An Ethnographic Study of High School - Essay Example

AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY An Ethnographic Study of a School Francine Atlas 
 ELD 502 
 Teacher: Prof. Eileen Roca Word Count: 1615 (6 pages) I. Introduction This ethnography report has actually been written for a particular high school, Grade 9, for Spanish I. Following is a description of the school. The school in question has a 7th-12th grade Gifted and Language & International Studies program. The grade level being taught is 9th (ninth) grade, the first year of high school. This can be for any particular subject area, but for this particular grade level, we are going to pretend we are looking at a Spanish I class for freshman (first-year high schoolers), also known as beginning Spanish—when reflecting upon the diversity of the class. Regarding the students in the entire school, these students’ ethnic background(s), language(s), ages, educational level of community members, behavioral norms and values, and socioeconomic statuses will be evaluated and thoroughly analyzed. Here we will analyze primarily the students in the entire school, with a philosophy of diversity centering upon the particular class. II. Background The ethnic mix of the learners, both in the class and in the school, is diverse. The school’s student body is predominantly African-American, although there are small amounts of other races present in the student body. The school used to be more racially diverse years ago. Regarding students’ socioeconomic status, this is diverse as well. The SES of the learners at this high school is varied, but a lot of the students tend to come from backgrounds with socioeconomically disadvantaged status. The primary language spoken is English, and in some cases, Ebonics (although not formally recognized by some as a bona fide language) is widely spoken by the student body. The type of community surrounding the school is in the city. Therefore, this school is an urban school. This school has special populations (special education, ESL/ELL, gifted). This school has a comprehensive special education program. Moreover, however, it has a large gifted population in its 7th-12th grade program. A certain percentage of the 7th and 8th graders in the Gifted program remain to go on for high school there, so there is that factor to consider, too. It is a keystone of any teacher’s philosophy of diversity that the classroom be a place of inclusiveness—whether students be Black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, or of mixed race(s) or races not named here, and be of whatever socioeconomic status, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or cultural affiliation—that students feel that they are equals in the classroom regardless of the teacher’s cultural lens. An inclusive philosophy dictates that each student should have the same opportunity to learn their subject. This includes being cognizant of striving against favoritism, especially based on gender or race. Students who are from lower levels socioeconomically should be given a fair chance to succeed by providing them with the tools they need to succeed in an environment which has typically favored the dominant culture’s hegemonic social strata. A level playing field is key. Strategies include having class materials available such as extra paper and pens. Teachers should want students of various national origins and religions to feel comfortable enough to express themselves within the dynamic of their own backgrounds. Especially with students who have ESL/ELL/bilinugal/multilingual backgrounds, teachers should want to make sure that their class is accessible to their language capabilities by supporting their learning with extra attention in order to check for understanding so that they don’t fall behind. Additionally, teachers should like to extend their help to students of different genders and sexual orientations who may suffer discrimination from other students—and try to combat that discrimination within the classroom by having an open-door policy. The teacher should wish to facilitate a learning environment in the classroom that fosters learning for all students, regardless of what groups to which they belong. Part of this inclusivity can be achieved with the celebration of diverse learners’ backgrounds. Allowing students to use their own method and style of speaking, dialects, and rhetorical devices when expressing themselves in the target language should be key when teaching—although an effort will be made to show students a variety of dialectical, methodical, stylistic, and rhetorical devices used in-class, providing a contrast to their own. This is not to diminish students’ own experiences; rather, it is to provide students from diverse populations the opportunity to be introduced to the the subject in its many forms and reinforce the beauty of their own cultural, religious, and especially linguistic, traditions. Celebrating students’ diversity includes the necessity of allowing for various questions and responses according to students’ cultural lenses, viewpoints, and global worldviews. In addition, according to Nelson and Elshtain (1996), “[Students] cannot count on longevity with a particular company or in a particular career. The two things they can count on — and therefore need to become comfortable with — are change and diversity” (pp. 176). Values and behavioral norms will vary from student to student. The approximate age of the students ranges anywhere from 13 to 15 at the freshman (first-year) level. The average educational level of the community members ranges anywhere from elementary or high school and below up to Ph.D.