Perspectives of Behavior and Achievement from Francophone Educators

            I chose to interview immigrant francophone teachers in Prince Georges County at a French Immersion school, about their perceptions regarding the curriculum in the county, as compared to the curriculum in their native countries.  The interviews focused mainly on academic achievement and behavior as a function of the pacing of the curricula.  In this study, my hypothesis was that the faster a curriculum is paced, the less material students can grasp, which leads to greater disruption and low academic achievement rates.  Specifically, we are discussing the subject areas of Reading and Math, which are greatly controlled by the federal government under the No Child Left Behind law, signed into effect by President George W. Bush in 2002 (NCLB, 2008).  I chose this topic to test my methods in qualitative research, for future research that I will conduct.

            The reason why I chose this particular school is that I was searching for a building that would include mostly immigrant teachers.  Although there is a large population of Filipino teachers within Prince Georges County, they do not account for the majority of any particular school (Ly, 2008).  However, there are two foreign-language immersion schools, which I assumed would include mostly native speakers of that language.  The two schools are: Robert Goddard French Immersion School in Northern Prince Georges County, and John Hanson French Immersion School in Southern Prince Georges County (PGCPS, 2008).  I happen to work at the latter, so I sampled from it in this criterion-based study.

            The criteria for my study were that participants must have been foreign-born immigrants to the United States, who spoke fluent French.  In addition, they must have graduated from a school system, based in a country other than the United States, and/or taught in a francophone school system, not located in the United States.

            The reason why I chose to study francophone teachers is that I was born to Haitian parents, and in our household, we spoke English, French, and Haitian Creole (Kreyòl), all of which I learned simultaneously.  Although I chose to stop speaking French and Kreyòl at home as a child, I understood the languages fluently.  However, after not speaking the languages for several years, it was very difficult for me to carry a conversation in a language other than English.

            I began taking French classes in middle school, and progressed rather quickly in my coursework.  I made high marks on my Advanced Placement French Test senior year of high school, and later, undertook a minor in French at Howard University.  After graduating, I enrolled in a Masters' program for Intercultural Communications, where I learned about various cultures, as well as their dynamics, norms, and taboos, among other topics. 

            Midway into my Masters' program, I was accepted into the Transition to Teaching program, and was granted a teaching certificate, and employment with Prince Georges County Public Schools, where I am currently completing my fifth year. 

Background

            In formulating my research questions, I drew heavily upon prior experiences.  My research questions, with commentary, were as follows:

1. How do teachers' backgrounds as learners and/or teachers in another country influence the way they teach American students?

            Having been taught by a multicultural staff throughout my schooling, I noticed that teachers use different methods of instruction.  However, according to research, there may be some dissonance when immigrant educators begin teaching in a new culture (Seah, 2005), and I expected to hear about that matter in the interviews.  In my research questions, I assumed that the diversity in teaching methods is impacted by the native culture of an educator. 

2. How does the teacher's native curriculum compare with the curriculum in Prince Georges County, in terms of pacing and material covered?

            Since I had worked in Prince Georges County for five years, I was very familiar with the curriculum for Reading, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Health for grades one and five.  I made the observation that since 2005, around the time when the "No Child Left Behind" policy sparked a reform of the country's curriculum, Reading and Math pacing had been accelerated significantly for elementary school students, with limited time for other subjects (Dorn, Douglass, & Ekiss, 2005; NCLB, 2008).

            From personal experience, I witnessed students failing, since there was rarely enough time to explain thoroughly any major topic.  I implicitly assumed that each teacher's native curriculum was at a different pace from the one in Prince Georges County. 

3. How do the classroom behaviors (e.g. level of disruption) and achievements (e.g. graduation rates) of American students compare with the classroom behaviors and achievements of students in the participant's native country?

            During the course of my teaching career, I taught students in all grades from first through eighth.  My first year, I had limited experience with children in a classroom setting.  The children in my class were very bright, however very disruptive, and it would be difficult to finish an entire lesson on any given day.

