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.