BECOMING CULTURALLY PROFICIENT: A CROSSCULTURAL
STUDY ON THE PUBLIC SCHOOL EXPERIENCE
OF SIKH STUDENTS
A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of California State University, Stanislaus In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education By Steve Charbonneau January 2011
CERTIFICATION OF APPROVAL BECOMING CULTURALLY PROFICIENT: A CROSSCULTURAL
STUDY ON THE PUBLIC SCHOOL EXPERIENCE
OF SIKH STUDENTS
by Steve Charbonneau Signed Certification of Approval Page is On File with the University Library ______ ______ Dr. Ramón Vega de Jesús 10/5/10 Assistant Professor of Education ______ ______ Dr. Dennis Sayers 10/5/10 Professor of Education ______ ______ Dr. Juan M. Flores 10/5/10 Professor of Education
© 2010 Steve Charbonneau ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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DEDICATION
This study is dedicated to cultural minority groups who are often misunderstood by the majority culture with which they live. As far as the human race has evolved, we have much to learn about those who hail from backgrounds different from our own. This study is also dedicated to all the educators who work hard serving students of diverse backgrounds. In conducting this study, I hope to inspire other researchers to use their skills in order to improve the lives of those cultural minority groups who often find themselves on the fringes of society, and to provide the educators who serve these groups with the “insider information” they need to do their work well.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
It is in the concept of family that I find purpose and meaning. I did not find true joy in life until my wife and daughter entered the picture. I consider them to be gifts from God. Without their support, I could not have completed this research. My wife is my equal in every way. I have benefited from her counsel and encouragement during my doctoral studies. The love I have for my daughter is what inspires me to try to make a difference in the lives of other peoples’ daughters and sons. I thank both my wife and daughter for making my life complete.
Dr. Vega de Jesús, my Dissertation Committee Chair, has been a true mentor to me. I want to thank him for the countless times he met with me, passing on to me the skills necessary to be a competent qualitative researcher. In addition, Dr. Vega de
Jesús proofread countless drafts and versions of my dissertation. Thank you sir! Your commitment to this study will not soon be forgotten. Dr. Sayers and Dr. Flores rounded out my dissertation committee. As a result of their wisdom and input, I was able to create a vastly improved study. Thank you gentlemen! Dr. Riggs, Interim
Director of the CSU Stanislaus Doctoral Program, was of great assistance to me as well. Without Dr. Riggs’ direction, I could not have navigated the logistics of seeing a dissertation through from start to finish. Dr. Riggs, thank you for your patience and encouragement.
Finally, I owe so much to some folks in Merced County. For one, the Sikh community of Livingston, California extended to this researcher their trust and
v hospitality. Students volunteered to be interviewed on two different weekends. One parent opened up her home to me and my wife. Another Sikh community member made me a guest of a local Sikh Temple. Other community members also agreed to be interviewed by me. Thank you all! The Merced Union High School District
(MUHSD) was quite interested in learning more about the Sikh students they serve.
In turn, they provided the access necessary for me to conduct a quality study. I am in the debt of MUHSD and hope that this research is extremely helpful to them in their ongoing work to “reach and teach all students.”
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TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Dedication...... iv Acknowledgements...... v List of Tables ...... x List of Figures...... xi Abstract...... xiii Introduction...... 1 Statement of the Problem...... 2 Purpose...... 12 Research Questions...... 14 Limitations ...... 14 Summary...... 15 Historical-Cultural Background...... 16 The Sikh Religion: An Overview ...... 20 Place of Worship...... 22 Community Kitchen...... 23 Diet...... 24 Vices ...... 25 Basic Tenets of Sikhism...... 25 Sikh History ...... 27 The Five Ks...... 30 Sikh Women...... 33 Coming to America...... 34 Merced County Sikhs...... 34 Summary...... 41 Methodology...... 42 Restatement of the Problem...... 42 Restatement of Research Questions...... 43 Methods...... 43 Research Design...... 44 Procedures...... 48 vii
Data Analysis...... 53 Participants...... 55 Counseling Services for Participants ...... 56 Summary...... 57 Summary of Methods...... 58 Findings: Statistical Data ...... 58 California Standards Test...... 59 California English Language Development Test...... 62 Poverty Rates ...... 65 Findings: Interviews...... 66 Summary of Interview Findings ...... 81 Findings: Student Surveys Series One Survey...... 82 Summary of Series One Survey Results ...... 86 Series Two Survey...... 86 Summary of Series Two Survey Results ...... 90 Summary...... 92 Discussion...... 94 Summary of Findings...... 94 Statistical Data ...... 95 Interviews...... 98 Survey ...... 107 Recommendations...... 110 Conclusions...... 114 Implications for Further Research ...... 117 References...... 119 Appendices...... 136 Permission Letter to Work With Merced Union High School District...... 137 Student Inerview Questions...... 138 Student Survey...... 140 Student Survey, Punjabi Version...... 143 Permission to Use Interview Space...... 146 Student Interview Consent Form...... 147 Student Interview Consent Form, Punjabi Version ...... 149 Student Survey Consent Form...... 151 Student Survey Consent Form, Punjabi Version ...... 152 Counseling Services for Participants...... 154 viii
Counseling Services for Participants, Punjabi Version ...... 155
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LIST OF TABLES
TABLE PAGE 1. World Religions Chart ...... 26 2. CST Advanced/Proficiency Rates of LHS Students, 2009...... 61 3. CELDT Levels and Related English Language Skills and Abilities ...... 63 4. 2009-2010 Overall CELDT Levels of LHS ELs ...... 64 5. Series One Survey Results in Percentages...... 85 6. Series Two Survey Results in Percentages ...... 87
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LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE PAGE 1. Map of India and the Punjab. From “India” [Online Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/archives_roll/2002_01- 03/chester_partition/chester_partition.html. Copyright 2002 by Lucy Chester. Reprinted with permission ...... 18
2. Map illustrating the independence and partition of India. From [full citation]. Retrieved from http://www.genocidebangladesh.org/?page_id=17. Copyright 2010 by Rezwan Jalal. Reprinted with permission...... 19
3. Photograph of a typical Sikh wedding. From “Wedding Album” [Online Image] (n.d.). Retrieved from http://satkaar.com/wedding_gallery. Copyright 2008 by Sanjeev Tulsian. Reprinted with permission...... 21
4. Photograph of a Langar or Sikh temple kitchen. From “Sikh temple kitchen” [Online Image] (n.d.). Retrieved from http://media.photobucket.com/image/ sikh%20kitchen/pzeisset/India1-Delhi/90130cSikhtempleDelhi22.jpg. Copyright 2008 by Paul Zeisset. Reprinted with permission...... 24
5. The Golden Temple of Amritsar. From “Golden Temple” [Online Image] (n.d.). Retrieved from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Golden_Temple,_ Amritsar.jpg. Copyright 2009 by Mohan Shrivastava. Reprinted with permission. 29
6. A graphic illustration of the 5 K. From “The Sikh Attire-Symbol of spiritualism” Retrieved from http://nanaksarkarnal.com/Sikhism.html. Copyright 2007 by Khalsa Panth Akhara. Reprinted with permission...... 31
7. A map highlighting the location of Merced County, California. From “California County Map (Merced County Highlighted).” (n.d.). Retrieved from http://mapsof.net/california/static-maps/png/california-county-map (Merced County highlighted). Copyright 2006 by David Benbennick. Reprinted with permission...... 35
8. Peach Street Gurdwara. From [full citation]. Retrieved from http://z.about.com/d/sikhism/1/0/i/6/-/-/Hola1Peachtree500x.jpg. Copyright 2010 by Sukhmandir Khalsa. Reprinted with permission...... 40
9. B Street Gurdwara. From [full citation]. Retrieved from http://z.about.com/d/sikhism/1/0/t/6/-/-/Hola12B500x.jpg. Copyright 2010 by Sukhmandir Khalsa. Reprinted with permission...... 40 xi 10. Order of research methods. Created by Steve Charbonneau with Adobe ImageStyler, 2009-2010...... 49
11. CST Advanced/Proficiency Rates of LHS Students: ELA, Algebra II, and Geometry. Created by Steve Charbonneau with information provided by the Merced Union High School District, 2009...... 61
12. 2009-2010 Overall CELDT levels of LHS ELs. Created by Steve Charbonneau with information provided by the Merced Union High School District, 2009 with Microsoft’s Excel software, Microsoft (2009b)...... 64
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ABSTRACT
The United States is among the most culturally diverse countries in the world, with newcomers coming from cultural backgrounds unique from mainstream American society (Boehm, 2009). As a result, American public educators are facing a momentous challenge in meeting the educational needs of students from unique cultural groups. Some of the students currently in the American public education system are members of distinctly non-Western religious groups. This study involved a critical look at religion and, specifically, how the Sikh religion can impact the public education experience of Sikh students. The purpose of this study was to add to the existing body of literature which has been developed to help public educators (and other institutions serving the public) gain critical insider information about the cultural minority groups they serve. In doing so, this study modeled a three-prong qualitative approach which involved the analysis of publicly available archival data, conducting interviews, and administering surveys. All of this was done in an effort to examine the Sikh students of Merced County, specifically those who attend the
Merced Union High School District (MUHSD). In part, the findings of this study reveal the Sikh students represented in this study, occupy a place of cultural in- between-ness. The participants voiced their determination to successfully navigate both traditional Sikh culture and American mainstream youth culture.
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Public education and so many institutions charged with serving the public are struggling to serve cultural minority groups who see the world and interact with it in ways quite foreign to mainstream America. A lack of knowledge, on the part of public institutions, has led to the further alienation of certain minority subgroups and has made the public institutions that serve them ineffective. Increasing institutional knowledge of cultural minority groups is one of the critical steps towards cultural competency (Hoffman, 2003). It is this researcher’s assertion that the qualitative approach presented within this work can be a powerful starting point for public institutions to develop a greater understanding of the subgroups they serve.
As a result, this study will add to a body of research that focuses on the educational experiences of minority groups in countries around the globe. For example, Murray’s (2010) research dealt with the educational experience of female
North African-French students in France and Sarra (2003) examined strategies for improving the education of the indigenous students of Australia. Lehrer Bettan (2007) studied the Bedouin and former Soviet Union immigrant students in Israel, and Thao
(2010) examined family and community influences on the educational aspirations of
Hmong students in the United States. This present study will investigate the experience of Sikh students in the Central Valley of California.
1 2 The Sikhs of Merced County, California present an excellent opportunity for this current study. As one local reporter articulated, this cultural group has been a fixture in some areas of California for more than 100 years, but many residents know little about Sikhs, their culture, and their beliefs. Although Sikhs have been streaming into the Central Valley for more than a quarter-century, contributing measurably to the region's economy and culture, they remain an enigma to many residents (Jason,
2007).
Statement of the Problem
The First Amendment to The United States Constitution mandates the separation of church and state. The United States’ explicit and systemic distinction between public life and personal religious practices may be the reason the country has been able to avoid major civil conflicts over religion. This separation is a significant achievement for the United States, given the extremely pluralistic nature of its population. Certainly, many countries with closer ties between state and religion have had more societal unrest as a result (Robinson, 2008). There is no disputing that the
American public education system is an arm of the state (United States Department of
Education, 2009). Thus, the American public education system works to uphold the idea of separation of church and state in order to maintain a perception of religious neutrality for the diverse constituents it serves. American students represent a myriad of spiritual and religious, as well as non-religious, backgrounds within the American social fabric (Robinson, 2008). This diversity makes religion a complicated issue for public educators to negotiate.
3 Who can blame public educators for minimizing the discussion of religion inside or outside the classroom? Daniel (2007) addressed the challenges that government agencies, like public education institutions, face in appeasing the
American public with the practice of religious neutrality. To illustrate the sensitive politics of religion and government, Daniel documented Congressman Chet Edwards in a 2007 speech stating, “This country has repeatedly witnessed efforts to bring together government and religion and make religion less a matter of free conscience than a state requirement” (Daniel, 2007, p. 654).
Historically, the religion that has influenced the American psyche more than all others has been Christianity (Sittser, 2008), but that influence may be waning. In
The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life (2010), survey results indicated that
“millennials” (those in the United Sates between the ages of eighteen to twenty-nine) are “considerably less religious” than Americans over thirty. In addition, the survey results indicate that millennials are much less likely to identify themselves with any particular Christian denomination. Meacham (2009) reported in Newsweek that since
1990, the percentage of Americans who identified themselves as Christians fell a full
10 percentage points, from 86% to 76%.
Meacham’s article went on to report that a separate Pew poll found that the percentage of Americans who are unaffiliated with any religion has doubled in recent years. Americans identifying themselves as atheist or agnostic multiplied fourfold from 1990 to 2009, increasing from one million to nearly four million. Meacham concluded by reporting that two-thirds of Americans polled (68%) now say religion is losing influence in American society (Meacham, 2009). While Christianity, or
4 religion in general, may have lost the impact it once had on Americans, it has left a lasting impression. In fact, American mainstream’s sense of justice and core values, so much a part of our cultural DNA, can be attributed to the influence of Christianity
(Jenkins, 2004).
Whether or not Americans are collectively less religious today than in the past, Christianity has played a major role in the development of the kind of Western thought employed by the average American. Therefore, when it comes to making sense of world religions, the average American uses a pseudo-Christian lens to do so.
Viewing religion through this lens is extremely problematic when it comes to trying to understand non-Western religions, as they do not easily fit into the Western paradigm of what a religion should look like, at least in Judeo-Christian terms
(Sittser, 2008). Kingdon (1997) acknowledged the difficulties that public educators face in negotiating the religious landscape of society when serving public school students and added, “Education has avoided the encounter with religion either because religion was too personal or because religions, from a Western Christian perspective, were only interested in converting people to their beliefs” (p. ii). Here,
Kingdon did not assert that all Westerners are Christian, but he did allude to the fact that Western culture has been profoundly impacted by Christianity. Kingdon, both an educator and scholar, articulated the personal commitment necessary to broaden one’s own cultural and religious lenses. In a personal communication to this researcher on
December 30, 2009, Kingdon recognized that even his own perspective could not be completely separated from his Christian upbringing, but he still suggested that “to be
5 educated means that one has come to grips with what it means to be religious according to the many understandings of [the] term.”
