ACTIVIDADES AGRARIAS

The objective of this study was to determine how culture influences the writing of first to third generation Mexican American students in a transitional high school to college program. The research questions used to explore this study were the following:

1. How influential in building cultural capital is a transitional high school to college program?

2. How does a transitional high school to college program provide social capital not provided by the families of participating students?

3. How does the Mexican American culture influence narratives of students within a transitional high school to college program?

Chapter II covered the review of literature, and it discussed the literature focused on Latinos and higher education, the literature of types of transitional programs, the literature focused on the needs of students, and the literature of writing research related to Latinos. Chapter III explained the methodological framework and process for the data collection analysis.

To review the study design, this study incorporated two interviews. The first interview consisted of 14 questions related to the students’ (a) generational background and familial environment, (b) the students’ writing process, and (c) the students

experience within this IOSS transitional high school to college program. Of the seven respondents, four female and three male, three students were classified as first

generation Mexican American, three were classified as second generation Mexican

American and one student was classified as third generation Mexican American. All of the students participated in the Institute of Student Success (IOSS) program, and all were enrolled in Freshman Composition I during the summer semester when I began the data collection. In addition to the fourteen interview questions, three writing samples were collected for this study: an argumentative research paper, a childhood narrative, and a reflection of their overall writing experience. After the writing samples were collected, I conducted a brief second interview based on my reading of the students’ writing

samples.

The interview questions provided an opportunity for me to understand each student’s background, to analyze each student’s writing process, and to evaluate each student’s participation in the IOSS program. The first question in the background section was “What type of degree do you want, and do you see yourself attaining a graduate degree?” All responded that they were seeking degrees, whether Associate’s degree, a Bachelor’s degree, a Master’s degree or a professional degree (in medicine). All of the participants had a specific career interest in mind.

Question two asked “Are you a first, second, or third generation Mexican American student?” Each student responded to the question and this researcher grouped the students according to generation: Lisa, Katia, and Alberto were categorized as first generation; Javier, Leonardo, and Rosa were categorized as second generation, and Marina was the only third generation student.

The third background question asked, “What is the highest level of education in your family and specifically your parents?” The parents’ education ranged from grade school to high school to some college.

The fourth question in the interview question asked, “a) Has anyone influenced your education? b) If yes, please explain how?” All of the students responded that either one or both parents had positively influenced their desire to attend college, except for Rosa, a second generation student, who stated that she had been influenced by her daughter to continue with school so that she could provide a better environment for her daughter.

The next question five asked the students to “Explain to me, how do you study for your classes?” The majority of the students responded that they studied

approximately one to two hours a day and several students stated that they tried to spend time in a quiet environment because they were easily distracted.

Question number six asked, “In class, do you prefer to work by yourself or in groups and explain why do you prefer one to the other?” Three students responded that they would be willing to work in a group environment, and three students mentioned that they prefer to work alone. Lisa, a first generation student, indicated that she could work either alone or in a group environment and that “it depends on the subject.”

The following questions, from seven to ten, located within the “Personal

Reflections of Writing” section of the interview, focused on the students’ writing process and their connection to writing. Question seven “a) Do you enjoy writing? b) Do you fear writing?” Out of the seven respondents, Lisa, a first generation student, and Marina,

a third generation student, clearly responded that they both enjoyed writing. The other respondents mentioned that they were not very fond of writing and that it took too much time. One student, Rosa, also related that she did not understand her “teacher’s

expectations of my writing.”

Question eight asked the students to “Describe your writing process: from brainstorming to editing.” Out of the seven respondents, six used the traditional writing method of beginning with an outline to assist them in brainstorming and to help organize their paper. Leonardo, a second generation student, mentioned his hope that professors would provide him with an outline. Each student added other techniques employed when writing. For example, Alberto discussed that he used peer review; Marina noted that she read her paper over several times, and Rosa pointed out that she conducted a spell check, and reviewed her paper both for “fallacies” and for “sentence structure.”

Question nine asked, “Do you engage in peer review of the writing of others?” Katia, a first generation student, Rosa, a second generation student, and Marina, a third generation student, did not participate in peer review. However, two first generation students, Lisa and Alberto, also said that they did not participate in peer review, but if they were asked to participate, they would take advantage of the opportunity provided. Two second generation students, Javier and Leonardo, said that they actively

participated in the peer review process.

Question ten asked the student respondents, “What are the difficulties that you encounter or struggle with while writing an essay?” Overall, the students mentioned that they had experienced some difficulty focusing on a topic and the introduction of their

papers, while others stated that they had difficulty with editing. Only one student,

Alberto, was concerned with the length of an assignment when he stated, “The length, the specific amount of words because I write to the point and I have difficulty

elaborating.”

