching using the RTOP rubric. I have gained a greater respect for teachers what don’t just try and show you what they know. It really is to the benefit of the student when teacher stop talking and stimulate student lead learning. The retention and feeling about learning is greatly enhanced.

Starting next week I will be using the RTOP in my observation at local high school here in Provo. I will then be able to compare that data with the RTOP scoring I do in Mexico.  This will be so important because I will have quantitative data and a legit comparison method to measure how engaged the students are in their science classrooms. 

The Engaging Factor

I am studying to be a high school physics teacher, so in Mexico I will mostly be focusing on their science education.  Science education, especially physics, is taught with a very distinct style when compared to other fields. English, History, Geography, and Math generally display their fruits on paper, while most sciences principles are best conceptualized trough experiments and observations.   A physicist will teach momentum best not with explanations, but by demonstrating collisions with toy cars. Sound is understood by listening to different tuning forks and how they interact with one another.  A class may start out with the teacher showing an abnormality or a phenomenon in nature and challenge the students to explain what causes its abnormal behavior. This interactive learning style I call the engaging factor.

I became hooked on physics my junior year in high school. We did an experiment with a cannon that launched golf balls. We were first explained the fundamental principle of projective motion and Newton’s equations, but then we were given the chance to prove Newton’s laws worked. We were divided up into pairs and given a launch angle and the challenged to predict where the golf ball would land if launched at our angle.  After making our predictions we would place a small empty cup where we calculated the ball would land.  I remember that my partner and I were the only ones in the class who predicted accurately enough so that when the gold ball was launched, it landed right in our small plastic cup. That idea of being able to predict the projectile motion of that ball fascinated me. Nature could be predicted. From that day on physics became my favorite subject.

The engagement factor inspired me in a way paper work could not. It has shaped my future. My choice career sprouted off of those engaging experiences I had in that classroom.  I owe a lot to my high school physics teacher, Mr. Holtz, for how he taught me.  With that said, I want to express a worry. If Mexican schools are low in funding and resources, I worry the engagement factor in their science classrooms is minimal.   

My goal in going to Mexico is not to change that, I can’t. But if a foreign student enters an American science classroom with very little enthusiasm for the topic, it might just be it was never presented to him in an interesting manner; and that might be exactly what he needs to want to succeed in the class.

The Dream

Today I met with my Academy Internship Advisor Dr. David Allred and he helped me realize the potential of my project. Because my focus is to improve science education my research could be very appealing to the AAPS (The American Association of Physics Teachers) and the NSF (The National Science Foundation). He believed that they might be willing to help fund my research and let me present in a conference. That would be a dream come true.  I am very impressed and thankful that three BYU professors are engaged in helping me achieve this goal. To me it seems like my project just got a whole lot bigger and I have felt the need to reflect a bit more on my purpose.

I recently asked myself, what am I expecting? My answer focused on he differences I thought would be significant enough to observe. But I realized a bigger question has surfaced, how will my research change the education system? What kind of influence can my results make in how teachers work with Latin immigrants?

To answer that question, some background knowledge first has to be established. Are Mexican immigrants typically struggling through U.S science classes? I would need to find some research relating ethnicity and standardized test score to make any reasonable conclusions, but for now, I’ve read enough to hypothesize they they are struggling more than the average.  I hope then is to provide information so that teachers with know how to help them succeed.
If I analyze what I just said, the word "information" is really broad, so I want to explain what I mean with an example. If I visited a poor community with a small high school I would probably find a lower quality science education. I would most likely find a teacher without a science degree, limited resource for demonstrations and visual explanations and out dated text books.  With limited resources, especially in physics, some principles are harder to understand. Some important information that I could gather would be what physics principles are least understood by the lower class for merely lack of resources. This knowledge would stimulate a simple curriculum designed to bring transfer students from such communities up to par with the standard requirements. Teachers would also have a better idea of the background knowledge of their classroom. I hope to find many more ideas for possible application of my research, but for now that's one. 

My Main Question

Within the secondary science education in rural Hispanic communities, what limitation caused by cultural views on education, insufficient financial aid and inexperience among educators hinder the learning performance of students? And if these students transferred to an American urban school, what could be done to overcome the setbacks from said limitations?