Nielsen (2001) shared similar sentiments and asserted that much fear exists around the notion of spirituality. This fear stems from the concern that spirituality indoctrinates particular beliefs, values, and habits on others. Nielsen stated that this fear is heightened when young, impressionable minds are at stake. Both Kingdon
(1997) and Nielsen (2001) indicated that the typical Westerner may assume that non-
Western religions approach the practice of proselytizing in the same manner
Christianity has. In fact, many non-Western religions are not at all concerned with converting others to their faith. All of this serves to demonstrate that while the
Christian religion may be less important on a personal level to Americans than it once was, its pervasive influence on Western culture, transmitted to America via Europe, has shaped the way the American mind processes information and views the world
(Baker, 2008).
To summarize, American public educators are challenged by three factors in dealing with the ramifications of religion in schools. In an effort to maintain a neutral stance on the topic of religion, and in upholding the principle of the separation of church and state, public education has in effect quieted important and meaningful discussions regarding religion in schools. In witnessing the decline of religion’s influence in American society, public education may have been lulled into assuming religion is less important to all Americans. Like the average American, public educators (including the non-religious ones) commonly see other world religions through a Western pseudo-Christian lens. The culmination of these factors indicates
6 that public educators have some work to do in preparing to serve an ever-increasing diverse student population. With all that educators deal with in the current high-stakes era of accountability, it is no wonder a subject as difficult to comprehend as religion is not foremost on the educational agenda. Nevertheless, there are numerous situations in which religion is something that cannot be ignored.
In 2004, Microsoft/National Broadcasting Company (MSNBC) reported that school officials at Oklahoma’s Muskogee School District suspended a sixth-grade
Muslim female student twice for wearing a headscarf, as it violated the school’s dress code. The girl wore the head covering in order to meet her religious obligations.
School officials reportedly took disciplinary action against the girl exactly two years after the September 11 th , 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. The officials informed the Muslim student that other students were “frightened” by her scarf. The
Muskogee School District was subsequently sued by a Virginia-based civil liberties group, which claimed that the district's dress code violated the Muslim student’s rights to free speech and exercise of religion. Because of the lawsuit, the Muslim student was allowed to wear her headscarf at school (MSNBC, 2004). While it may be argued that The Muskogee School District allowed the emotions of a post-
September 11 th world to influence its actions, two California events offer more complex scenarios.
The Livingston Union School District barred two brothers and a sister, ages 7,
8, and 10, from their elementary school in Livingston for carrying knives. However, these were no ordinary knives. Khalsa Sikhs wear the knives, which are called
Kirpans, in sheaths under their clothes. These knives serve as one of five symbols of
7 the Sikh’s devotion to God. The students’ family sued the school district, claiming the policy placed an unlawful burden on their freedom of religion. In 1997, The ACLU of
Northern California announced that they had resolved a lawsuit with the Livingston
Union School District concerning the rights of baptized Sikh students to wear symbolic ceremonial knives to school (ACLU of Northern California, 2009). The
ACLU of Northern California’s website (2009) reports that
the parties described the settlement—which will allow the students to wear the Kirpans subject to strict limitations on size and other restrictions designed to assure that they cannot be misused—as an agreement intended to promote the two important goals of religious freedom and school security. (para. 2)
The challenges of effectively serving those of religious minority backgrounds are not confined to public education. In fact, the Merced County medical community dealt with a particularly difficult case involving a religious minority group in the 1980s.
In her book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down , Fadiman (1997) recounts the story of how doctors’ ignorance of the Hmong religion led to a breakdown in the doctor-patient relationship and to heartbreak. In 1982, the Lees (a
Hmong couple), had a baby girl. The Lee’s daughter began suffering from severe epileptic seizures at three months of age. Practitioners of traditional Hmong animism, the Lees recognized the symptoms as being rooted in a spiritual cause, rather than a physical one. Therefore, they were not completely beholden to doctors’ treatment plans. Determining that the parents were being noncompliant and potentially endangering their daughter's life, doctors obtained a court order that removed the baby from the Lee’s home and placed her in foster care. The Lees eventually did get their daughter back. However, soon thereafter the Lee’s daughter had a massive
8 seizure, which left her brain-dead (Fadiman, 1997). This case occurred in the City of
Merced and makes one wonder how more knowledge regarding the Hmong religion could have helped doctors better serve the Lees.
It is not this researcher’s intention to suggest that in either scenario, those serving the Hmong family or those serving the Sikh students had anything other than good intentions in mind. Who could argue that the Lee’s daughter would have fared better had the Lees followed doctors’ treatment plans more closely? Nevertheless, had doctors been better informed regarding the religious background of the Hmong and leveraged that knowledge to communicate more effectively with them, the story would have likely had a different outcome. The fact is that the ethnic make-up of
American students has become increasingly diverse over the last forty years. Hoffman
(2003) described American schools as cultural entities replete with amazing arrays of artifacts, rituals, and rites of passage, all of which directly impact the manner in which their inhabitants “negotiate the terms of their existence within those institutions” (p. 2). There are a number of professions, like education, that serve the public. As it is within the field of education, the institutions these professions represent are facing the challenges of serving people of culturally diverse backgrounds. Despite the case involving medical professionals in Merced, the medical field is demonstrating an effort to improve its ability to serve clients of diverse religious backgrounds.
In their publication “Cultural Competence Education” (2005), the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) addressed the critical need for cultural competence in the health care profession. The article established that religion is one
9 of the major components of culture. Purportedly, without an understanding of the cultural factors that affect their patients, medical professionals are not able to provide quality medical services and treatment:
With the ever-increasing diversity of the population of the United States and strong evidence of racial and ethnic disparities in health care, it is critically important that health care professionals are educated specifically to address issues of culture in an effective manner. (p. 1)
The social work profession is also taking the topic of religion seriously, as it pertains to serving a variety of clients.
Falgoust (2008), an expert and scholar in the area of social work, articulated the ramifications of religion on the field of social work. She impressed upon practitioners that in order to be effective in their work, they must be sensitive to the spirituality of their clients. Hoyt (2008) pointed to the pervasive influence of religion and spirituality in the personal, cultural, and political affairs of those that social workers serve. In doing so, he did not make light of the fact that cultivating knowledge about a diverse and significant number of religions is extremely challenging. Hoyt contended that addressing the spirituality of their clientele is also the responsibility of nonspiritual social workers, regardless of where they stand on the topic of religion (Hoyt, 2008).
In addressing practitioners and academics in the field of counseling,
Robertson (2008) urged those in the counseling profession to better serve the public by learning more about the religions their clientele subscribe to, suggesting that the governing bodies of the counseling profession support the discussion of religious and spiritual beliefs in counseling. Robertson also articulated a concern that within
10 counseling, spiritual competency and curricular recommendations have been based more on speculation about what should be taught than on empirical evidence.
Overstreet (2008) concurred with Robertson, arguing that counselors should gain greater competence in the subject of religion. Nevertheless, as Hall, Dixon, and
Mauzey (2004) explained, spiritual and religious material continues to be neglected in counselor training programs.
A discussion regarding cultural competence should start with defining what the term means. “Culture” is a broad term that covers numerous patterns of human behavior including language, thoughts, actions, customs, and beliefs. This term can also be related to racial, ethnic, social, or religious groups. “Competence” refers to the ability an individual or organization has to function effectively within the context of the cultural beliefs, practices, and needs represented by the clients they serve
(Cross, Bazron, Dennis, & Isaacs, 1989). Research by Olsen, Bhattacharya, and
Scharf (2006) suggested that organizations working to understand and respond to cultural differences among those they serve have the power to make a strong positive impact. In regards to specifically serving students in public education, these researchers stated that “cultural competency is therefore not a luxury, but an important foundation for organizations—making it possible to serve all communities, bridge across differences, and ultimately improve the social, health and educational outcomes of children and youth” (p. 4).
Progress towards cultural competency is a developmental process that occurs along a continuum over time. According to Cross et al. (1989), there are six progressive phases along the cultural competence continuum, and it is highly
11 recommended that organizations serving the public assess where they fall along the continuum: (a) cultural destructiveness, (b) cultural incapacity, (c) cultural blindness,
(d) cultural pre-competence, (e) cultural competency, and (f) cultural proficiency
(Cross et al., 1989, p. v). In reference to these phases, King (2009) suggested that, at best, most public sector organizations providing services to children and families fall between cultural incapacity and cultural blindness on the continuum. Without such an assessment, it would be impossible for organizations to know where progress towards cultural competence is needed.
Paz (2008) described how public educators can set the tone for a positive school community that embraces diversity and nurtures the hearts and minds of students from all backgrounds by making concerted efforts to gain insider information regarding the cultural minority subgroups they serve. When public educators lack the knowledge they need regarding cultural subgroups, they lack the capacity to relate competently with them. Of course, it is what you do with knowledge that can make a real difference. To this end, Cross et al. indicated that taking steps to gain a greater understanding of minority cultural groups should lead to an organization “(1) valuing diversity; (2) building the capacity for cultural self- assessment; (3) being conscious of the dynamics inherent when cultures interact; (4) institutionalizing cultural knowledge; and (5) adapting service delivery to reflect an understanding of diversity among and within cultures” (1989, p. v). Thus, cultural competence involves the process of obtaining cultural information and then applying that knowledge.
12 At best, a lack of understanding regarding a religious minority group being served by the American public education system can lead to embarrassing cultural misunderstandings. Too many of these types of awkward moments can lead to the social alienation of student subgroups. At worst, a lack of knowledge on the part of public educators could lead to unintentionally defiling a student’s (or family’s) ideas of what is spiritually sacred. Religion is a major component of culture. Therefore, a greater understanding of world religions requires a greater degree of cultural competency ( Paz, 2008). As previously stated, this study will present a research approach that can be reproduced by institutions needing insider information about the cultural subgroups they serve. However, the research approach also includes an in- depth cultural and historical profile of the group of interest.
Purpose
This study serves as a challenge for public educators to become more culturally competent regarding the religions represented by the students they serve.
Indeed, some student subgroups find their core cultural identities inseparable from the religions they practice. Student subgroups whose backgrounds are distinctly non-
Western can pose the greatest challenge for those in the public sector who are charged to provide services for them. For public educators, effectively meeting the educational needs of such subgroups hinges on leveraging knowledge about the students’ beliefs (La Brack, 1980). When that knowledge is missing, public educators are unable to effectively serve the subgroup in question.
13 This study involves an in-depth look at religion and specifically how the Sikh religion can impact the public education experience of Sikh students. The purpose of this study is to add to the existing body of literature, which has been developed to help public educators, and other institutions serving the public, gain critical insider information about the cultural minority groups they serve. In doing so, this study modeled a three-prong qualitative approach involving the analysis of interviews, surveys, and publicly available archival data. All of this was done in an effort to examine the Sikh students of Merced County, specifically those who attend the
Merced Union High School District (MUHSD).
Cultural competence involves so much more than gaining insider information about cultural minority groups. Any knowledge gained regarding culture and cultural dynamics must be integrated into every facet of a school, program, or agency, and leveraged to improve services to the unique subgroups these agencies serve. Staff must be trained to effectively utilize the knowledge gained (Olsen, et. al., 2006).
More than this, educational leaders must develop policies that are responsive to their culturally diverse clientele. Program materials should reflect positive images of all people and be valid for use with each group (Cross, et. al., 1989).
The bottom line is that institutionalized cultural knowledge can enhance an organization's ability to serve diverse populations, if something meaningful is done with it. In providing educators and others serving the public with research-based findings regarding the unique cultural groups they serve, researchers provide them with the opportunity to move towards cultural competency. MUHSD has expressed a genuine interest in increasing its institutional knowledge regarding some of the
14 unique cultural minority groups it serves and then using that knowledge to more effectively serve students of diverse cultural backgrounds.
Research Questions
The first research question was, In what ways does Sikhism impact the public school experience of Sikh students? This researcher hypothesizes that Sikh students perceive that practicing their religion impacts their academic and social lives.
The second research question is, In what ways does the public school experience of Sikh students affect their religious practices? This researcher hypothesizes that Sikh students perceive that the American public school experience influences the way they practice their religion.
Limitations
It was the intention of this researcher to capture the voices of Sikh students.
Therefore, the voices of the educators who serve them and others involved in the lives of Sikh students were deliberately excluded. Geographically, the study was limited to the Central Valley community of Livingston, California. More specifically, the study focused on Sikh students attending Livingston High School (LHS). Thirteen percent
(N=157) of LHS’s student body is Punjabi-speaking. Therefore, the six students interviewed and the 52 students surveyed for this study were recruited from a sample of 157. As Sikhs are a religious group, the study demonstrates less concern with cultural issues at large and more concern with religion as a component of culture.
Students who volunteered to be part of the study, either as interviewees or survey respondents, may have been biased or prejudiced by their own cultural or social
15 perceptions. They may also have had personal feelings towards their teachers, peers, or school administration. These potential biases or prejudices may have led some participants to answer the questions in ways that did not truly represent their opinions.
Summary
Chapter One was utilized to outline the problem this research intended to address, namely the issues facing districts that serve communities of diverse cultures.
Specifically, the study will focus on Sikh students in one Central California school district. The purpose of the study is to facilitate MUHSD in its attempts to achieve cultural competency by providing answers to specific research questions involving the experiences and perceptions of Sikh students within the district. Chapter Two of this research is unique to the traditional dissertation format. Because public knowledge of and literature pertaining to the Sikh is sparse, Chapter Two will be utilized to provide the historical-cultural background critical in understanding the results of this study.
