“… the most promising forms of professional development engage teachers in the pursuit of genuine questions, problems, curiosities, overtime, in ways that leave a mark on perspective, policy, and practice. They communicate a view of teachers not only as classroom experts, but also as productive and responsible members of a broader professional community and as people embarked on a career that may span 30 or more years.”
-- Judith Warren Little (1993)
The second semester of the “Multiculturalism and Storytelling” course consists of a semester of follow-up training and supervision in the "Action Research Model" process.
What is Action Research? Action Research is an inquiry-based research process that helps teachers pose questions about the work that they do, collect and analyze the data, and then take the kind of action that will improve their effectiveness and their student’s learning.
Below are samples of teacher-produced “Action Research” reports. These reports were designed by educators who looked into their classrooms to learn about their students and their cultural backgrounds. Most important, teachers found ways to improve their students’ learning process.
Title:Advocating for Immigrants, Refugees, Loners, and Minority Groups
Author: Linda Richmond
Date: January 2005
This research project was created to better understand just how minority students learn to move beyond the basic knowledge level of prejudice, bias and bigotry to actively advocate for others that are different from themselves. Data was collect by interviewing students, student surveys and personal anecdotes. Lessons were created that had students thinking and writing about their own lives in terms of discrimination. Lessons also included guest speaker who talked about social justice issues such as prejudice, bigotry, and discrimination.
After analyzing the data that was collected some of the common themes included students better understanding issues around socioeconomic status, education, religious biases and the political policies that influence how people behave towards each other. As for advocating for others, only a few students chose to actively get involved in political issues.
It seems that a more in depth understanding and support will be needed in the classroom in order for students to really be able to actively advocate for others and change policies that are not supportive of all cultures and people.
To view data and results from this study, follow the links below.
Title:Relevancy of Learning in a Multicultural Context
Author: Fran Craigle
Date: May 2001
The premise of this research is that learning is a social process grounded in cultural symbolism. Based on this premise, it stands to reason that students will be more successful by learning to recognize and decode cultural symbols. For students who are members of the dominant cultural group, the challenge is to recognize cultural signifiers that go unnoticed because of their familiarity and the power inherent in those signifiers. For students who are members of a minority group, the challenges are different. For them, cultural signifiers in their new culture are very visible and often confusing.
Both groups must learn to recognize and decode such cultural signifiers if they are to make relevant meaning of their educational experience and their lives outside the classroom. The question of relevancy in education is vital if society expects educators to produce thinking citizens who can contribute to rather than drain social energy.
As the demographics of classrooms and communities change, it is critical that teachers adjust methodologies, strategies and content of subject areas to help both majority and minority students 1) recognize cultural signs, and 2) learn to decode them.
This project looks at whether a course in cultural studies taught from the philosophical perspective above produces students in both minority and majority groups who are able to recognize and decode cultural signs and then apply their learning, thus making it relevant.
To view data and results from this study, follow the links below.
Title: Students’ knowledge about racism towards African-Americans in Utah
Author: Tara Halladay
Date: May 2005
This research project examines how 11th grade students’ knowledge about racism towards African Americans in Utah’s past increased as a result of lessons taught on the subject. This project began by creating lessons for a U.S. History class. A few of the objectives of the lesson were:
- To introduce some of the experiences of African-American Communities in Utah
- To reflect on issues raised in the readings.
- To complete writing assignments focused on the issues presented in the readings and class discussions.
Students had previous lessons focused on the Civil Rights Movement and had studied the history of racial prejudice, discrimination and segregation before using that background knowledge to better understand the plight of African-Americans.
Data that was gathered was both quantitative and qualitative. First a “pre-unit survey” was given to all the students in order to compare their knowledge and understanding before they were taught the lesson. A “post-unit survey” was administered at the end so that results could be compared. The qualitative data were my journal entry analysis and student assignment analysis. The purpose of the analysis was to identify common themes that emerged out of the qualitative data.
To view data and results from this study, follow the links below.
Title: Japanese/Japanese-Americans in UtahAuthor: Diane Mugleston
Date: May 2001
The Utah State Fourth Grade Core requires teaching about Utah history and its people. Generally, the topics include the Native Americans, early explores, mountain men and the Mormon settlers in Utah. Very seldom is there any mention of other ethnic groups that were a part of Utah’s history.
The intent of this project was to teach my students about Japanese culture and the Japanese people who came to Utah. Visual aids, discussion, art projects and videos were used to enhance the lessons. As part of the project my students also learned about discrimination and prejudice.
The methodology that was used was to establish a baseline of the student’s knowledge of Japanese-Americans. A pre-test was administered, this pretest asked very basic questions about Japanese culture and history, the history of Topaz, and questions about Japanese-American culture today. After teaching the week-long unit, a post-test was administered in order to compare student learning.
To view data and results from this study, follow the links below.
Title: Our Family StoriesAuthor: Susan Hinckley
Date: May 2007
After taking the class “Multicultural Storytelling and Action Research” the questions that came immediately to mind were; “Can second graders understand challenges that minority cultures face and could they connect the challenges they learned about in literature to their current lives? If they successfully transferred what they learned, would they make newcomers to our classroom feel welcome?”
As the project moved forward and through many attempts to decide what the final research question would be, it came down to: “How will sharing a family story affect my students’ ability to communicate?” This question also encompassed the Utah State Core Curriculum, under Second Grade Language Arts, Standard I. Since second grade students need to develop language through listening and speaking, this process of storytelling would be a good way of integrating thee two ideas.
The methodology used to better understand the question was first to find out where the student’s place of birth was, where their parent’s place of birth was and the student’s ethnicity. The next data source was student’s writing their story and then videotaping of the students telling their stories, and the final data source was a survey to better understand what students thought about the experience.
To view data and results from this study, follow the links below.
Title: Inclusion in the Classroom (Diversity in Student Learning)Author: LeeAnn Montano
Date: May 2006
Research suggests that children with varied disabilities in the mainstream classroom often exhibit externalized behaviors that seem to make them particularly vulnerable to negative or decreased peer acceptance. This study researches the effect of these special needs students and the impact that their inclusion has on the social and educational aspects of the class. Data was collected using surveys, personal observations and interviews with students. In analyzing this data it was concluded that inclusion of children with diverse learning disabilities, into the mainstream classroom, could have a positive impact on the classroom environment and learning of all students.
The question at hand is: “In a classroom with inclusion of students with diverse learning and behavioral disabilities, what impacts would this have on the classroom environment and would these students be socially and academically accepted?” The main focus for this study is primarily on the social aspects of the classroom with this diverse population.
To view data and results from this study, follow the links below.