The last section of the interview questions asked about expectations when beginning the IOSS Program and about their thoughts concerning the program after the program came to an end. Question eleven consisted of “a) What were your initial expectations of the IOSS? b) How did you feel after the program ended?” All of the students’ responded that participating in the Program had been a very positive learning experience for them.

Question twelve addressed the following: “a) If given the opportunity to

participate in this program once again, would you accept the invitation or not, and why? b) Would you recommend this program to other students?” All of the students

unanimously agreed that they would participate in the program and that they would recommend it to others.

Question thirteen asked, “If you had not been selected to the IOSS, what would be the likelihood of you going to college?” Once again, all of the students agreed that they would all attend college, but a first generation student, Lisa, mentioned that she would have preferred to take a break in between high school and college, in stating, “I actually wanted to have a some time to rest and then go again and return, but it would take a little bit longer… I don’t thing it would have been as constant as it is going to be now.”

The final question in this set of interview questions, question fourteen asked,

“What types of frustrations did you experience with the IOSS?” The one common response from all of the student respondents was the students’ adjustment to the amount of coursework required by the college course. Other comments consisted with having difficulty with financial aid and class scheduling.

After the first interview, students were asked to submit a copy of the research paper that they submitted to their instructor in the last week of their class. These samples provided the researcher with an opportunity to evaluate the type of topic selected by the students for the class as well as a chance to evaluate the students’ writing of an academic paper. A second writing sample collected from the students’ was a childhood narrative. There was neither length nor a specific topic requirement for their paper because I wanted to give them an opportunity to respond freely to the topic without any

constraints. I used Gee’s (1999) method of analysis for studying the students’ narratives, for the analysis identified several themes as referenced in Chapter IV. The narratives gave respondents an opportunity to reflect on an issue that affected their childhood and gave me insight as to how they reacted to the experience. It is evident for example, that Marina, a third generation student, feared the opinions of others.

The third writing sample submitted to me by the respondents was their individual evaluations of the program writing experience as a whole. I wanted to provide each student with an opportunity to reflect on his/her own writing experience, to state which of two writing assignments they preferred, and to estimate the difficulty of the writing assignments.

The submission of the three writing samples provided me an opportunity to

evaluate the student’s writing when it is written either in a reflective mode (personal experience) or when it is written as a standard academic research paper. The analysis of the childhood narrative furnished me with the opportunity to see if there were themes common to more than one student. Furthermore, this chapter will provide a summary of results, implications for further research, and some policy recommendations of the study.

Summary of Results

The findings did answer the research questions, and it is apparent that both cultural and social capital is invaluable to a student’s educational development. Everyone projected a certain degree of cultural and social capital; but in the interim of their participation within the Institute of Student Success (IOSS) transitional program, the students began to learn how to acquire additional “capital.” As referenced in the student responses reflecting on their IOSS participation, many of the students’ perceptions of the program were positive and very few students had a negative experience with their taking part in the program. Moreover, all of these Mexican American students had the intention of attending college even if they had not participated in this transitional program. They all were not only influenced by their parents’ achieve, but Rosa, a second generation student, was also motivated by her daughter and the future that she wants to provide for the child since she is a single, young mother. Each student had already selected a particular career that he/she wanted to pursue; and although many of these students are not first generation college students,

they still made the decision to participate in this program during the summer after

graduating from high school.

The findings also identified the students’ study preferences/habits, and the data showed that half of the students preferred to study individually while the other half preferred to study in a group environment. The students also identified a pattern of habitual studying for classes because of the course load, but the students expectations of the program were varied in perspective because some students believed that there was an easiness to their transition into college; and other than the weekly assignments, they did not believe that college was as difficult as previously thought. The only difficulties encountered with the IOSS program were the amount of homework that was turned in on a daily basis, the amount of writing in the coursework, the course scheduling, and

financial aid.

Discussion of Results and Contribution to Literature

This study had two foci: 1) The transitional experience of Mexican American students in the IOSS program and 2) Mexican American students and writing and its application to a conceptual framework of cultural and social capital. The study does apply to theory/research, policy, and practice. It is evident that the theoretical

frameworks of cultural and social capital are imperative to assisting Mexican American students to succeed in college/university. Both cultural and social capital help provide the necessary resources to help students as they transition to an environment of higher

education. This study does provide the analyses of the value of transitional programs

relative to Mexican American college students. In particular, the study focused on

Mexican origin students’ transition to college, students who are at risk of not receiving college degrees. “When individuals are denied a quality education, they are also denied access to political and economic literacy, to social integration into the mainstream, to employment opportunities, and, thus to upward mobility” (Briscoe & Ross, 1989, p. 587). Many of these Mexican American students drop out of school because they feel isolated or because they have not acquired sufficient social capital to help them get through the educational system. “Students navigating the system alone while also tending to their current education keenly feel the absence of family and community members who have already mastered the process” (Brown, Santiago & Lopez, 2003, p. 42). A review of the literature found, as of now, that there has been no study of a transitional program of students of Mexican origin with a focus as to how their culture influences their writing in composition courses. Other studies of high school to college programs have analyzed student orientation, student development courses, and first year in college experiences more generally.