CHAPTER II
HISTORICAL-CULTURAL BACKGROUND
Chapter Two of this study is dedicated to exploring the historical-cultural background of the Sikh. Utilizing Chapter Two for this purpose is pertinent, as the purpose of this study is to assist institutions that serve the public in gaining insider information regarding the cultural minority groups they serve. While scholarly works dealing with Sikh culture do exist, they are few in number. Furthermore, accessibility to these resources is relatively limited.
By definition, a Sikh is someone who practices the religion known as Sikhism.
The vast majority of Sikhs are ethnically Punjabi, but Sikhs hold their spiritual identity on a much higher plane than ethnicity. In fact, culture and religion are found intertwined in the life of a Sikh (Barrow, 2005). Like the Jewish people, Sikhs themselves generally perceive being “Sikh” as being part of an ethnic group (Anand,
2008). In a sense, Sikhs do not separate the religion they practice from the larger ethnic and cultural group of which they are members. Describing a Sikh from a scholarly perspective requires defining terms such as national origin and ethnicity, along with religious affiliation (Bower, 2008). The nation of origin of most Merced
County Sikhs born abroad is India. Most Sikhs in India live in the Indian region known as Punjab. The geographic divisions of Punjab can be shown in two ways: politically and physically. Physically, Punjab is a large, flat plain. The northern boundary of Punjab is formed by the foothills of the Himalayas, the western boundary
16 17 by the Indus River, and the eastern border created by the Yamuna River. The region's five major rivers feed into the Indus River in southern Punjab. In fact, the term
Punjab comes from the Persian words "panj,” meaning five, and "ab," meaning waters
(Tatla & Talbot, 1995, pg. 5).
As shown in Figure 1, in terms of its political boundaries, Punjab is a region that extends into Pakistan. Some 80% of the Sikhs in India live in Punjab, where they comprise about two-thirds of the inhabitants there. Punjab has been divided between
Pakistan and India since the partition of British India in 1947 (Jones, 1987, pp. 85-
90). According to Merced County Sikh community member Mohani Thiara, interviewed by this researcher on April 18, 2009, while the vast majority of Merced
County Sikhs trace their national heritage to the Indian State of Punjab, there are a few people living in Merced County who are ethnically Punjabi but practice religions other than Sikhism, namely Islam or Hinduism. While they are the exception and a minority among Merced County Punjabis, it is wise to note their existence so that it is not assumed that all Punjabi people in Merced County are exclusively connected to the Sikh religion.
As Tatla (1999) documented, India gained its independence from the British on August 15, 1947. Prior to Indian independence from the British, violent sectarian riots between Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs took place in Punjab and throughout India.
As a result, the British decided to partition British India. The British saw dividing
India as a way of appeasing the different religious groups. To this end, the British were most concerned with Muslims and Hindus, as they constituted the two largest
18
Figure 1. Map of India and the Punjab. From “India” [Online Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/archives_roll/2002_01- 03/chester_partition/chester_partition.html. Copyright 2002 by Lucy Chester. Reprinted with permission religious groups in India. Therefore, as illustrated in Figure 2, the British facilitated the creation of independent countries known today as Pakistan and Bangladesh
(formerly East Pakistan) for Muslims, and allowed India proper to remain predominantly Hindu (Tatla, 1999).
Following the partition of India in 1947, Sikhs were concentrated in India’s
East Punjab (Fuller, 1999). At that time, Sikh leaders demanded a Punjabi language majority state. However, the Indian government was concerned that creating a
Punjabi state might lead to a separatist Sikh movement, and so it initially opposed the demand. A compromise was finally reached in 1966, when the state of Punjab was created (Tatla & Talbot, 1995). It was then that Punjabi became the official language
19
Figure 2. Map illustrating the independence and partition of India. From [full citation]. Retrieved from http://www.genocidebangladesh.org/?page_id=17. Copyright 2010 by Rezwan Jalal. Reprinted with permission. of Punjab. It is fair to say that many Sikhs still take issue with the British, and subsequently the Indian government, for not facilitating the creation of Punjab as an independent country in 1947, and they are not completely satisfied that today Punjab is a prefecture, subject to the predominantly Hindu nation of India (Tatla, 1999, pg.
30). In fact, many Sikhs believe that Sikhism can survive only in a Sikh state where people can be educated in the Punjabi language, be required to read Sikh scripture, and live in accordance with Sikh values. There is a concern, especially amongst more traditional Sikhs, that Sikhs are losing "their distinctive and separate identity in a state
20 (India) nominally pledged to secularism but in actual practice increasingly Hindu"
(Singh, 2004, Vol. 2, 294).
From an anthropological and ethnical standpoint, Sikhs are overwhelmingly
Asian Indian (Anand, 2008). However, Asian Indians are composed of a number of ethnic subgroups (Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Mongoloid, etc.). Practitioners of the Sikh religion are predominantly Punjabi and Punjabis have an Indo-Aryan heritage. The region of Punjab is the birthplace of the Punjabi language, the dominant language of the Punjab region. 2.8% of all Indians speak Punjab, and the vast majority of those who speak Punjabi live in the Punjab region (CIA World Factbook, 2009).
The Sikh Religion: An Overview
Sikhism is a liberal, tolerant faith that acknowledges personal liberty. It also holds that the most important element of human nature is free will. As such, Sikh philosophy and scriptures are not didactic in nature, for Sikhism offers spiritual and moral guidance to establish a way of life rather than a dogmatic and rigid religious discipline (McLeod, 1995). Sikhs are often recognizable because of their distinctive wardrobes. Sikh men generally sport full beards and wear turbans. Turbans may be worn in any number of colors, with preferences running from pastels to black. Older
Sikh men may wear the traditional Kurta Pyjama, which is a loose fitting white cotton tunic (Penney, 2001). The traditional dress of Sikh women is the Salwaar Kameez, an outfit consisting of a loose-fitting top and bottom. This traditional dress is also worn by others from the Indian subcontinent. Like Sikh men, traditional Sikh women do not cut their hair (Anand, 2008). Thus, another outward sign of their faith is their long
21 hair. To the average Westerner, these outward expressions of Sikhism, as seen in
Figure 3, are striking. However, there is much more to Sikhism than its outward manifestations.
Figure 3 . Photograph of a typical Sikh wedding. From “Wedding Album” [Online Image] (n.d.). Retrieved from http://satkaar.com/wedding_gallery. Copyright 2008 by Sanjeev Tulsian. Reprinted with permission.
Sikh men have been wearing turbans for over 300 years (McLeod, 1995).
Because of this distinctive look, assimilation has never been easy for Sikhs in
America (Han, 2007). Additionally, the turban has become a greater liability for
American Sikhs since September 11, 2001 (9/11) (Wing, 2005). Unfortunately for
Sikhs, the mastermind of the terrorist attacks that saw the destruction of the Twin
Towers of New York City and the murder of nearly 3,000 people wore a turban
(Sehmer, 2009). Discussing the challenges that Merced County Sikhs are facing,
Jason (2007) articulated that “Sikhs are trying to distinguish themselves from
22 Muslims in a post-9/11 nation that's watchful and fearful of men with bushy beards and turbans.”
In recounting media coverage of turban-clad 9/11 terrorist leader Osama bin
Ladin, following the attacks, Klein (2007) posed that “these reports produced a prototypical image of a terrorist as a dark-skinned, possibly bearded, turbaned male”
(p. 88). Wing (2005) reported that violent post-9/11 hate crimes committed against
Sikhs mistaken for Middle Eastern terrorists were documented in North Carolina,
New York City, Oregon, Washington D.C., Florida, and California. Chhibber (2009) recalled the murder of a Sikh man in Mesa, Arizona, following 9/11, and numerous hate crimes including arson and the beating of an elderly Sikh priest. Suffice to say, the specter of 9/11 and the ignorance of a few hate-filled Americans still casts a shadow over the Sikh community today.
Place of Worship
The Sikhs call their place of worship a Gurdwara (Singh, 1992). Sikh worship services can happen on any day of the week, as meetings are scheduled for the convenience of the congregation. On special occasions, services can continue into the night, lasting until dawn (Klein, 2007). The Gurdwara is open to all people without regard to caste, creed, or color. When entering the Gurdwara, one is expected to remove shoes and cover one’s bare head as signs of respect towards the Sikh holy book, Guru Granth Sahib, which is centrally displayed in the Gurdwara during worship services (Singh, 1992). When worship services are not in session, the Guru
Granth Sahib rests on a bed in a reserved bedroom within the confines of the
23 Gurdwara. Sikhs treat the Guru Granth Sahib like it is a great human teacher, as they were directed by esteemed Sikh leader Guru Gobind Singh. Offerings of cash are usually made at this time to help carry the expenses of running the Gurdwara and community work carried out by the Gurdwara. These offerings are voluntary and not compulsory (Cole, 1990).
Gurdwaras are open to all people of all religions and are generally open 24 hours a day. Some Gurdwaras also provide temporary accommodations for visitors or pilgrims. Traditionally, all people, irrespective of their place in society, sit on the floor. This is a physical demonstration that all people are equal, although the Guru
Granth Sahib is always installed on a higher level than the congregation. One may enter or leave the congregation at any time (McLeod, 1995). Men and women do not generally sit together but on separate sides of the room, both at an equal distance from the Guru Granth Sahib (Singh, 1992).
Community Kitchen
As pictured in Figure 4, the langar (free community kitchen) has become an essential part of every Gurdwara. The langar creates important opportunities for the
Sikh community to gather in fellowship together. It is also open to all in the community, Sikh or not (Dogra, 1995). Those receiving langar meals demonstrate humility by sitting on the floor side-by-side without regard to social status. This is another Sikh practice that reinforces the equality of all human beings. Sikhs are expected to contribute either by donating food supplies or by volunteering to cook and serve (Singh, 1992).
24
Figure 4. Photograph of a Langar or Sikh temple kitchen. From “Sikh temple kitchen” [Online Image] (n.d.). Retrieved from http://media.photobucket.com/image/ sikh%20kitchen/pzeisset/India1-Delhi/90130cSikhtempleDelhi22.jpg. Copyright 2008 by Paul Zeisset. Reprinted with permission.
Diet
Food served in the langar is restricted to vegetarian cuisine. This is a pragmatic practice, initiated so that people of all faiths could partake of langar meals without concerns about violating their religious food prohibitions (Chambers, 2005).
Generally, Sikhs tend to be vegetarian, but they are not totally bound to be meat-free.
Purportedly, the first Sikh Guru (Guru Nanak) taught that it was pointless for Sikhs to debate the merits of either eating meat or being a vegetarian, because diet alone does not enrich one’s spiritual life (Penney, 2001). Nevertheless, Sikhs are bound to avoid meat that is killed in a ritualistic manner (Cole, 1990). Therefore, any animal slaughtered as part of another’s religious ceremony is not to be part of the Sikh’s diet.
25 Vices
More traditional Sikhs avoid both smoking and the consumption of alcohol
(Morjaria-Keval, 2006). It seems that Guru Nanak may have started this tradition.
According to legend, a Moghul official offered Nanak opium. Nanak reportedly told the official that he had no need of the drug, because he was hooked on God (Barrow,
2005, p. 38).
Basic Tenets of Sikhism
Concept of God
Like Christian, Muslim, and Jewish practitioners, Sikhs are strictly monotheistic. Sikhs put their faith in one God who, as Nanak put it, is without a second. This God is the creator of all things. Even more, the continued survival of the entire universe is seen by Sikhs to be dependent on God (Cole & Sambhi, 1995, p.
67).
Path to Salvation
According to the precepts of Sikhism, Sikhs do not have an exclusive right to salvation, nor do they consider themselves the chosen people of God. In fact, Sikhism teaches that many spiritual paths lead to God (Penney, 2001). Sikh scripture advances the message that regardless of one’s religion, all are equal in the eyes of God.
Nevertheless, Sikhism does teach that unlike other faiths, it is a more direct and a simpler path to salvation or union with God (Anand, 2008). In Table 1, the basic elements of Sikhism are contrasted with the characteristics of other major world religions.
26 Table 1
World Religions Chart
Concept of Belief system Founded Members God Afterlife
Sikhism 1500, India 23 million Monotheistic Reincarnation
Christianity 30, Israel 2 billion Monotheistic Heaven or Hell
Hinduism 1500 BC, India 900 million Pantheistic Reincarnation
Islam 600, Saudi Arabia 1.3 billion Montheistic Paradise or Hell
Judaism 1300 BC, Israel 14 million Montheistic Not emphasized
Buddhism 500 BC, India 360 million Pantheistic/ Reincarnation polytheistic Note. Compiled by Steve Charbonneau from “The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions,” Bowker 1997.
The Afterlife
Unlike the other great monotheistic religions, Sikhism embraces the concept
of reincarnation. Sikhs believe that the soul experiences millions of transformations
as various forms of life prior to becoming human (McLeod, 1995). In fact, Sikhism
teaches that the soul migrates through innumerable lifetimes in a repetitive cycle of
birth and death. For better or worse, the soul is subject to past deeds. Those deeds are
the direct cause of how the next life will turn out, as people die and are born again in
another form. Those who live righteously over many life cycles gain salvation and
27 immortality. Eventually their soul’s transmigration ceases as they merge with the divine (Singh, 1992).