            This year, however, marks my fifth year of teaching, and I have noticed the children to be more attentive, and much less disruptive.  I attribute this to the application of behavior management techniques that I have learned over the years.  In addition, each year, I continue to see improvement throughout the year in the reading levels of the students, perhaps because of the steady reduction of the number of instances of classroom disruption.

            The major implicit assumption in the above research question, supported by other research, was that the behavior of students has an impact on their level of academic achievement (Siegel, 2008), which I illustrated in the example above.  Another implicit assumption was that the behavior of students in francophone countries, in general, is better than the behavior of students in most American schools.  This assumption was based on first-hand accounts from foreign-born teachers, with whom I had previously spoken. 

            The previous assumptions were the reasons why I formulated this research question.  I feared that these assumptions were disadvantageous, in that members of my target audience could feel less accountable for their classroom management. I felt that the attitudes towards learning that children develop through their parents played a major part in their achievement, but that teachers were also responsible for establishing a climate conducive to learning in their classrooms.

4. How and/or why does the teacher believe that the differences in curriculum (if any) account for the differences in students' behaviors and achievements (if any)?

            Research suggests that, if students do not understand what is being taught to them, they tend to disengage, and participate in off-task behavior (Blakely et al., 2000).  Hence, the case of my first-year class that I previously related.  Thus, my blazing assumption for this research question was that a fast-paced curriculum will lead to behavior issues, and vice versa.  I surmised that if this assumption were true, it would help educational staff and policy-makers reflect upon current mandates, and help them learn to fix pertinent issues, with regard to curriculum pacing.  The perceptions of teachers who had experience in the educational setting in both cultures would provide insight into my theory.

Research Relationships

            In my search for participants, I sent out a bulk e-mail to faculty members who fit the criteria for my study, promising them a $10 gift certificate in return.  My rationale for doing this was that, when I was conducting a preliminary search for participants, there were not enough volunteers.  Thus, I felt that offering some sort of reward or compensation would help me attract more individuals.  The risk in doing so was that participants may have felt as though I were rewarding them to answer in a certain way.  However, my way to override this perception was to reassure participants that I was conducting this study simply as an observer, that the study was a class project, and that they would remain anonymous.

            The first participant I interviewed, who chose the pseudonym "D-Man," was a gentleman in his early forties from Senegal.  He befriended me when I first came to the school, and since then, has served as an unofficial mentor, showing me the norms and procedures of the school.  He was the first to respond to my mass e-mail, but told me that he did not need any compensation. 

            D-Man spoke openly, and at great lengths about the differences that he noticed between the curricula of his native country and the United States.  Unfortunately, the interview did not record onto my recorder; however, I did take mental notes of our conversation, the results of which will be included later in my conclusion.  D-Man was unique in the fact that, unlike the other participants, he was an administrator, and not a teacher at the school.

            I met the second person, "Virginie," a woman in her forties, during the second week of school.  She was originally from France, and had already taught for five years in Prince Georges County. 

            Unlike the other participants, Virginie did not find out about my study through the e-mail; I had told her about it in passing, and she reminded me to let her know when I would be available to interview her.  Since she was my friend, she was very enthusiastic about participating in the study.  In her interview, she was very open, and provided a perspective from a different part of the world, as the rest of my participants were from Africa.

            The third woman in my study, "Julie," came from Gabon, and was apparently in her early thirties.  She heard about my study via the bulk e-mail I sent to the John Hanson staff, and then volunteered to participate, as she was passing me in the hall one day.  That participant was one of the first people I met when I began working there.  During the first quarter, we did not have very much opportunity to speak with each other, so I was particularly interested in hearing her story.  Julie provided the unique perspective of a primary level teacher, with her class consisting mainly of five- and six-year-old students.

