Navigating Survival Skills

in a Predominantly

Latin American School

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Nicole George ‘18

Educational Studies Senior Research Presentation

Trinity College

Hartford, CT

December 11, 2017

Setting The Scene

• Location of School
• Classroom
• Number of Students
• Teacher
• Group Setup
• No IRB Approval Needed

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Let Me Tell You The “Baño” Story...

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Research Question

How do teacher- student and student- student interactions and engagement vary among students with limited English proficiency in a predominantly Latin American urban school classroom?

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Thesis

• Between Teacher-student and the student -student interactions there is more dependence on upon student- student interactions for Monolingual Spanish speaking students.
• Three Patterns Found:
• 1) Survival Mechanisms
• 2) Unintentional Disengagement
• 3) Native Language: Keeps Engagement

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Why Does It Matter?

• Negative stereotypes about Latino Students
• Realize the navigation of Latino Students in Classroom settings
• Realize miscommunications between teachers and students
• Limited English Proficiency Students engagement/Disengagement causing factors

Secondary Literature

Secondary Research

• (Cordasco, 1975) Many of the failures in the classroom comes from students from language minorities due to the cultural and language barriers.
• Lack of Communication and Understanding produces negative stereotypes

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My Research

• Secondary research supported my finding
• Cultural and language barriers lead to misunderstandings, causes disengagement
• Student-student interactions shows how language barrier can be bypassed

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Secondary Literature

Secondary Research

• (Riconscente, 2014) teacher caring attitudes towards Latino students were observed and the reactions and feelings of the students were documented
• found that students’ beliefs about adults caring at school = higher levels academic outcomes
• Caring teachers actively listened students/ encouraged Latino students =positive school outcomes.

My Research

• Main focus was not on teacher caring
• Does include encouragement from teachers (positive verbals)
• Focused on Latino Students similar to Study

Methods

Primary Source: Observations

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**IRB Approval was not needed because no identifiable information was used and no interviews were conducted**

1. Survival Mechanisms

• Strong dependence on positive verbal and physical student- student interactions is seen as a survival mechanism for students with limited English proficiency.
• Example: (Y, TV-, Disengaged) (Y, SV+, Engaged)

2.Unintentional Disengagement

• When a Latino student who has limited English proficiency does not receive help or guidance from neither the teacher or peers, this leads the student to feel embarrassed, will cause them to fend for themselves, which will lead to disengagement in classroom activities.
• For Example: (W, TV+, Disengaged) (W, SV+, Disengaged)

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3. Native Language Usage Keeps Students Engaged

• Students tend to be more engaged when able to discuss in their native language. Enables Students to learn.
• For Example: (V, SV+, Engaged)

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Findings

• Multiple circumstances and barriers = cause disengagement
• Multiple Circumstances and interactions can cause engagement
• Prior stereotypes can be proven to be false
• Language is essential in learning

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Future Goals

• Shedding Light on language barriers with Limited English Proficiency Latin American Students
• Follow Up Trainings
• Bilingual Programs beyond 3rd Grade at this particular school.