Sikh History
With an estimated 23 million practitioners, Sikhism is the world's fifth-largest religion (Robinson, 2008). The word “Sikh” (pronounced \‘sik\) means “disciple” in the Punjabi language. Beyond believing in one God, Sikhs follow the teachings of their gurus (revered spiritual teachers) who lived between 1469 and 1708 (Narang,
2005). Guru Nanak was the first of these 10 personal gurus who helped to create a distinctive religious identity for Sikhs. Nanak was born in Punjab into a Hindu family. He rejected both the rituals and the hierarchical order found in both Hinduism and Islam (Gibson, 1988). Narang (2005) summed up Nanak’s contributions to the
Sikh faith by stating his message was
a message of one God; one divine will; one cosmic order; one human race; a message that all human beings are sons and daughters of the same one God; a message of equality for all; fraternity for all; irrespective of one’s caste, colour, creed, or country. (p. 7)
As Singh (1992) indicates, Nanak embraced monotheism and clearly defined
Sikhism as a religion, which did not place emphasis on one person over another. In order to encourage his egalitarian doctrine, Nanak insisted that when Sikhs gathered for fellowship in the communal kitchen (langar), they all sat down on the ground without regard to their place in society. This served to illustrate that every Sikh exists on the same social level (Tatla, 1999). Nanak’s passion for egalitarianism contrasted greatly with the Hindu caste system, a system of which he himself had been a part. In
28 order to introduce the concept of monotheism to his followers, Nanak described the
Creator as the one without a second (Narang, 2005).
There was no room in Nanak’s teachings for the worship of any deity or human teacher other than the Creator. Consequently, while revered and considered extraordinary prophets and teachers of exceptional merit, neither Nanak nor any of the nine gurus who succeeded him were considered anything other than human
(Singh, 2004). Illustrating how Sikhs conceptualize their 10 gurus, Singh (2004) wrote that “the Sikh Gurus lived on this earth in flesh and blood like other human beings. They were human beings but they were ideal, perfect, holy and sinless human beings. Their humanity was real and not feigned” (p. 1). Singh went on to state that
“they fought tyranny, sin and evil and overcame it. They were perfect exemplars of humankind. They were not supernatural beings and were not beyond the capacity of the people to imitate them” (p. 1).
Nine other gurus succeeded Nanak. The fourth guru, Ram Das, established
Amritsar as the holy city of the Sikhs. His son and successor, Guru Arjan, collected the writings of the first five gurus into a holy book called the Guru Granth Sahib, which serves as the Sikh sacred scriptures (Penney, 2001). The Golden Temple in
Amritsar, as represented in Figure 5, was built to house the Guru Granth Sahib. To this day, it remains the most important Sikh landmark (Dogra, 1995). Soon after its creation, other Sikh temples were built to store copies of the scriptures (Cole, 1990).
Gobind Singh, the tenth guru, brought a great many reforms to Sikhism. For one, he decided against appointing a human guru as a successor. Instead, he taught that Sikhs should follow the Sikh holy book, Guru Granth Sahib, and consider it their permanent
29
Figure 5. The Golden Temple of Amritsar. From “Golden Temple” [Online Image] (n.d.). Retrieved from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Golden_Temple, _ Amritsar.jpg. Copyright 2009 by Mohan Shrivastava. Reprinted with permission. and final guru. From that point forward, Sikhs were to consult the Guru Granth Sahib for spiritual knowledge and wisdom needed in life (McLeod, 1995).
As the Sikh community experienced growth through the years, suspicion was aroused in the minds of India’s Muslim Mughal rulers. Founded in 1526, The Mughal
Empire was the dominant power in India between the mid-16th century and the early
18th century, until it was supplanted by British rule in 1858 (Dogra, 1995). During
Mughal rule, several of the gurus were imprisoned, and one was executed. The
Mughals sought to suppress Sikhism and Hinduism in India in order to spread Islam.
To counter the Mughals and defend the Sikhs, Gobind Singh created a military
30 contingency of Sikhs called Khalsa Sikhs. Today, all Sikhs baptized into the faith are considered the Khalsa (McLeod, 1995, pg. 7-9).
The Five Ks
In current times, all Sikhs (both men and women) are encouraged to be baptized into the faith. Once baptized, Sikhs are referred to as Khalsa Sikh. During the baptism ceremony, those being initiated drink amrit, or nectar. Amrit is water mixed with sugar and stirred with a sword (Kirpan) while prayers are being said
(McLeod, 1995). This is all accomplished in the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy scriptures. Sikhs who have been inducted into the Khalsa are supposed to adopt distinctive symbols to demonstrate their faith. These symbols are the kakke, known among Sikhs as the “Five Ks.” Both men and women are obligated to observe the Five Ks (Tatla, 1999). Figure 6 graphically illustrates how each element of the
Five Ks is characterized in Sikh attire.
Public agencies serving the Sikh community in the United States have struggled to understand what the Five Ks are and how critical their meaning is to the
Sikh community. The following list was developed by Steve Charbonneau with information from McLeod (1995) to provide a concise and brief description of each element of the 5 Ks.
1. Kesh is a Punjabi word describing the practice of revering the perfection of
creation by not cutting one’s hair. For the Khalsa Sikhs, all facial and body
hair is to be kept completely intact. This means that a Khalsa Sikh never
31
Figure 6 . A graphic illustration of the 5 Ks. From “The Sikh Attire-Symbol of spiritualism” Retrieved from http://nanaksarkarnal.com/Sikhism.html. Copyright 2007 by Khalsa Panth Akhara. Reprinted with permission.
cuts, removes, or alters any hair on the head, face, or body. For men, the
turban itself is an object of great prestige and is considered inseparably
bound with the Kesh. Traditionally attired Sikh women generally wear a
scarf or a smaller turban to cover their hair.
2. The Kanga is a wooden comb and is a critical component of a Khalsa
Sikh’s regiment in caring for their Kesh. Male Sikhs generally comb their
32 hair in the morning before tying a turban, and generally at the end of the
day, before sleeping.
3. The Kara is an iron or steel ring worn on the wrist of the right arm.
Traditionally, the Kara served as a protective wrist guard during battle
when fighting with swords. The Kara is also symbolic of the bond
between the Sikh and Guru.
4. The Kirpan is a ceremonial short sword worn by Khalsa Sikh. Historically
the Kirpan would have been a weapon used in battle. In current times, the
significance of the Kirpan extends to a personal battle fought with ego and
is a reminder to be vigilant against the rise of anger, attachment, greed,
lust, and pride.
5. The Kachhera is a loose undergarment worn by Sikhs. Originally,
Kachhera was designed for Sikh warriors for the purpose of ease of
movement in battle and the maintenance of modesty.
To be sure, there are Sikhs who do not consider themselves Khalsa Sikh.
Traditionally, Khalsa Sikhs have not interacted with other initiate, non-Khalsa Sikhs who cut their hair, smoke, or drink alcohol (McLeod, 1995, pg. 145). The distinction between Khalsa and non-Khalsa Sikh does serve to create a rift within the Sikh community today.
In addition to codifying the Five Ks, Gobind Singh gave Sikhs new names.
According to Gobind Singh, all Sikh males share the name Singh, a Punjabi word meaning lion. In like fashion, women were to carry the new name of Kaur, a Punjabi word which means princess. This was beneficial to Sikhs in general, because so many
33 family names in India at the time indicated place in the caste system. In adopting
Gobind Singh’s new name policy, Sikhs abandoned their caste-affiliated names altogether. This further accentuated the Sikh ideological commitment to equality
(Barrow, 2005).
Sikh Women
The Sikh Gurus were forward-thinking regarding the social status of women, especially relative to their contemporaries. Sikh women were never veiled, they were permitted to lead congregational services, and have had limited voting rights
(McLeod, 1995). The first great Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak, declared that “we are bound to women by ties of affection, on women, man’s future depends.” He was reported to have said, “Why then should one speak evil of women, they who gave birth to kings?” (McLeod, 1995, p. 241). While the Sikh ideal establishes equality of the sexes, in practice Sikh women are expected to adopt traditional roles in a male- dominated culture. For example, Mand (2003) concluded that Sikh women are less geographically mobile than Sikh men and that they assume traditional roles typically in a classic patriarchal society. Bains (2005) found that Sikh women were less influential in the home than their husbands and that their lives were affected by family expectations, patriarchal practices, and relations. Mooney (2003) established that both men and women in the Sikh community reinforce traditional and patriarchal values on female members.
34 Coming to America
Sikhs started immigrating to the United States in 1897. There were thousands of Sikhs living in California and other western states by the end of the first decade of the 20th century, but the vast majority of them were singles because, as stipulated by
American legislation, their families could not accompany them. Immigration law at the time also prevented Sikh immigrants from buying property or land (Chawla, 2001, p. 20). Consequently, the majority either returned to India after a few years in the
U.S., or married women of Mexican ancestry (La Brack, 1980, p. 149). The Sikhs immigrating to the U.S. during this early period mainly worked in agriculture or railroad labor, with a small number of them working in mines and lumber mills. The first American Sikh Gurdwara (temple) was erected in Stockton, California in 1912
(La Brack, 1980). That temple is still in operation. Today, California hosts the greatest number of Punjabis in the U.S., with an approximate count of 125,000
(Jason, 2007).
Merced County Sikhs
This present study focuses on the Sikh community in Merced County,
California. Merced County has a population of 240,162. As shown in Figure 7 , it is located in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, in California’s vast Central Valley.
Merced County is predominantly known for its agriculture. Agriculture-related industries are a major source of employment, along with food processing, retailing, and light manufacturing. The region spans from the coastal ranges to the foothills of
Yosemite National Park (Merced County, 2009).
35
Figure 7 . A map highlighting the location of Merced County, California. From “California County Map (Merced County Highlighted).” (n.d.). Retrieved from http://mapsof.net/california/static-maps/png/california-county-map (Merced County highlighted). Copyright 2006 by David Benbennick. Reprinted with permission.
On May 11, 2009, Merced County Sikh historian Kirpal Singh introduced this researcher to a relative of the first known Sikh settler to Merced County. In that interview, Dr. Santokh Takhar related that his older cousin, Dr. Gujjar Singh Sahi, was the first Sikh settler of Merced County. Sahi initially immigrated to the United
States in 1922. He attended the University of California, Berkeley, where the 6’2”
Sahi played tight end for the Cal Bears football team. After his studies at UC
Berkeley, Sahi earned his M.A. at the University of Minnesota, and then went on to
Yale University. At Yale, Sahi earned a Ph.D. in Metallurgical Sciences. Sahi met his
36 wife, a White American woman named Imogen Foster, while they were both students at the University of Minnesota. Their mixed-race marriage was generally something the typical American at that time found difficult to accept. Sahi earned his Ph.D. long before the success of the American Civil Rights movement and so faced discrimination that precluded him from gaining employment fitting the status of someone who had earned an advanced degree from Yale.
In the May 11, 2009 interview, Takhar explained that Sahi eventually settled in the Merced County town of Livingston, California, in the 1930s when he gained employment at American Vineyard (later purchased by Gallo) as a plant supervisor.
He and his wife remained in Livingston where they eventually purchased a small farm. The purchase of their property and the fact of their residence in Livingston was corroborated by this researcher via Merced County Recorder’s Office records of deeds, which documented that Imogene Foster Sahi purchased property in Livingston on May 14, 1937. As only American citizens could purchase real estate at that time, which precluded Dr. Sahi, Mrs. Sahi had to list herself as the sole owner of the property.
In a separate interview with local Sikh historian Kirpal Grewel on April 25,
2009, this researcher learned that the second known Sikh person to immigrate to
Merced County was Dr. Santokh Takhar, the young cousin of Dr. Sahi. In a discussion with this researcher on May 11, 2009, Takhar related that a series of tragic events had occurred in the Takhar household back in Punjab, including the death of
Santokh’s father. When Dr. Sahi learned of this, he asked Takhar’s mother to allow
Takhar to live with Sahi and his wife in the U.S. Takhar’s mother agreed, and 16-
37 year-old Takhar arrived in Merced County in 1953. Takhar was the first Sikh student to attend Modesto Junior College, taking on the challenges of learning English while attending college. He eventually attended UC Davis, where he earned a doctorate in
Veterinary Medicine in 1963. He returned to Merced County who year and began practicing veterinary medicine in Hilmar, California, just nine miles from Livingston,
California, where he continued to live with Sahi and his wife. Takhar would add farming to his personal resume in 1967, when he bought a small ranch in Hilmar,
California.
Soon after Takhar’s return to Merced County from UC Davis, The
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 was passed (Rao, 1988). This legislation abolished the national-origin quota system, which made migration to the U.S. from abroad dependent upon an immigrant's country of birth. Under the old system, 70% of all immigrant slots were allocated to natives of only three countries: the United
Kingdom, Ireland and Germany (Yu, 2005). The Immigration Act of 1924, or
Johnson-Reed Act, along with the National Origins Act, and Asian Exclusion Act, established the old system (Rao, 1988). In concert, these pieces of legislation prevented en-masse migration of many, especially those of Asian ancestry (Rao,
1988). As a result of the Family Reunification Act of 1965, for the first time, immigration preference went to relatives of American citizens and permanent resident aliens rather than to applicants with special job skills (Yu, 2005). Takhar remembers this legislation allowing him to send for his sisters, a brother, and their families from
India in the late 1970s, thus increasing the Sikh population in Merced County. Takhar married his wife, Amrit, in 1970. This researcher asked Dr. Santokh Singh Takhar to
38 review the information about the first Sikh settlers of Livingston in order to ensure accuracy regarding his personal history, as well as the history of Dr. Gujjar Singh
Sahi.
More Sikhs began arriving in Merced County in the early 1970s, after the completion of the Foster Farms processing center in Livingston. In an interview with this researcher on April 18, 2009, Merced County Sikh community member Mohani
Thiara stated that Foster Farms remains the primary employer of Merced County
Sikhs. Jason (2007) explains how word of mouth among Sikhs led to Foster Farms becoming a major employer of Sikhs in Merced County. It seems that in the early
1970s, Foster Farms hired a Sikh woman living in Merced County to work in its chicken processing plant in Livingston, California. In turn, the woman told other
Sikhs in an adjacent county about her job at Foster Farms while visiting the local
Gurdwara (temple) there. As jobs in agriculture were harder to come by for Sikhs at that time, this was welcome news, which soon found its way across the Pacific
Ocean. “It may have been a steady paycheck for the woman, whose name has been lost over the decades, but she pinpointed the city as a prime destination for Punjabis seeking work in America” (Jason, 2007).