            The next person that accepted to be a participant in my study was a middle-aged man, "Gigi," from Cameroon.  We were speaking in the Teachers' Lounge one day, and he agreed to be part of my study.  We had chatted before about our educational experiences, and found that we were both pursuing doctoral degrees, this one being his second.  He had lots of experience in both his country and the United States as a learner, so I felt that his perspective would be very valuable.

            Finally, I ran into my friend from Ethiopia, "E-Lady," in the hallway at work, and told her about my project.  She appears to be in her late twenties or early thirties.  I met her approximately a month and a half ago, when I asked her if she was Ethiopian.  My boyfriend is also from Ethiopia, so I showed her his picture, and we began conversing from that moment.  I was interested in talking to her, because I wanted to hear more about the school system in Ethiopia.  E-Lady is the only one of my participants that is from East Africa, and was not an education major in school.

            As an International Education major, I hoped that the completion of my project would give me a better understanding of different cultures, their school systems, and curricula.  Furthermore, I hoped that this study would allow me to build stronger bonds with my co-workers, and get to know some of the people with whom I had no contact yet.

Data Collection Methods

            In conducting this study, I used two methods to recruit my participants.  The first method was to advertise to people through word of mouth.  However, this limited my pool of potential volunteers because there were only a few people to whom I spoke on a regular basis, and even fewer fitted my criteria for inclusion in the project.  Thus, I utilized a bulk e-mail technique to recruit for the study.  In addition, since I was having trouble finding participants, I offered a ten-dollar gift card as compensation for the volunteers' time.

            After formulating a pool of volunteers, I began scheduling interview times with them.  For the interviews that I did conduct, I first used a Fostex VF-80 Multitrack Recorder to record audio.  This expensive machine was a left over from when I used to sing and record demos.  I plugged a microphone into the machine, and sat it on a table between myself and the interviewee.  Unfortunately, as stated before, the machine did not record the first interview for an unknown reason.  So, I bought a handheld tape recorder from Staples the following weekend.

These interviews were semi-structured, because I used a standard set of questions, in order to analyze easily the participants' responses, however, sometimes I changed the wording of questions, to cut back on redundancy.  By this, I mean that I was able to match the responses to my research questions on a grid.  The list of interview questions is as follows:

1. Where are you from originally?  How long had you lived there?  Did you go to school there?  Did you teach there?
2. When did you come to the United States?  Did you go to school here?  If so, at what levels?  When did you begin teaching here?
3. What is your personal philosophy on teaching?  What experiences have shaped that philosophy?
4. How do you think that your background as a learner and/or teacher in another country has influenced the way you teach in the United States?
5. Please describe your country's curriculum.  What was the major academic focus?  Describe the pacing.
6. Please describe the curriculum in Prince Georges County.  What do you feel is the major academic focus?  Describe the pacing.
7. How do you feel the curriculum in your country compares with the curriculum in Prince Georges County, in terms of pacing?
8. How do you feel the curriculum in your country compares with the curriculum in Prince Georges County, in terms of the material covered?
9. Please discuss the system of discipline, in your country, in school.  How is this similar to/not similar to the system of discipline in PG County?  How do you account for the similarities/differences?
10. Please discuss the academic achievement level of students in your country.  How is this similar to/not similar to the achievement level of PG students?  How do you account for the similarities/differences?
11. Do you believe that any differences in curriculum account for any differences in students' behaviors and achievements?  Why or why not?

Table 1.1                Time Table of Interviews

Analysis

            I analyzed my data through the use of tables.  The columns in the first table (Table 1.2) included each participant's name, approximate age, and a summary of their responses to the interview questions.  After I created this, I then constructed a similar table to reveal my findings (Table 1.3), which addressed my research questions. 

            I felt as though I needed to use this two-step process, simply because it felt overwhelming to have drawn conclusions from the interview data.  The purpose of the first table was to allow me to organize my thoughts into a visual representation of the data.  I created the second table to display the findings from my research.