-level. Thus, the community in which the school is placed has a very wide range of educational levels present. The community in which the school is situated is very diverse. It is a mixed community of Black and white residents, many of whom have been living in the historical area for years and years. III. School Report Card Within this high school, the student body is 92.7% Black, with other races and multi-racial/ethnic groups of students weighing in at about 2% each. There is 100% parental involvement. The average class size is 26, which is high for the subregion, district, and state. The breakdown of the teacher’s races is 49% white, 31.6% Black, 15% Hispanic, 4% Asian and 1% Native American. The average teacher salary for the district is $74,839, which is about $14,000 higher than the average teacher salary for the state. These numbers tell us a story which goes beyond statistics. Regarding tests, 48.9% of students met or exceeded standards in 2009-2010, which was lower than the district and state, but higher than the subregion. The 2009-2010 scores were much higher at 62.6%, outperforming the subregion once again as well as the district but were still low compared with the state. The test scores of grade 11 will be analyzed, since that is the grade closest to the demographic being taught in this unit other than 8th grade (which is skewed because it has only gifted students within it). The reading, mathematics, and science scores of grade 11 students were all below standards (all at roughly 50%). About 10% less than that figure met or exceeded standards in reading and math, but 20% less of students met or exceeded standards in reading. About 15% of students in each category were on academic warning, which is worse than being below the standard. Hispanic students suffered the worst in reading; 50% of all ethnic groups except for Asian and Native American students were below standard in math; and 60% of all ethnic groups except for Asian and Native American students performed poorly (below standards) in science. According to ADA law and Cypher (2008), “[S]tudents with disabilities have a fundamental right to live and participate in the same settings and programs as do students without disabilities” (pp. 20). Unfortunately, however, many differently-abled students still lagged behind in this school environment. Students with disabilities who had IEP’s, in all subjects, were a majority of the time on academic warning. Students with disabilities who did not have IEP’s were majority below standards in all subjects. No matter whether a student was on free/reduced price lunch or not eligible—all of these students were, for a majority, below standards. The school is in dire need of teachers whose philosophy of diversity includes inclusivity, celebrating diversity, and using caretaker language. As a teacher, one cannot make generalizations about students. Rather, one must be aware, or become aware of, the unique differences and similarities in students’ backgrounds and then teachers should make their students feel welcome—regardless of that background—in order to make them feel that they are in a learning environment which is as safe and nonjudgmental as humanly possible, in order to promote the curriculum in a fun and engaging style accounting for those differences and similarities. Additionally, one should accentuate the importance that students must learn to appreciate each others’ differences and similarities and be sensitive, polite, and respectful individuals who are model citizens both inside and outside the classroom—which will help foster learning across disciplines. Next, one should plan to utilize caretaker language in order to help students of whatever background feel at ease in the classroom to be part of the learning process—which includes students from all levels. These tenets can definitely be applied to any class. In lieu of the parent(s), the teacher takes on a role of authority responsible for students’ affective filters. How much learning they absorb depends upon the care with which they are spoken to in the classroom. According to Duquette (1995), teachers should plan to use caretaker language (especially “in the early stages of language learning”) so students feel like members of a classroom community and mini-culture of its own (pp. 47). Students navigating the classroom culture will achieve mastery. As Ovando, Collier, and Combs (2005) note, bilingual education will expand in the near future and we should be ready to accommodate this change (iii). IV. Conclusion The background of the population of a student body in a school has been analyzed in this paper—reviewing students’ ethnic backgrounds, languages, ages, education levels of community members, behavioral norms and values, and socioeconomic statuses. REFERENCES Cypher, K. (2008). The impact of the least restrictive environment for American Indian high school students on an IEP. US: ProQuest. Duquette, G. (1995). Second language practice. US: Multilingual Matters. Nelson, M. & Elshtain, J.B. (1996). Celebrating the humanities. US: Vanderbilt University Press. Ovando, C.J., Collier, V.P. & Combs, M.C. (2005). Bilingual and ESL classrooms: teaching multicultural contexts (4th ed). New York: McGraw-Hill. Read More