The City of Livingston lies in Northern Merced County. It is 73 miles north of
Fresno, California, and 25 miles south of Modesto, California, by way of California
Highway 99. Today Livingston has a population of over 10,000 people (City of
Livingston, 2009). Approximately 1,500 of those residing in Livingston are Sikh. It is not an oversimplification to say that Sikhs were attracted to Livingston because of the employment opportunities created by Foster Farms. The City of Livingston reports a
39 total population of 13,795 with 14% of its population Asian (City of Livingston,
2009). In personal communication with City of Livingston Community Development
Director Donna Kenney on August 12, 2009, this researcher learned that in
Livingston’s case, “Asian” almost exclusively means Punjabi Indian.
Foster Farms continues to attract Sikh workers. As of 2007, the company employed approximately 600 Asian employees in its 2,300-person plant. The majority were Sikhs. The number of Asian employees has grown about 6% in the last decade, though no statistics about the company's work force date back to the 1970s (Jason,
2007). To a lesser extent, Gallo Winery’s Merced County facilities in Livingston have been another source of employment for Merced County Sikhs. As both Foster Farms and Gallo are located in Livingston, Livingston became a popular place of residence for the growing Merced County Sikh population. Merced County Sikh historian
Kirpal Grewal asserted that the types of jobs available at Foster Farms and Gallo were jobs that did not require an education or specialized skill. Therefore, Merced County initially attracted Sikhs from a rural Punjabi background, and just a few college- educated Sikhs trying to get established in the U.S. However, as the Sikh population grew, a need for ancillary services arose for this unique ethnic enclave. According to
Grewel, this created opportunities for more Sikhs with specialized skills and college degrees, creating higher wages as well.
There are two Sikh temples (Gurdwaras) which serve as places of worship for
Merced County Sikhs. Both of them are located in Livingston. The Pacific Coast
Khalsa Diwan Society, built in 1980, is located on Peach Avenue (Figure 8), and the
Guru Nanak Temple, built in 1982, on B Street (Figure 9). Mohani Thiara contended
40
Figure 8. Peach Street Gurdwara. From [full citation]. Retrieved from http://z.about.com/d/sikhism/1/0/i/6/-/-/Hola1Peachtree500x.jpg. Copyright 2010 by Sukhmandir Khalsa. Reprinted with permission.
Figure 9. B Street Gurdwara. From [full citation]. Retrieved from http://z.about.com/d/sikhism/1/0/t/6/-/-/Hola12B500x.jpg. Copyright 2010 by Sukhmandir Khalsa. Reprinted with permission.
41 that initially the Peach Avenue appealed to the more traditional Sikhs, but today the two temples generally serve the same type of worshipper. In fact, a number of Sikhs attend both temples interchangeably and are comfortable in doing so. This is the case for many who perform shift work at Foster Farms, and whose work schedules determine when they are available for worship.
Summary
Chapter Two provided much background information regarding the Sikh culture, including such topics as cultural and demographic history. Other topics included a discussion of Sikh religion (diets, vices, tenets, practices, and manifestations), women’s roles in Sikh society, and the history of East Indian immigration to America. Chapter Three will outline the methodology of this research.
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
Restatement of the Problem
Culture is a lens through which people see and make sense of the world
(Stenou, 2002). Regarding the world through a cultural lens is a normal human phenomenon. Like the average American, public educators (even the non-religious ones) commonly see other world religions through a Western pseudo-Christian lens.
The United States is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world, with newcomers from cultural backgrounds quite unique from mainstream American society (Boehm, 2009). As a result, American public educators are facing momentous challenges in meeting the educational needs of students from unique cultural groups.
Some of the students currently in the American public education system are members of distinctly non-Western religious groups. American public educators have a responsibility to understand how students from uniquely non-Western backgrounds see and make sense of the world in ways quite different from mainstream America.
Neglecting to gain a basic understanding of the culture and background of students from unique cultural groups will severely handicap the abilities of educators to meet these students’ academic needs.
42 43 Restatement of Research Questions
The first research question is, In what ways does Sikhism impact the public school experience of Sikh students? This researcher hypothesizes that Sikh students perceive that practicing their religion impacts their academic and social lives.
The second research question is, In what ways does the public school experience of Sikh students affect their religious practices? This researcher hypothesizes that Sikh students perceive that the American public school experience influences the way they practice their religion.
Methods
The school selected for this case study is Merced Union High School’s
(MUHSD) Livingston High School (LHS). MUHSD is Merced County California’s high school district. As reported by the district in October of 2009, total student enrollment was 10,872 students, with approximately 1,198 students enrolled at LHS.
Two percent of MUHSD’s students are Punjabi-speaking, as designated on the district’s Home Language Survey. Mohani Thiara, recognized as a leader in the Sikh community of Livingston, related in an interview with this researcher on August 10,
2009, that the vast majority of Merced County Sikhs trace their national heritage to the Indian State of Punjab and speak the Punjabi language.
Thirteen percent of LHS students are Punjabi-speaking. As Punjabi-speaking students make up a significant percentage of LHS’s student population, LHS was a prime school site for this current study (AERIES Student Information System, 2009).
The researcher developed a question included in the student survey discussed in this
44 chapter, specifically to determine how many Punjabi students considered themselves practitioners of the Sikh religion. Consequently, it was determined that of the 54
Punjabi students who took the survey, 52 were Sikh. This equates to 96% of students surveyed indicating they practice the Sikh religion.
A multiple methods approach was achieved by employing the use of three data sources. The data sources and methods were as follows: statistical data obtained from publicly available archival data will be used in summary form (raw percentages) to document and analyze the academic achievement of Sikh students vis-à-vis their non-Sikh peers; student interview questions will stem from the student survey questionnaires included in the study and be conducted to elicit more in-depth responses from a sample of six students representing LHS Sikh students at large; and student survey questionnaires, whose questions are pertinent to the research questions, will be conducted in order to acquire aggregate responses from other LHS
Sikh students.
Research Design
Developing an academic profile of Sikh students at LHS by disaggregating a number of data sources (from standardized test scores to graduation rates), as well as conducting qualitative interviews, and supervising the completion of student surveys was a three-prong research approach executed so that this study could achieve a multidimensional analysis. Qualitative researchers refer to this research strategy as triangulation, the act of combining two or more research methods to study one thing
45 (Livesey, 2009). Certainly, the complexity of the subjects of culture and religion necessitates an approach that produces the greatest degree of validity and reliability.
Triangulating different types of data provides cross-data validity and may decrease vulnerabilities to error (Fonseca, 2008). Triangulation also brings a certain dimensionality and greater integrity to qualitative studies (Patton, 2002). By triangulating the data, this study was able to corroborate, elaborate, and illuminate the research in question and provide teachers and administrators with useful information regarding the educational experiences of one of the district’s unique cultural minority groups, the Sikh (Fonseca, 2009).
According to Healy and Perry (2000), when triangulation is employed, two or more research methods check and balance one another. This vastly improves the validity and reliability of research and/or the evaluation of findings. Patton (2002) advocated the use of triangulation because triangulation strengthens a study by combining methods. Barbour (1998) acknowledged the potential of triangulation and asserted that it works best within the qualitative paradigm. Flick (2008) contended that when a study employs more than one method of research, a number of perspectives open up, serving to augment the quality of such qualitative studies.
Another point made by Flick is that all research methods inherently possess “validity threats.” Triangulation reduces validity threats by allowing the researcher to vector the results of multiple research methods, creating a kind of checks and balances system amongst the methods being utilized for the study (Flick, 2008).
In years past, researchers and scholars associated the use of statistical data exclusively as the job of quantitative researchers. With the rise of mixed-methods and
46 multiple-methods approaches to research, it is more common to see statistical and qualitative data presented effectively in concert (Johnson & Christensen, 2004). In using statistical data alongside a traditional qualitative research method, like interviewing, this study avoids the traditional dualism practiced by researchers in the past who found hard data and qualitative data to be mutually exclusive (Maxcy,
2003). Nevertheless, for the purpose of this study, statistical data is presented in summary form (raw percentages). Therefore, this study should be considered predominantly qualitative in nature, although the inclusion of so-called hard data in the study adds to its dimensionality (Gubrium & Holstein, 2001).
Interview questions utilized for this study were designed based on the review of literature and as a result of this researcher’s interactions with Sikh community leaders in Merced County (Ballenger, 1992). In order to achieve scholarly results, a researcher’s approach to interviewing must be careful and deliberate. As Vega de
Jesús (2004) stated, “in Interview Based Research, dialogue evolves in a constant creation and re-creation of the self that relaxes the internal inhibitions of the participant, promoting an ambiance conducive to participatory action” (Vega de
Jesús, 2004, p. 32).
Survey research is a method of gathering data from respondents thought to be representative of some population, using an instrument composed of closed structure or open-ended questions (Council of American Survey Research Organizations,
2009). Surveys are a widely used form of data collection in the social sciences, providing for efficient collection of data over broad populations (Alreck & Settle,
2004). In developing the survey questions used in this study, this researcher sought
47 the counsel of outside experts and looked to the past practice of other established researchers.
In establishing how the survey would augment the research design of this study, this researcher considered the scholarly work of Seidman (1998) and Schuman
(1982), who advocated for a qualitative interview process of three distinct thematic interviews. According to these scholars, researchers can only understand the participants’ behavior when that behavior is contextualized. Context is not likely to be established solely with one interview, or a lone survey for that matter (Patton,
2002). This researcher modified the three-interview sequence proposed by Seidman and Schuman, opting to substitute the second interview with a survey. After reflecting on the contributions of Seidman and Schuman and engaging in process dialogue with the committee chairperson for this dissertation, a decision was made to use the first interview analysis to inform the creation of the survey. Consequently, analysis of both the first interview and the survey were used to inform the construction of the third encounter (second interview). To ensure a strong relationship between the survey and interviews was achieved, the closed-ended survey questions used for this study were created by strategically reformatting interview questions (Appendix B).
Employing the survey allowed for a greater number of Livingston High
School (LHS) Sikh students to be included in the analysis. In turn, results from the first interview and the survey provided the researcher with information that made the final interview more productive and meaningful. In support of this type of research design, Lund-Dean, Fornaciari and J. McGee (2003) asserted that in examining the spirituality and/or religion of a sample population, combining methods like interviews
48 and surveys can lead to more authentic analysis (2003, p. 389). Concurring with
Lund-Dean et al., Brand (2009) indicated that a research design including methods such as interviews and surveys together can facilitate proper examination of phenomena related to religion.
Figure 10 visually represents the order in which the research methods utilized for this study were employed. First, statistical data from the school district was compiled, disaggregated, and analyzed. Second, the first interview session was conducted. Two weeks later, the student survey was administered. Finally, five weeks following the first interview session, the second interview session was conducted.
Procedures
Data Collection and Instrumentation
From 1995-2005, this researcher served as a teacher at two different MUHSD schools. While LHS was not one of those schools, this researcher’s decade-long employment with MUHSD allowed for close and cordial interaction with students, faculty, staff, and other members of the school district. The process of gathering and measuring the information compiled for this study was established in a systematic fashion that enabled an analysis of outcomes and answers for research questions.
49
Figure 10 . Order of research methods. Created by Steve Charbonneau with Adobe ImageStyler, 2009-2010.
Connecting the findings of this study to the three instruments (statistical data, student interviews, and student surveys) provided an information-rich study that illuminated the questions under study and obtained multiple perspectives from the participants.
The instrument for each data collection effort is located in Appendixes B through D.
Statistical Data
Statistical data, compiled via review of electronic documents (publicly available archival data), can constitute a particularly rich source of information about many organizations and programs. In fact, statistical data can “provide the evaluator with information about many things that cannot be observed. They may reveal things that have taken place before the evaluation began” (Patton, 2002, p. 293). In the
50 interest of triangulating evidence, the statistical data contained in this present study serves to corroborate the evidence from other sources (Yin, 2003).
Moreover, the statistical data contained in this study was obtained in order to contrast the academic profile of Sikh students of LHS with their LHS peers at large.
In order to accomplish this, a number of data sources were analyzed: advanced/proficiency rates for the California Standards Tests (CSTs) in English
Language Arts, Algebra II and Geometry; percentage rates of students who are
English Learners (ELs); performance levels of those who are ELs on the California
English Language Development Test (CELDT); and percentage rates of those receiving either free or reduced meals. In order to make the most relevant connections to Sikh students interviewed and surveyed for this study, only the most current data was analyzed. The statistical data gathered from MUHSD is aggregate in nature.
Therefore, the identities and personal information of individual students are not revealed.
Student Interviews
The qualitative research interview was conducted in order to gain intimate understanding of the central themes in the lives of the subjects being researched.
Towards that end, the main task in interviewing is to understand the meaning of what the interviewees relate (Kvale, 1996). Interviews are particularly useful for revealing the story behind a participant’s experiences. These one-on-one interactions also add another layer of depth of understanding to the more mass-respondent oriented survey questionnaires (McNamara, 1999). When it comes to qualitative research interviews,
51 the interviewer is considered a part of the measurement instrument and must be well- trained in how to respond to any contingency. The interview questions utilized for this study are located in Appendix B.
The data related to the interviews are transcriptions from each individual interview conducted with the six participants. The interviews were conducted in a one-on-one fashion. Participants were interviewed twice, with the second interview taking place approximately one month after the first. All interviews conducted lasted
30-45 minutes. Interviews took place at the home of Livingston Sikh community member, Mohani Thiara. During interviews, the participants and researcher were joined by Khanh Charbonneau (this researcher’s spouse), an elementary teacher and former Social Worker, in a private room. These interviews were audio-recorded.