            While analyzing my data, I also looked for trends among several factors.  First, I looked at the results from the entire sample, to see the "big picture" from all of my participants.  Finally, I examined my data to look for trends among various age groups, gender, role in their native country (teacher/learner), and time spent in the United States.

Table 1.2                Participants' Responses to Interview Questions

Table 1.3                Findings

Conclusions

            I analyzed findings for subgroups that contained at least two people, with each person responding to a given question.  If a person did not provide an answer, then the analysis for that question would be skipped.

            I stratified my data by the age group of the participants.  Other stratifications included gender, role in native country, and time spent in the United States.  In terms of the age of the participants, I broke down the sample into groups determined by the U.S. Census (Census, 2008); Julie, E-Lady, and D-Man fell into the age group of 25-44, while Virginie and Gigi fell into the group of 45-64 year olds. 

            By gender, Virginie, E-Lady, and Julie were females, while Gigi and D-Man were males.  Based upon information from the National Center of Education Statistics (2008), I classified a person having three years of teaching experience or less years (E-Lady) as "rookies," those with four to ten years (Julie, D-Man, Gigi) as "seasoned", and those with more than ten years (Virginie), as "veterans."  In terms of a person's role in his/her native country, all participants had been learners, but D-Man, Gigi, and Julie had also been educators in their countries of origin, while E-Lady and Virginie had not.  Finally, as for the length of time spent in the United States, D-man, Gigi, and Julie had each spent less than 10 years in this country, while E-Lady and Virginie had immigrated over 10 years ago. 

            The participants all affirmed that there is a serious problem with the educational system in Prince Georges County.  They also agreed that the county's curriculum, the achievement levels of the students, and student behavior varies greatly between the United States and francophone countries. 

            The participants were all learners in their native countries at some point.  They all attended institutions of higher learning in the United States.  I found that Julie and E-Lady struggled with the definition of their personal philosophy in teaching, but in the end, related it to experiences from their past.  E-Lady used her background as a graphic designer to influence her teaching (lns. 68-69), while Julie drew upon her experiences as an immersion teacher elsewhere.  Both women also discussed their youth as a major influence on their teaching methods, while Julie compared her education as a child to that of her students (lns. 151-156), and E-Lady spoke of her family's strong belief in education.  Both women also spoke of the lack of discipline of students in Prince Georges County.

            Both Gigi and Virginie expressed that they have lived in their native countries for approximately half of their lives.  I observed that both of them shared great insight into each of the topics, and their interviews were significantly longer than the younger group.  Both participants agreed that the curriculum in Prince Georges County needed reform, with Gigi stating that teachers are not given room for creativity (lns. 279-285), and Virginie expressing that there is too much testing, and that testing is not rigorous enough (lns. 309-318). 

            There were no observed differences between the different subgroups in the study.  Whereas I had expected to find differences, especially between gender, geographic origins, and length of teaching experience, I did not find any that were significant.  The recurring theme, that seemed to run through each of the interviews, was that there is a problem with the academic pacing in Prince Georges County, and that there is an epidemic of a countywide lack of discipline, which many participants seemed to feel should be established in the students' homes (Gigi ln. 426-431, Virginie ln. 441-454, E-Lady ln. 152-154).

Limitations       

            My research questions worked fairly well.  I was able to gain valuable perspective on some issues.  However, on other questions, such as Questions 10 and 11, participants seemed a bit confused about how to answer (e.g. Julie, E-Lady).  I believed that the first question helps to put people at ease, because it has them talk about themselves, something many people like to do.  The questions progressively got closer to the heart of my study, with the last question directly addressing my project's major focus.

One thing that I feel I can do differently is to rephrase my questions according to the answers of my participants.  For example, I felt a bit of frustration coming from my first interviewee, when I asked him a series of questions that he found redundant.  Thus, if I were to do the study again, I would make my questions overlap a bit less.