As previously identified in the literature review, Jeria and Roth (1992) identified several different types of transitional programs helping students transition from high school to college. The College of William and Mary focused on a program specifically guiding junior year high school students and an orientation to the campus experience. William and Mary designated a specific advisor to help the student transition from high school to college. Rutgers University developed a program that would help them communicate with students through the use of various communication forms, the

students were also provided with counseling and tutorial help during their transitional process. Texas Tech University developed a communication partnership between a faculty member and a high school class. This fostered continual exchange between the students and the university professor in answering questions that perhaps would not have been addressed otherwise.

Laden (1998) discussed the Puente Project, which is joint “Latino transfer” venture between the University of California and several community colleges. The purpose of this program is to help students transfer from the community college to the university. This study contributes to an understanding as to how cultural capital and social capital theory can be applied to ethnicity, teaching, and to transitional programs and how student experiences can be understood through these two lenses.

This research study is the beginning of further study in the much larger Latino population including students from other Latino ethnicities in an effort to evaluate any similarities and/or differences amongst the various ethnic backgrounds and a more in depth longitudinal study could evaluate the continual progress of students who participate in transitional programs.

There is a prevalent need for further study in the area of how teachers influence students within a transitional program, and what types of assignments should English teachers use to help those underprepared students to adjust themselves for academic writing. Hernandez’ (1968) reflection of the need to teach English to the “culturally disadvantaged Mexican –American student” is something that is still reminiscing in the classroom today amidst the growing number of Latino students in higher education.

“The willing teacher must accept the other outward facet of the problem, the reality of the teaching of Mexican-American students” (Hernandez, 1968, p. 88). This example is one of many that has been addressed in the literature of cultural studies, learning culture, and culturally relevant curriculum (Jacobson, 1996; Sparks, 1998; & Woodhams, 1999).

According to Sealey-Ruiz (2007), “Students who see their culture represented in the curriculum are more likely to have a higher self-concept, and when students feel good about themselves, they are more likely to be open to others and to learning” (p. 48). Current studies in the field of culturally relevant material include Rybak, Poonawalla, Deuskar, and Bapat’s (2007) study of the implementation of Yoga and other exercises to help graduate psychology students understand theory through experiential learning and Tisdell and Tolliver’s (2001) study explored the role of spirituality in adult education. Some improvement has been made since Peterson’s (1999) study emphasized the need to integrate the historical contributions of African Americans and other ethnicities at a much more deeper level. “The master script deletes or distorts the stories of African Americans, especially those who challenge the power and authority of the dominant culture” (Peterson, 1999, p. 86).

Yet, there is a great need for further study and implementation of material that will be relevant to all ethnicities and teachers need to be more receptive to learning about other cultures and recognizing the need to promote culturally relevant information. “Understanding the significance of a culturally relevant pedagogy demands that the research attend to all the facets of the learning environment that affects learning.

Invariably, our culture is an intrinsic part of who we are and how we identify ourselves” (Sealey-Ruiz, 2007, p. 58).

Another area of further study is an evaluation of the college dropout rate of participants who complete the IOSS Program. There is a need for a longitudinal study to examine the overall academic performance of college or university students who

participated in the IOSS transitional program in comparison to non-IOSS students. A final implication for further longitudinal research is an evaluation of social capital as it

pertains to college/university students who have participated in the IOSS Program. Several policy recommendations can be proposed from my study. First, a good

number of students have not yet developed their writing skills upon graduating from high school, and they hesitate to ask the instructor questions because they do not want to appear underprepared before their peers or to their teachers. It is evident that a positive and welcoming environment by teachers would seem to be appropriate, certainly at the beginning of the program, to help these students overcome many of their fears and apprehensive attitude towards the subject. Another policy recommendation would be that Freshman Composition I instructors of English use personal and reflective writing

exercises in their courses at the beginning of the semester.

By using such a method, teachers would better understand their students’ backgrounds, which are often very different form their own. Also, this method is not as difficult for students, as traditional academic writing is focused on research and students are able to gradually reach this level if they start at the beginning of the semester writing