During the interviews, participants were asked interview questions included in the appendices of this study. The second round of interviews conducted with these participants was separated by enough time to allow the researcher to analyze the first interview transcripts. These interviews were conducted with each participant until data saturation was achieved. As data emerged and ongoing analysis was conducted, interview questions were focused to probe emerging themes during these subsequent interviews.
Student Surveys
Student surveys were employed as a second data collection strategy to enhance the validity of this study. Surveys developed by researchers such as
Buckingham (2009), Maher (2009), and Merlino (2005) were reviewed in an effort to
52 develop the best possible survey questions for this present study. From there, survey questions were synthesized and modified to capture appropriate responses from student participants. The questions were also reviewed by mentors of this researcher for added input. The end result was a student survey which sought to establish how the spiritual beliefs of students impact their educational experiences and how the public school experience impacts students’ religious practices. The survey questions utilized for this study are located in Appendix C. As agreed by the LHS principal, approximately 30 minutes were allocated during an administrative leadership meeting for this researcher to describe the overview of the study and explain the purpose of the surveys to the school administration. Surveys were administered during the school day and on school grounds, with the assistance of school personnel as directed by
MUHSD Superintendent, V. Scott Scambray.
The surveys, quantitative in nature, were created by the researcher. All survey questions are close-ended in nature. The researcher field tested the surveys with the assistance of Sikh community member, Kirpal Grewel. Grewel, who runs a Punjabi language school each Sunday at a local Sikh Temple (Gurdwara), facilitated the survey field test at the school in October of 2009. Consequently, the researcher was able to administer the survey to Sikh high school students who attended the language school. A debriefing with these students indicated that three of the survey questions needed amending to maximize student understanding and optimize accessibility of the questions. The final version of the survey was administered on November 10, 2009, to students who had turned in completed consent forms. Students surveyed
53 represented grades 9-12. The sample group consisted of a maximum of 157 students, with 54 completing surveys.
Data Analysis
Statistical Data
The statistical data utilized in this current study was obtained exclusively from
MUHSD, with the expressed written consent of the MUHSD Superintendent
(Appendix A). At the MUHSD Superintendent’s request, the MUHSD
Testing/Accountability Program Administrator utilized the AERIES student information system software program (AERIES, 2009), and the Microsoft products
Excel and Access in order to acquire and organize data. Excel is a software application which allows the user to calculate and analyze data in a spreadsheet format (Microsoft, 2009b). Access is a database application that facilitates queries linking to multiple data sources (Microsoft, 2009a). The researcher also utilized
Microsoft Excel to take disaggregation of data a step further. To this end, subgroups were compared, contrasted, and performance rates factored. The researcher then used
Excel to create charts and graphs related to the statistical data analyzed included in
Chapter Four of this study.
Interviews
The researcher’s spouse, Khanh Charbonneau, who was present during all interviews, transcribed the interviews from audio recordings. The researcher then coded and analyzed the transcribed interviews. These data provided evidence related to research questions. In keeping with Creswell’s (2003) ideas of interpreting data,
54 the researcher was looking for frequencies in the occurrences of themes in the interview sessions. Analysis of the data was conducted with the assistance of
HyperResearch, a qualitative analysis software program (HyperResearch, 2009). The text transcriptions were then exported into the Hyper-Research program for coding. A master code list was developed and each interview was reviewed at length with the appropriate codes being linked to passages in the transcriptions. When all interviews were transcribed and coded, reports were generated for analysis.
Surveys
The survey questions were organized into two series. Series One addressed
Research Question One (How does Sikhism impact the public school experience of
Sikh students?). These questions were asked on a Likert scale, with responses that ranged from very often to almost never (Appendixes E and F). Series Two of the survey questions addressed Research Question Two (How does the public school experience of Sikh students affect their religious practices?). These questions were asked on a Likert scale, with responses that ranged from strongly agree to strongly disagree (Appendixes E and F, pp. 140 and 141). A frequency table of the answers was created and presented in Chapter Four. The survey responses allowed the researcher to draw conclusions based on the percentage of responses for each question. After the data from the surveys were tallied, the researcher analyzed and compared the percentages. A survey design was chosen as one of the research methods for this study, because of its economy of design and the rapid turnaround in data collection it facilitates (Creswell & Piano Clark, 2007).
55 Participants
Sample and Population
This qualitative research study is focused on a sub-set of students (Sikh students) of an entire school district’s student population (MUHSD); therefore, the most appropriate sampling strategy is non-probability (Merriam, 1998). Trochim
(2006) differentiates non-probability and probability sampling by explaining that non- probability sampling forgoes random selection, while probability relies on it.
According to Trochim, researchers tend to consider random sampling a more accurate research strategy than non-probability sampling. However, Trochim conceded that in applied social research, there are circumstances in which random sampling is not sensible. This current study employs a purposeful non-probability sampling method in order to differentiate Sikh students from their peers. Purposive sampling is one of the most common sampling strategies employed in research and sees researchers grouping participants according to preselected criteria relevant to a particular research question (Mack, Woodsong, Macqueen, Guest, & Namey, 2005, p. 5). According to
Patton (2002), purposive sampling is appropriate for situations in which the intent is to reach a targeted sample quickly and sampling for proportionality is not the primary concern.
Student Interviews
The student interviews were conducted at the home of a prominent Sikh community member, Mohani Thiara. Thiara provided a letter of support (Appendix
D, p.138), indicating that she was well-connected in the Livingston Sikh community
56 and was committed to this study. Six students were interviewed for this present study, with each student being interviewed twice. The second interview occurred less than six weeks after the first interview. All students interviewed provided personal expressed written permission from their parents or guardians (Informed Consent
Form, Appendix E, p.140). Only students who voluntarily chose to be part of the study were interviewed. The names of the students interviewed were changed to protect their anonymity (Gubrium & Holstein, 2001, Kvale, 1996).
Student Surveys
Approval to conduct student surveys during the school day at LHS was obtained from the MUHSD Superintendent (Appendix A, p.133). Students completed surveys anonymously and on a volunteer basis only. All students who took the survey provided personal expressed written permission from their parents or guardians
(Appendix F, p.141). Only students who voluntarily chose to be part of the study took the survey. Survey questions (Appendix C, p.134) were developed to reflect the content of interview questions and to answer the aforementioned research questions.
Counseling Services for Participants
Participants were notified that in the event they experienced discomfort as a result of their involvement in the study, they could contact the Livingston High
School Counseling Department or Sikh community members Mohani Thiara or
Kirpal Grewel for counseling and assistance. Contact information was included in consent forms related to the interviews and surveys. All participants were given copies of their consent forms to keep for their personal reference (Appendices A and
57 F). Beyond this, copies of a separate flyer describing available counseling services and providing related contact information were distributed to all participants
(Appendix G).
Summary
In Chapter Three, this researcher outlined the methodology for this research, including a restatement of the problem and research questions, description of the research design, and procedures for the collection, instrumentation, and analysis of statistical data, student interviews, and surveys. A comprehensive description of the sample and population of the participants was also provided. Chapter Four will be utilized to discuss the findings of this research.
CHAPTER IV
SUMMARY OF METHODS
As established, Livingston High School (LHS), a school located in Merced
County, California, was the school selected for this study. Thirteen percent of LHS students are Punjabi-speaking. As Punjabi-speaking students make up a significant percentage of LHS’s student population, LHS was a prime school site for this current study (AERIES Student Information System, 2009). Three categories of data have been triangulated in an effort to maximize the credibility of this study’s findings
(Patton, 2002). The three types of data triangulated were statistical data, student interviews, and student surveys. Statistical data were obtained from publicly available archival data used in summary form (raw percentages) to document and analyze the academic achievement of Sikh students as compared to their non-Sikh peers. Student interviews included questions interconnected with the student survey questionnaire in order elicit more in-depth responses from a sample of six students representing LHS
Sikh students at large. Student surveys, whose questions were related to the research questions, were conducted in order to acquire aggregate responses from other LHS
Sikh students.
Findings: Statistical Data
MUHSD reported a total enrollment of 10,872 students in the 2009-2010 school year, with a total number of 212 Punjabi speakers district-wide, as determined
58 59 by the district’s Home Language Survey. William Marroquín, Program Administrator of the Testing/Accountability Department for the district, was interviewed for this study on October 10, 2009. He indicated that all parents and guardians of MUHSD students are required to declare the language most commonly spoken at home in the district’s Home Language Survey. Of the 212 Punjabi speakers throughout the district’s five comprehensive high schools, 157 were enrolled at LHS. As the 2009-
2010 school year found LHS with a total enrollment of 1,198, Punjabi speakers constituted 13% of the student population there (AERIES Student Information
System, 2009).
An academic profile of Punjabi-speaking students at LHS was achieved by disaggregating a number of data sources (Lindholm-Leary & Hargett, 2010, Flick,
2008). These sources include advanced and proficiency rates on the California
Standards Test (CST) in English and advanced proficiency rates on the CST in
Geometry and Algebra II. They further include the percentage of students who are
English Learners as determined by the administration of the California English
Language Development Test (CELDT), student performance levels on the CELDT, and poverty rates (determined by the percentage of students enrolled in the Free or
Reduced Price Meal Program at LHS).
California Standards Test
The CST is a major component of California Department of Education’s
(CDE) Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program. This test measures the progress that California students make towards achieving state-adopted academic
60 content standards (what students are to have learned in each grade and subject).
Depending on their performances on the CST, California students attain one of five performance levels: advanced, proficient, basic, below basic, and far below basic.
There is a great focus on the part of both California’s State Board of
Education and the Federal No Child Left Behind Law regarding the proficiency rates of students in all subgroups. California’s state target is for all students to score at proficient or advanced levels (California Department of Education, 2009). As the
Department of Education does not offer the CST for twelfth graders, only 124 of the
157 Punjabi-speaking students at LHS took the test in 2009. For the purposes of this study, the scores of Livingston High School (LHS) Punjabi speakers were contrasted against all other LHS test participant scores on the CST in English, Algebra II, and
Geometry. These tests were chosen because a numerically significant number of
Punjabi-speaking students took them.
Table 2 and Figure 11 illustrate how Punjabi students from LHS performed on various CST assessments as compared to their peers. The percentages on the English section for both Punjabi-speaking students (N=124) and all other LHS students
(N=747) represent the aggregate advanced/proficiency rates of all students tested in grades 9th through 11th. The Algebra II percentages represent 37% (46 of 124) of
Punjabi-speaking students and 15% (136 of 747) of all other students tested. The
Geometry percentages represent 29% (36 of 124) of Punjabi-speaking students and
16% (208 of 747) of all other students.
61 Table 2
CST Advanced/Proficiency Rates of LHS Students, 2009
LHS Punjabi-Speaking All Other LHS Students CST Test Students (%) (%) 1. ELA (grades 9-11) 43.5 40
2. Algebra II 41 15
3. Geometry 41 16
Note . Compiled by Steve Charbonneau with information provided by the Merced Union High School District, 2009.
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0% ELA Algebra II Geometry
Punjabi Speaking Students All Other Students
Figure 11 . CST Advanced/Proficiency Rates of LHS Students: ELA, Algebra II, and Geometry. Created by Steve Charbonneau with information provided by the Merced Union High School District, 2009.
62 California English Language Development Test
As legally mandated by California Education Code, California public schools employ a Home Language Survey in order to determine the language or languages spoken in the homes of each student (California Department of Education, 2010a). In turn, the CELDT is given to students whose primary language is not English, as well as English learners, as an annual assessment. This test measures a student’s proficiency, from Grades 2 through 12, of the English language in listening, speaking, and reading (Educational Data Systems, 2009). Students’ scores on the CELDT are classified into five levels of performance on the test: Beginning, Early Intermediate,
Intermediate, Early Advanced, and Advanced. (California Department of Education,
2010b). Table 3 establishes the English language-related skills that students at specific levels are expected to be able to perform. For the purpose of this study, overall CELDT levels, synthesized from listening, speaking, and reading scores, have been used to contrast LHS Punjabi-speaking students with LHS ELs at large.
Testing data made available by MUHSD during the 2009-2010 school year revealed that 28% of the students enrolled at LHS are ELs. Moreover, 35% of all
LHS Punjabi-speaking students were English Learners, while non-Punjabi-speaking
ELs constituted 25% of the student population (AERIES Student Information System,
2009). Table 4 and Figure 12 contrast the CELDT proficiency levels that LHS
Punjabi-speaking EL students (compared to all other EL students attending LHS) have achieved as of October, 2009.
63 Table 3
CELDT Levels and Related English Language Skills and Abilities
CELDT level Related skills and abilities
Beginning Students understand simple phrases spoken in English. They begin to speak a few words to communicate basic needs. Early intermediate Students understand and respond to simple school tasks in English. They speak using phrases and short sentences. Intermediate Students speak, read and write in English on familiar topics. They retell simple stories, participate in school discussions, and speak using full sentences. Early advanced Students develop close to native-like proficiency in English. They participate in increasingly complex school tasks. Advanced Students speak, read, and write English in a manner that resembles a native English speaker. They participate fully in all school subjects. Note . From California Department of Education. (2010c) CELDT Initial/Annual Scale Score Ranges . Retrieved from http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/el/cutpoints.asp Copyright 2010 by California Department of Education. Adapted with permission.
64
Table 4
2009-2010 Overall CELDT Levels of LHS ELs
LHS Punjabi-speaking All other LHS EL CELDT level students (%) students (%) Advanced 2 3 Early advanced 32 37 Intermediate 32 46 Early intermediate 27 11 Beginning 7 2 Note. Compiled by Steve Charbonneau with information provided by the Merced Union High School District, 2009.