            Also, in order to lessen the chances that I will lose data (like I did in the first interview), I will make sure to check my equipment before I use it, and monitor the recordings as they happen.  The problem that day was that I had forgotten to bring headphones.  I saw the numbers ticking by, and saw the levels on my recorder go up and down, so I assumed that everything was all right.  However, when I checked the recording, nothing had registered.  This taught me an important lesson for future interviews.

            In addition, I struggled with the analysis of my data.  I had never before done qualitative research, and was much more used to quantitative data.  Thus, I was forced to undergo a cognitive shift in order to "wrap my mind" around this project.  Whereas in the past, I had used mathematical formulas to analyze my data, to approve or reject null hypotheses with significance tests, there was nothing like that in this study.  At some points, I was honestly at a loss on how to proceed.  However, having overcome this barrier, I now feel as though I am no longer afraid of qualitative research, and plan on using mixed-methods to conduct my dissertation, on the challenges that Haitian immigrant youth face when entering public school systems in the United States.

            Lastly, what I would have done differently would be to include more participants in this study.  However, I did not have an indefinite time limit, and that would have been a similar situation in the real world.  If this were a funded study, I would have had to work within the parameters of time and resources available.  Thus, I feel that more experience in the realm of qualitative research will allow me to complete my studies with more efficiency.

Implications for Future Research

            If I were to do the study over, I would do so on a much broader scale.  To begin, I would probably interview more teachers at my school.  Afterwards, I would interview the staff at Robert Goddard, and compare the results to those from John Hanson, in order to see if there were any common threads, or divergent opinions.  The next step would then be to look at perceptions from francophone teachers in Prince Georges County as a whole.  The reason for so doing is that, in August 2008, the county was re-classified into zones. 

Zones 1-6 are for elementary, middle, and high schools, who have performed anywhere from poorly to well on the Maryland State Assessment (MSA), required by No Child Left Behind (PGCPS 2, 2008). 

The Opportunity Zone, wherein Robert Goddard and John Hanson are classified, is designated for "special schools," schools with special programs, such as immersion, Montessori, and charter schools.

The final zone is called the Autonomy Zone, which is for schools that have performed very well on the MSA, usually having the majority of students scoring around 90% proficiency in both Reading and Math.

            After examining the perceptions of francophone teachers in Prince Georges County, the next step is to broaden the study by including foreign-born teachers from all over the United States.  Although instructional curricula vary throughout states, it can be beneficial to examine the perceptions of such teachers in various regions of the country.

References
Average number of years of teaching experience for public school teachers and percentage distribution of such teachers, by detailed locale, years of teaching experience, and grade level taught.   Retrieved from the Internet December 7, 2008 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2007/ruraled/tables/tablea3_8.asp.

Blakely, D., Larenz, K., & McKee, M. (2000) Improving student performance through the use of active learning strategies.  Online submission to ERIC, 99.

Dorn, R., Douglass, J., & Ekiss, G.  (2005)  Learning geography promotes learning math: results and implications of Arizona's GeoMath grade K-8 program.  Journal of geography, 151-160.

French immersion program.  Retrieved from the internet on October 23, 3008 from http://www.pgcps.org/~forlang/frenchimmersion.htm.

Ly, P. (2008) Lessons far from home.  Washington Post.  Retrieved from the internet on October 22, 2008 from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/29/AR2008072902645.html.

No child left behind.  Retrieved from the internet on October 22, 2008 from http://www.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml.

Schools with zones.  Retrieved from the internet on October 24, 2008 from http://schools.pgcps.org/zones.asp.

Seah, T. (2005) Negotiating about perceived value differences in mathematics teaching: The case of immigrant teachers in Australia.  Melbourne: International group for the psychology of mathematics education.

Siegel, C. (2008) School-wide positive behavior support programs in elementary schools. Online submission to ERIC.

The total population by selected age groups.  Retrieved from the Internet on December 7, 2008 from http://www.census.gov/population/projections/SummaryTabB1.pdf.