Making the Transition to Schooling: Reducing Cultural Dissonance in a Community-‐Based Literacy Program
1.
Transi(oning
to
schooling:
Reducing
cultural
dissonance
in
a
community-‐based
literacy
program
Andrea
DeCapua,
Ed.D.
-‐
New
York
University
Helaine
W.
Marshall,
Ph.D.
-‐
LIU
Hudson
Kathryn
Mercury,
M.Ed.
3. SLIFE
Students
with
Limited
or
Interrupted
Formal
EducaHon
Western-‐style
Classrooms
Immediate
Relevance
Future
Relevance
Shared
Responsibility
Individual
Accountability
PragmaHc
Tasks
Academic
Tasks
CONDITIONS
PROCESSES
ACTIVITIES
Interconnectedness
Oral
Transmission
Independence
Wrien
Word
(Adapted
from
DeCapua
&
Marshall,
2009,
2010;
Marshall,
1994,1998)
Aspects
of
Learning
Two
Different
Learning
Paradigms
4. SLIFE
Students
with
Limited
or
Interrupted
Formal
EducaHon
Western-‐style
Classrooms
Interconnectedness
Independence
Shared
Responsibility
Individual
Accountability
PragmaHc
Tasks
Academic
Tasks
Accept
learner
condiHons
Combine
learner
&
North
American
processes
Focus
on
new
acHviHes
with
familiar
language
&
content
Immediate
Relevance
Oral
Transmission
Future
Relevance
Wrien
Word
with
(Adapted
from
DeCapua
&
Marshall,
2009,
2010,
2011;
Marshall
1994,
1998)
Mutually
Adap(ve
Learning
Paradigm
(MALP)
5. 1. Develop
English
language
and
literacy
skills
2. Create
posiHve
learning
experience
3. Establish
warm
classroom
climate
4. Build
relaHonships
5. Improve
aendance
Goals
of
Interven(on
§ To
transi(on
low-‐educated
learners
to
formal
educa(on
§ To
reduce
cultural
dissonance
6. § Community-‐Based
OrganizaHon
(CBO)
§ Urban/suburban
§ All
volunteer
staff
&
teachers,
except
director
§ High
demand
for
English
language
&
literacy
classes
§ Limited
resources
&
materials
Hai(an
Adult
Learning
Center
7. § Volunteer
§ TESOL
Graduate
Student
§ Teacher
CerHficaHons:
§ Students
with
disabiliHes
§ Childhood
educaHon
§ 5
years’
teaching
experience
with
diverse
student
populaHons
§ MALP-‐trained
Teacher
Ka(e
8. Students
§ Very
low
beginner
to
advanced
beginner
§ Alphabet
recogniHon
to
sentence
formaHon
§ Creole-‐dominant
speakers
§ 2
–
14
years
of
schooling
§ 16
-‐77
years
old
§ 3
months
–
7
years
in
U.S.
§ Nearly
all
female
9. Interven(on
§ Once
weekly,
for
total
of
5
months’
instrucHon
§ Class
ranged
in
size
from
12
to
32
§ Intake
assessment
§ Informal
interviews
§ Classroom
observaHons
§ Journaling
§ MALP
Checklist
12. Component
A
Accept
Condi(ons
for
Learning
A1.
I
am
making
this
lesson/project
immediately
relevant
to
my
students.
I
facilitated
discussions
where
students
chose
topics
based
on
what
was
actually
taking
place
in
their
lives
and
on
what
they
wanted
to
share,
e.g.
food,
family,
work,
shopping.
A2.
I
am
helping
students
develop
and
maintain
interconnectedness.
I
permied
and
encouraged
students
to
help
each
other.
I
frequently
shared
photos
and
stories
about
my
own
personal
experiences,
including
family
and
personal
life.
13.
Component
B
Combine
Process
for
Learning
B1.
I
am
incorpora(ng
shared
responsibility
and
individual
accountability.
I
held
students
individually
accountable
when
I
called
them
to
the
board
to
share
a
thought
in
the
form
of
a
sentence.
Students
returned
to
their
desk
to
copy
their
sentence
into
their
notebook,
taking
ownership
of
that
sentence.
B2.
I
am
scaffolding
the
wrien
word
through
oral
interac(on.
I
provided
sentence
frames,
model
sentence
structures.
Students
completed
sentences
or
provided
sentence
similar
to
the
model.
I
wrote
what
student
said,
modeled,
asked
students
to
re-‐read
their
sentences,
then
to
copy
their
sentences
into
their
notebooks.
14. Component
C
Focus
on
New
Ac(vi(es
C1.
I
am
focusing
on
tasks
required
for
learning
in
the
classroom.
I
created
class
scenarios
where
students
had
to
make
choices
when
given
mulHple
opHons.
C2.
I
am
making
these
tasks
accessible
with
familiar
language
and
content.
Vocabulary
came
from
the
students.
All
tasks,
acHviHes
and
sentences
modeled
provided
by
students
and
reflecHon
of
what
was
happening
in
their
lives.
16. Preliminary
Results
§ Underscored
importance
of
immediate
relevance
§ Validated
necessity
of
using
familiar
language
&
content
to
focus
on
new
classroom
behaviors
&
tasks
§ Successfully
scaffolded
classroom
learning
tasks
§ Developed
literacy
skills
§ Created
posi(ve
learning
experience
17. Limita(ons
of
Study
§ Only
one
teacher
§ Small
sample
size
§ Lack
of
consistent
study
parHcipants
§ Interrupted
Hmeframe;
variable
contact
Hme
§ No
formal
assessments
§ Observer
bias
18. Controlled
Studies
in
CBOs
§ Loosely
structured
programs
§ Funding
issues
§ Lack
of
consistent
aendance
§ Volunteer
teachers
§ Lack
of
consistent
training,
pedagogical
support
19. Ques(ons
for
Researchers
§ Should
such
research
be
disqualified?
§ Is
it
valuable
if
it
is
not
controlled
or
“scienHfic?”
§ How
do
we
draw
the
line
between
anecdotal
and
research?
§ What
can
we
do
to
improve
the
quality
of
research
given
the
realiHes
of
CBO’s?
20. MALP
Resources
§ Website:
hp://malpeducaHon.com
§ Wiki:
hp://malp.pbworks.com
Breaking
New
Ground:
Teaching
Students
with
Limited
or
Interrupted
Formal
Educa>on
in
U.S.
Secondary
Schools
U.
of
Michigan
Press,
2011
Making
the
Transi>on
to
Classroom
Success:
Culturally
Responsive
Teaching
for
Struggling
Language
Learners
U.
of
Michigan
Press,
2013