Punjabi ELs All Other ELs
50%
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0% Beginning Early Intermediate Early Advanced Advance Intermediate
Figure 12 . 2009-2010 Overall CELDT levels of LHS ELs. Created by Steve Charbonneau with information provided by the Merced Union High School District, 2009 with Microsoft’s Excel software, Microsoft (2009b).
65 Poverty Rates
According to the federal government, students within the American public education system who are in poverty are referred to as “socioeconomically disadvantaged” (Educational Data Partnership, 2009). The federal government defines socioeconomically disadvantaged students as those who are enrolled in the
Federal Free and Reduced School Meals Program (also known as the National School
Lunch Program or NSLP) (California Department of Education, 2010d). In order to qualify for NSLP , a child's family income must fall below
185% of the Federal Poverty Level (or $40,793 for a family of four in 2009) to qualify for reduced-cost meals, or below 130% of the Federal Poverty Level ($28,665 for a family of four in 2009) to qualify for free meals. (Kidsdata.org, 2009, para. 1)
The exact poverty rates amongst American public school children are unknown, as not all eligible children are enrolled in the program. MUHSD reports that at LHS,
87% of Punjabi-speaking students receive a free or reduced lunch, while 82% of all other LHS students receive a free or reduced lunch.
The strategic disaggregation of statistical data allowed the researcher to develop an academic profile of Punjabi-speaking students at LHS. Different sources of data were used to contrast the achievements of Sikh students with those of non-
Sikh students. The following sources of data were analyzed for this purpose: advanced and proficiency rates on the CST in English; advanced and proficiency rates on the CST in Geometry and Algebra II; percentage rates of students who are English
Learners (ELs) as determined by the administration of the CELDT; student performance levels on the CELDT; and poverty rates as determined by the percentage
66 of students enrolled in the Free or Reduced Price Meal Program at school. As reported in this chapter, a survey question designed to determine how many Punjabi students considered themselves practitioners of the Sikh religion was included in the student survey for this study. As a result of that question, it was determined that of the
54 Punjabi students who took the survey, 52 were Sikh (96%). The following is a summary of what was found as a result of examining the aforementioned sources of data.
First, Punjabi students earned about the same advanced and proficient rates in comparison to all other students (Grades 9-11) on the 2009 CST in English (43.5% and 40%, respectively). Second, Punjabi students earned significantly higher advanced and proficient rates than all other students on the Geometry (41% and 16%, respectively) and Algebra II (41% and 15%, respectively) sections of the CST. 2009
CELDT data revealed that 28% of the students enrolled at LHS are ELs, 35% of all
Punjabi-speaking students are ELs, and students speaking languages other than
Punjabi constitute 25% of ELs. 90% of Punjabi-speaking ELs are equally distributed at levels of early intermediate, intermediate, and early advanced, while all other ELs were found to predominantly occupy the intermediate proficiency level. Finally, 87% of Punjabi-speaking students and 82% of all other LHS students receive a free or reduced lunch.
Findings: Interviews
The participants involved in the student interviews were students attending
LHS. They were all of Punjabi-Indian descent and ranged from Grades 9 to 12. Three
67 males and three females were interviewed. All of the students had adequate English language ability to be interviewed in English and demonstrated the ability to comprehend all of the questions asked. All students were interviewed twice. The first set of interviews took place on Saturday, October 10, 2009 and the second set on
Saturday, November 14, 2009. As established, the interviews took place at the home of Sikh community member, Mohani Thiara. The following narrative is intended to provide a summary of participant information, which has been synthesized from interviews, anecdotal notes, and observations.
Participant One was a male student in the ninth grade who wore the type of turban commonly associated with young Sikh males. His turban, black in color, was tied to the head with a small, off-center knot that rested on the crown of his head. He also displayed the Kara, an iron or steel ring worn on the wrist of the right arm.
Participant One was born in India’s Punjab Region. He was soft-spoken and intimated that Punjabi was the language of choice for communicating with his parents, but that he speaks English with his sister. Participant One considered himself to be Sikh.
Participant Two was a male student in the twelfth grade. He was a gregarious and confident interviewee who wore a higher profile turban that was more cylindrical than the classic full-sized turban seen on most adult males. It was also black in color.
Participant Two explained that he has taken amrit, or has been fully baptized, and that he honored all of the Five Ks. Therefore, he is to be considered the most orthodox of all the students interviewed. He was born in the Punjab region of India. Punjabi is almost exclusively spoken in his home. He considers himself to be Sikh.
68 Participant Three, a male student in the twelfth grade, wore a black turban and the Kara like the other male participants. While higher in profile than the turban worn by Participant One, Participant Three’s turban did not have the volume of the turban worn by Participant Two. Confident and serious, Participant Three articulated that his parents were born in the Punjab region of India and that the Punjabi language is spoken in his home. Unlike other male participants however, Participant Three was born in the United States. He also considers himself to be Sikh.
Participant Four, a female student in the tenth grade, was born in the Punjab region of India and is a relative newcomer to the United States, having arrived just two years ago. Vibrant, talkative, and articulate, Participant Four explained that
Punjabi is the language almost exclusively spoken in her home. She had the good fortune of attending a private school in Punjab where she learned to speak Hindi and
English as well as Punjabi. She displayed the Kara and was attired in clothes typical of many mainstream American girls in the tenth grade. However, in the traditional
Sikh fashion, she had not cut her hair.
Participant Five was an eleventh grade female student who was born in the
United States. Tall, slender and contemporarily attired, she was the only female participant with cut and styled hair. Participant Five conducted herself in a mature manner. She displayed the Kara. Her parents were born in India, in the Punjab region.
She intimated that Punjabi was spoken in the home and that she considers herself to be Sikh.
Participant Six was in the tenth grade. She had long, braided hair that had never been cut. She had a calm and collected manner. She was born in the United
69 States. She wore casual, American-style clothes. Participant Six also wore colored contact lenses so that she would appear to have blue eyes. Unlike the other participants, she did not wear the Kara. Her parents were born in the Punjab region of
India. Participant Six articulated that she speaks Punjabi with her father and English with her mother and brother. Like all of the interviewees, she considers herself to be
Sikh.
The interviews were employed as a research method for this study because of their propensity to help researchers gain intimate and inside information regarding what is being studied (Kvale, 1996). The Sikh students interviewed for this study were all students attending LHS and representative of the sample involved in this study. After audio recorded interviews were transcribed to text, this researcher utilized HyperResearch software to code and analyze the interview data
(HyperReseach, 2009). HyperResearch was then used to generate a frequency report, aggregating the number of times a particular code was applied to segments of each of the transcribed interviews (Creswell, 2003).
It is important for researchers to establish the credibility of interviews. This can be accomplished by having members of the group being studied confirm results of the interview. This practice is referred to as a member check (Kvale, 1996). This researcher collaborated with two prominent Livingston Sikh community members for this purpose. In addition, the researcher can seek the assistance of an external auditor to review preliminary interview findings in order to ensure credibility. An external auditor is a peer or colleague outside the immediate context of the study (Byrne,
2001). This researcher turned to other researchers and scholars for this purpose. The
70 following pages outline the five most prominent themes that arose from dialogue analysis. While all of the themes documented here deserve significant attention, the themes are documented in order of those coded most frequently. The themes include the challenges of being unique, we are treated the same, parental influence, Sikhism’s direct influence, and how “Sikh” is Sikh?
Theme 1: The Challenges of Being Unique
The Five Ks serve to differentiate the outward appearances of Sikh students from their non-Sikh peers. As discussed in Chapter Two, the Five Ks are part of the mandated uniform of the Sikh, as ordered by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699. These symbols are the Kara (bracelet), Kanga (comb), Kirpan (sword), kaccha
(undergarments), and Kesh (uncut hair) (McLeod, 1995). The most immediately visible symbol of the Five Ks is Kesh, the Sikh practice of allowing one's hair to grow naturally without cutting or altering it. Kesh serves as a symbol of respect for the perfection of God's creation. As part of their commitment to Kesh, many Sikhs cover their heads in order to protect their hair. This practice is something especially important when inside a Gurdwara (Sikh temple). Males usually demonstrate their respect for this symbol by donning a turban. (Cole, 1990). Observing the practice of
Kesh is something that makes Sikh students visibly unique, and as Sikh students interviewed for this study perceive, it can also attract unwanted attention.
Participant One felt that his personal commitment to Kesh made him stand out, stating candidly that “because of my hair tied up into a bun… that makes me like different to all of them.” Participant Two had a similar point of view when he stated
71 that wearing a turban made him (and others) stand out in class. He went on to relate that looking different made him act differently, which became apparent during the interview when he related that the observance of Kesh “makes you not want to say anything… I would be afraid of saying something in class so no one will make a bad remark about me,” although the participant indicated that “bad remarks” were rare.
Nevertheless, the threat of negative remarks did leave a lasting impression, something
Participant Two hoped to avoid if at all possible.
Participant Three discussed how his commitment to Kesh led to awkward situations when he visited other school sites in different cities as a member of the
Livingston High School (LHS) varsity basketball team. It was evident to this participant that many people in cities outside of Livingston had little contact with
Sikh culture: “When we go up to other towns… like they say, there's a guy with a turban.” Whenever this type of reaction occurred, it made him feel alienated.
However, he did explain that this kind of event rarely happened at LHS.
According to the interviewees, honoring Kesh has also made participation in certain school activities problematic. Participant One detailed how keeping his hair uncut and protected by a turban had caused issues in his Physical Education (P.E.) class. For example, activities like swimming, which would leave student participants with wet hair, proved problematic. The participant intimated to the interviewer that his P.E. teacher declared swimming mandatory, and did not want to listen to any
“excuses.” Initially, he complied with the teacher’s request and participated in the swimming activities, but this led to physical discomfort, namely a headache from
72 having wet hair all day. Fortunately, Participant One found a sympathetic school administrator who was able to address the issue.
Participant Two, a varsity basketball player, stated that he most likely would not participate in wrestling (because of issues with shaving) or swimming (because he would have to remove his turban). However, he did say he would consider being involved in both swimming and wrestling if he could do so and honor his commitment to the Five Ks. Participant Three shared a similar story about issues with swimming and subsequent wet hair. Participant Six, a female, observed that
sometimes the teachers don't understand our needs. For example, when we were doing swimming…with my long hair, it's like hard to do swimming. It's like I have P.E. for first period and so my hair is wet all day long and it's like a drag and everything.
Upholding a commitment to Kesh requires leaving both head and body hair uncut (Barrow, 2005). For Sikh girls, this means unshaved armpits and unshaved legs.
Participants Two and Three, both males, felt that honoring Kesh was more challenging for girls than for boys, citing examples of soccer and swimming, for which participants would be required to wear shorts, thus drawing attention to their unshaved legs. Participant Six, a female, expressed that “maintaining the 5 K is possible at school, but in P.E. it is not… because they tell girls they have to shave and the (Sikh) girls can't.” By “they,” Participant Six explained that she was referring to her non-Sikh peers. According to all three of the Sikh female students interviewed, they have been the subject of ridicule by other female students for not shaving their armpits and legs. This made all of the girls interviewed reluctant to be involved in school athletics and also caused some degree of emotional distress.
73 The interviews also suggest that both male and female participants feel that
Sikh girls are subject to more parental control than their male counterparts, each echoing similar sentiments. Participant Four offered her insight that “ it's harder for
Sikh girls because definitely there are more rules for girls than for boys,” although, she continued, “at school it's kind of the same for boys and girls.” Another female participant contended that “our parents are more towards guys. They give them more freedom.” In stating that Sikh parents are “more towards guys,” she was indicating that they favor males. To illustrate this point, she contrasted her home life with the home life of her brother and stated, “if my brother went out, [my parents] would be like ‘oh yeah he's with his friends.’ With girls they're like more protective.” She went on, “sometimes I'm like, ‘why do you let him do that,’ but I understand.”
Theme 2: We Are Treated the Same
Each of the participants interviewed related that they had faced some sort of mistreatment or ridicule, indicating that most of the negative attention focused on the uniqueness of their appearance. Purportedly, these unkind acts were perpetrated by just a few individuals. While interviewees faced overt discrimination from a small number of people, the effects have been significant and long-lasting. Fortunately, the interview data indicated that all of the Sikh students interviewed felt that, overall, they were treated equitably at school. They felt that the vast majority of school personnel, as well as their non-Sikh peers, treat them with respect. In describing his experience interacting with teachers, Participant One related that “the teachers are all nice. They treat me the same as others.” Participant Three had a similar viewpoint,
74 stating that “Sikh students are treated the same as non-Sikh students. Yeah, the teachers just come and teach they don't go beyond the subject or anything.”
Participant One added, “Sometimes if I don't feel good I told [ sic ] my teacher, could I go to the nurse. She let me go without a question. If I need help on something [the teachers will] come and help me.”
Participant Four felt that the vast majority of school personnel were comfortable working with Sikh students and treated them equitably. To this she articulated, “yeah, 90% - 95% are comfortable with us,” adding,
for example, in the classroom, if the teacher is asking a question he doesn't look at you if you're Indian or not. He asks you the same questions, he treats you the same, he gives you the grades you deserve.
Participant Five did not share the optimism of the other interviewees. In contrast to other interviewees, Participant Five felt that “about 60% (of teachers) are comfortable with us,” contending that “some teachers are like racist.” When asked to provide an example of racism demonstrated by school staff, she related a situation which occurred with a school counselor in which the counselor scheduled several Christian students for a popular class, but refused to schedule her for the same class.
All six of the interviewees indicated that their closest friends were Sikh, although they reported predominantly cordial relations with their non-Sikh peers. On this topic, Participant One indicated that “everybody gets along together. I do like have two Christian friends and we get along good.” He further related that
“everybody is nice, comfortable… very supportive.” Participant Two had similar sentiments and stated that “non-Sikh students are comfortable with us because we grew up here… all of our lives.” Participant Three said of his experience with non-
75 Sikh peers, “…we grew up with these kids since elementary, we know everyone, and they know us.” In explaining that his non-Sikh peers are familiar and comfortable with him, Participant Three asserted that “everybody knows we're Sikhs and we do this and this.”
