Using Research to Connect Diverse Cultures in the Classroom

• In Event: The Power of First-Year Teachers’ Research to Innovate Teaching Practices

Abstract

Objectives of this presentation are to reveal how classroom culture was negotiated and co-created by newcomers in an urban middle school wher Theoretical Frameworks centered on three conceptual lenses. Approaches to teaching ESL are often in conflict, particularly regarding the extent of use of the learners’ primary languages (Gándara & Hopkins, 2010). In this milieu, the first lens focused an understanding that language is the tool of tools that mediates learning (Cole, 1996, 1998) and also the key tool for social interaction (Gutierrez, Baquedano-Lopez, & Turner, 1997). Second, Pratt’s (1991) concept of “contact zones” and the concept of a “third space” (Gutierrez, Baquedano-Lopez, & Turner, 1997) were used to frame the negotiations and collisions of diverse cultures, but with an understanding that these tensions are often productive for language development. Third was Moll’s (2000) notion that there are always multiple, dynamic cultures that each individual is part of – la cultura vivida.
Qualitative Methods were focused primarily by classroom talk. Teacher participant observation was documented in daily journal entries and descriptive field notes along with some filming of lessons. Focal students representing different birth countries were also interviewed. These data revealed a series of “critical incidents” in class discussions throughout the semester. Analytic memos written on these incidents were key to an iterative analysis to further assess their character and patterns with regard to concepts of “contact zones,” “third spaces,” and instances of “co-created class culture.”
Data Sources were journal entries written at the end of each class, descriptive field notes taken during classes (particularly on moments of language conflict or effective cross-group communication), interviews of focal students, some filming of particular lessons, and analytic memos based on the other data.
Results ultimately revealed how the newcomer classroom became a space for “productive tension” in which cross-cultural learning and hybrid ways of making meaning occurred. Although Spanish was shared by the students, the study documented how the classroom was also rife with substantively differing language and cultural practices. It also found that the hierarchical role of the teacher as arbiter of classroom culture could be transformed by shifting roles and levels of expertise that came into play during learning activities.
The Significance of this study is that its findings challenge often held views of Spanish-speaking ELLs as a homogeneous group. Therefore, it helps educators better understand both possibilities and problems in how different performances of language and culture intersect in ELL classrooms. In documenting the differing language and cultural practices, this research illustrates how teachers can honor and enable this diversity and build viable communities for learning out of productive tensions.

Author

• Danny C. Martinez, University of California - Davis