Through interviews and surveys I plan to better understand what rural Hispanic students envision as their goal for advanced education.  With detailed observations I plan to categorize what difficulties the students encounter as a result of a lack of resources.  Using RTOP scoring I plan to rate the teachers ability to teach effectively. 

25 Questions

Just to help orient myself I made a list of 25 questions to ask the Field study program.

1. How close will I be to the high schools

2. How many high schools are there in the area?

3. What is the predicted return date?

4. Would I be able to run an afterschool program?

5. How can contact information of the local schools to pre-plan my research and assistance?

6. Besides Church, What meeting does our group do together?

7. How close are we to the Temple?

8. Could I carry a calling?

9. Do we have to were any kind of uniform or where a badge?

10. If I get sick, what medical attention can I expect?

11. What do you know about local crime? Have host family ever stolen from the students?

12. Will the host families let me cook? Do they have a frig and freezer?

13. What keeps BYU students busy in Mexico? The school day only last so long?

14. If I bring my cell phone, will I be charged form long distance calling?

15. Is there an internet Café where there? Or do they have Wifi?

16. Will I need to upgrade my Wifi to better wireless internet?

17. How close is the nearest large shopping center?

18. Will I take out money through ATMs or banks?

19. What are the expectation BYU has of me in terms of research and assignments?

20. For my classes will I have online tests, or how will it work?

Preparation

21. What is the purpose of the class?

22. Can I read some research of other field study students that went to Mexico?

23. What extra help can I get in forming my theses and research plan?

24. How can I find faculty members researching education?

Post Mexico

25. What would I need to do to publish my research?

  

So what am I expecting?

         I'm really excited to go to Mexico and discover these "differences" in their educational system and culture, but what am I expecting to find? 
         If we put ourselves in the shoes of the student, we can try and think of many the factors that play into our success in learning. For example, student-teacher relationships; I know that in Latin culture students must show more respect by addressing educators with a more formal verb tense. To say “you,” rather than using the casual “tu,” a student would use the formal version "usted" to show more respect. I wonder if their student-teacher relationships are more formal than what is found here in America.
         To list off a few other observations I could hone in on: Time granted to complete homework assignments, are they given more or less time than what is custom here. Classroom etiquette, can they go to the bathroom during class? What disciplinary actions are used? From my LDS mission in Chile, I found Latin culture can sometimes view time in a much more flexible manner. Do classes always start on time? Do they discipline tardiness with the same severity? Here in America we tend to use a lot of multiple choice tests, what do the native Mexicans feel is their typical testing style? Is it a custom to raise your hand and wait to be called on, or is open questioning accepted? I will stop there, but I have a feeling that before I make It to Mexico I will write out a much longer list of possible observations. If anyone has others that they feel could be unique in both countries, please add in some of your ideas in the comments.

My Purpose To Go

 This summer I’m going to Mexico! Why? So I know what it would feel like to be a Mexican high school transfer student. I don’t think we can pretend to understand all the cultural differences a Latin transfer student experiences their first time stepping into an American classroom.  Think about it, the typical teenager experiences all kinds of drama when they transfer schools. They have no friends, new teachers, established clicks and you can’t forget the physical feeling of being lost your first day in what seems like a labyrinth of classrooms.  Now, how about an out of country Latin student? The newness is exponentially greater. They experience all of the same but also a new culture with new standards of etiquette and teachers that not only teach in a different language but with unfamiliar teaching styles.  Even their peers value education differently then what they’re accustomed to.  The list could continue, but my point is, I don’t think we really understand what Latin transfer student deal with.  And more importantly, our high school teachers, their resources from help and support, probably don’t fully understand it either. And that’s sad.

                In only a few years, I plan to be directing one of those high school classrooms.  With an increasing population of Latin immigrants, I fully expect more than a few to call me Mr. Welling. May I say publically, I hope they feel that that I am specifically excited to have them in my classroom. I hope that after taking my class they can say, “He understood where I came from and helped me feel welcome here.”   

I’m going to Mexico so they feel understood.