Participant Six provided an example to illustrate that non-Sikh students were comfortable interacting with Sikh students:
Like my best friend, she is Indian and we threw her a surprise party for her birthday last month. We had like all the Indian food and music and we invited some of our non-Indian friends and they seemed pretty comfortable. . . . They were dancing to the music and enjoying the food and everything.
Participant Six felt that, in general, her non-Sikh peers treated her equitably and stated that “they don't show any racism towards us… like they don't say ‘oh, you're
Sikh.’”
As previously stated, Sikh students felt that in honoring Kesh, certain school- related activities are difficult to engage in, but they also indicated that the school does offer a number of extra-curricular opportunities that they are able to be involved in and enjoy. Participant Three seemed happy about the fact that he could go on fieldtrips, participate in school dances, and be part of the basketball team. Participant
Four shared that she had been in FFA (Future Farmers of America) for two years, adding that she was also in the Key Club and the Environmental Club. She enjoyed her involvement in these extra-curricular activities and explained, “yeah, so it's really fun because you want to be involved in other things.”
76 Theme 3: Parental Influence
Another theme arising from the analysis of data was the influence of parents on the lives of the interviewees. According to the participants, their parents are instilling in them a desire to do well in school. For example, Participant One asserted,
“My parents tell me that, um, right now Indians are doing really good and that makes me like more confident so that I can do better in school.” In discussing the influence his parents have on his academic life, Participant Two expressed that “[my parents] like get me to want to have a better education, like they don't want you left behind.”
Participant Four shared that her parents want her to be a doctor, and that she wants them to be proud of her, and as a result, she concentrates as best she can on studying and being successful in school.
Participant Five stated, “Parents are always… like do the best that you can in everything and we do try our best.” She went on to state, “Like when you come home with grades… if you get As they say nothing, but get a B and they tell you they are very disappointed.” She finished her thoughts with the insight that their religion makes Indian parents very different. Participant Six echoed the sentiments of wanting to make her parents proud, stating, “I'm being raised in a Sikh family and I think like
I'm more expected to like get more good grades and stuff…”
According to interviewees, the influence of Sikh parents also extended into the students’ spiritual lives. For example, Participant Four stated that her parents have instilled in her the idea that she should live according to their religion. She went on to explain, “I respect my religion… it's just what I'm taught since I was little so yeah, I always want to respect my parents. I don't want something to happen to their
77 reputation because of me.” In discussing how her religion affects her everyday life,
Participant Six asserted that before she made decisions, she would ask herself what her parents would think: “I think about them and what they've taught me and everything, so I wouldn't make bad choices, ‘cause I wouldn't want to disappoint them and like what they've taught me and everything.”
Theme 4: Sikhism’s Direct Influence
Although the interviewees indicated that their parents influenced their spiritual lives, they also indicated that Sikhism is something they have, to some degree, personalized and internalized. Therefore, Sikhism has become an independent source of influence in its own right, although the degree to which this was true varied by participant. Participant One contended that Sikhism “ tells us to be honest, help others, and share. That's mainly our goal… to try to be nice and not to do a lot of put- downs at all.” He related how reflection upon his religion helps him consider his day- to-day activities, including attempts to get along with friends. Beyond reflection, he also reads and memorizes the Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh scriptures), “or when I am in the shower, I sing the scriptures.”
Participant Two felt that if he were not embracing Sikhism, he probably would not care so much about his grades. When discussing how the precepts he learned at the temple affect his school life, he offered that he thinks about showing respect and treating everyone equally at all times. Participant Five had a similar point of view, citing the examples of being truthful and honest. Participant Three felt strongly that his religion impacts what he does at school and contended that “it's
78 taught in our religion to study hard, to do honest work. You know you want to be good… being Sikh motivates you to do good in school.”
Theme 5: How “Sikh” Is Sikh?
All Sikhs are expected to make public commitments to their faith by going through a special baptism known as the Amrit Ceremony (Tatla, 1999). Once baptized, they become a part of the “Khalsa” (the community of baptized Sikhs). At that time, they are expected to adopt the five symbols known as the Five Ks
(McLeod, 1995, pg. 7-9). The students interviewed for this study represent different degrees of Sikh orthodoxy.
Participant One seemed apologetic when he explained that “[the Five Ks] are for people who've taken amrit and my dad actually drinks so I didn't take it… and that's why I actually don’t have them all… I have about three.” The participant was alluding to Sikhism’s prohibition on alcohol (Beckerlegge, 2000). While he displayed three of the Five Ks, he also demonstrated concern for a friend who bears none of the
Five Ks. To this he assessed, “I have a friend here… and his family is Punjabi, but he had his hair before, but then [he] cut it so now he's living differently…he's not involved in Punjabi stuff that much. He doesn't go to church.” This concern demonstrates his recognition and identification of the varying degrees of orthodoxy that exist within the Sikh community.
Participant Two was the only interviewee to profess he had taken amrit and to bear all of the Five Ks. When asked if he knew other LHS Sikh students who had taken amrit, Participant Two responded, “not in this area, in other areas there are.” To
79 his knowledge, he is the only LHS Sikh student to be displaying all of the Five Ks.
Participant Three, who wears three of the Five Ks, discussed the challenge of explaining the different levels of commitment to the Five Ks among Sikh students to their non-Sikh classmates. He articulated that “some Sikhs don't wear turbans, and in class they say how come he doesn't choose to wear the turban?” Participant Three answers his non-Sikh classmates by explaining that “his parents aren't into the religion like mine.” When asked if he plans to take amrit at some point in his life,
Participant Three said that he did plan to, as amrit is a requirement for a “true Sikh.”
In differentiating Sikhs who take amrit from those who do not, he went on to contend,
“People who don't take amrit, their religion is still Sikh, but they don't follow everything… to be a true Sikh you have to take amrit.”
Participant Four, a female participant who emigrated to the United Sates just two years ago, exemplified the opposing pressures of fitting into a new culture juxtaposed to upholding a commitment to one’s traditional culture and religion. She established that she is committed to a traditional Sikh lifestyle, confiding that “ when I came here and I was totally Punjabi style… other kids they have different thoughts, different opinions, and different ways of dressing.” She went on to detail, “It really affects you… like you think like you don't fit in. You're the only one and… like you have to fit in.” She concluded, “You might want to fit in, but you don't want to change your entire religion because like that's the first main thing for you.”
Participant Five, arguably the most Western in appearance of all the interviewees, discussed the schism that exists between more traditional Sikh students and those who are more assimilated. She explained, “We have a group of friends that
80 have our hair cut. We are more… I would say the modern type. There are other people that have friends that have all the Five Ks.” Participant Five continued, “They look at us like… you guys aren't wearing things… it's challenging.” She provided more details regarding the relationship between Sikh students who are more traditional and those who are more modern: “Some people… give more respect than to those who don't have their hair cut.” As to why her parents have not taken amrit,
Participant Five explained, “my parents they didn't take it… because that means that you're promising, and you can't break a promise and they don't want to accidentally break it, it's really serious.”
Participant Six is considering whether or not she will take amrit when she is older: “If I was living in India I think I would consider it, but living in America… I don't really think I'll take amrit.” When asked whether she would consider marrying someone who has taken amrit and displayed all of the Five Ks, Participant Six responded, “I think if you took amrit, you have to marry someone who also took amrit, so probably not.” As their final interviews were winding down, two of the six interviewees provided some insightful concluding thoughts.
Participant Four offered this advice to Sikh students:
Always follow your religion. You know some kids try to adapt to the environment…like the United States and some kids try to forget their religion…don't do that, ‘cause you know that's like your real homeland…you shouldn't forget that and try to adapt to another one.
Demonstrating the ambivalence of her life as a Sikh student adapting to
American society and yet still connected to her Sikh heritage, Participant Five offered this advice to her Sikh peers: “Don't take the pressure…when people tell you to do
81 this and do that, don't do it… like cutting the hair. If they like their hair just don't cut it.” This may seem ironic, as Participant Five has her hair cut in a contemporary
American style and appears to this researcher less traditional than the other five interviewees.
Summary of Interview Findings
As established, interviews with six individual Sikh students were conducted twice for the purpose of this study. HyperResearch software was then used to generate a frequency report, aggregating the number of times a particular code was applied to segments of each of the transcribed interviews (Seidman, 1998). An examination of the codes by the researcher gave rise to themes. The five most prominent themes, in order of those coded most frequently, were the challenges of being unique, we are treated the same, parental influence, Sikhism’s direct influence, and how “Sikh” is Sikh? By utilizing reflective dialogue and interview techniques, the researcher was able to provide a summary of the interview findings as they apply to the students interviewed for this study.
Sikh students perceive that there is great pressure, from inside as well as outside their community, involving the degrees of religious orthodoxy they adopt.
What is more, to differing degrees, Sikh students contend with their own desires to conform to mainstream American culture. Sikh students also feel pressure from their parents as well as the Sikh community to maintain their religious tradition. In addition, Sikh students tend to categorize themselves into two groups (those who are more orthodox and those who are more “modern”), and there is some subtle
82 disharmony between these two groups. Finally, while all Sikh students interviewed had encountered prejudice and negative stereotyping, they were positive about their school experiences and felt that they have been treated fairly by school personnel and their non-Sikh peers.
Findings: Student Surveys Series One Survey
The student survey utilized for this study included introductory questions designed to gain some demographic information. These questions helped determine that of the 54 Punjabi-speaking students volunteering to take the survey, 52 were
Sikh. Thus, 96% of students who took the survey were found to be Sikh. Of the 52
Sikh students surveyed, 40% were male and 60% were female. Survey participants indicated that the amount of time they lived in the United States was between one and
17 years. All of the Sikh students surveyed indicated Punjabi was spoken at home.
98% of Sikh students surveyed indicated that when they are ready for marriage, they plan on marrying a Sikh, and that they intend to practice their religion in a traditional orthodox manner. Table 5 illustrates results of Series One questions. Respondents documented responses via a 5-point Likert scale (Babbie, 2005, p. 174), giving answers that ranged from very often (VO), to often (O), sometimes (S), rarely (R), and almost never (AN). Questions One through Seven in this series were designed to correspond to the first research question: How does Sikhism impact the public school experience of Sikh students?
The following is a question-by-question analysis of Series One questions of the survey:
83 1. Question one, “My religion plays a role in how I perform academically
(grades, test scores)”: Those who chose “very often” or “often” were 40%.
Those who chose “rarely” and “almost never” were nearly 29%. However, the
remaining one-third of respondents (31%) chose “sometimes.” This indicates
a lack of consensus on the part of the group regarding this question.
2. Question two, “My religion influences my behavior in class”: 46% of those
surveyed opted for “rarely” and “almost never,” with 34.6% selecting “very
often” and “often.” As with question one, responses to question two do not
indicate a group consensus.
3. Question three, “My religion influences how I treat people who are not Sikh”:
Those who selected “rarely” and “almost never” were 52%. Nearly 35% of
respondents selected “very often” and “often.” Thus, respondents collectively
leaned towards a “rarely/almost never” opinion, indicating that more students
felt that their religion does not influence how they treat non-Sikhs.
4. Question four, “My religion influences how I interact with my teachers and
school staff”: Those who selected “rarely” and “almost never” were 61%, with
23% of respondents selecting “very often” or “often.” As with question three,
respondents collectively leaned towards a “rarely/almost never” opinion,
which indicates students mostly felt their religion had almost no bearing on
how they interact with school staff.
5. Question five, “My religion plays a role in how I observe school rules”: 50%
of students surveyed opted to choose “rarely” and “almost never,” with 25%
of them selecting “very often” and “often.” Thus, one-half of the students
84 indicated that their religion has little influence on the way they observe school
rules.
6. Question six, “My religion impacts the degree to which I am involved in
social activities at school (dances, field trips, etc.)”: Those who chose “rarely”
and “almost never” were 54%, with 29% selecting “very often” or “often.”
Therefore, more students felt their religion has little or no bearing on whether
they are involved in school activities or not.
7. Question seven, “My religion influences my involvement in school sports”:
60% of respondents chose “rarely” and “almost never.” 23% opted for “very
often” or “often.” This indicates most Sikh students mostly felt their religion
did not affect the degree to which they are involved in school sports.
85
Table 5
Series One Survey Results in Percentages
Question AN R S O VO
1. My religion plays a role in how 26.9 1.9 30.7 19.2 21.1 I perform academically (grades, test scores).
2. My religion influences my 23.0 23.0 19.2 17.3 17.3 behavior in class.
3. My religion influences how I 42.3 9.6 21.1 11.5 15.3 treat people who are not Sikh.
4. My religion influences how I 46.1 15.3 15.3 9.6 13.4 interact with my teachers and school staff.
5. My religion plays a role in how 42.3 7.6 25.0 15.3 9.6 I observe school rules.
6. My religion impacts the degree 32.6 21.1 17.3 17.3 11.5 to which I am involved in social activities at school (dances, field trips, etc.).
7. My religion influences my 42.3 17.3 17.3 9.6 13.4 involvement in school sports.
Note. VO is very often, O is often, S is sometimes, R is rarely, AN is almost never.
86 Summary of Series One Survey Results
The mixed responses to Series One survey Questions One and Two demonstrate an ambivalence of the group in considering whether their religion plays a role in their academic performances and behavior in class. In general, respondents leaned towards “rarely/almost never” in Questions Three through Seven. Their collective responses indicate that the Sikh students surveyed generally felt their religion did not have a major influence on the way they interacted with their peers and school staff or in school-related activities.
Series Two Survey
Respondents documented responses to questions via a 5-point Likert scale
(Babbie, 2005, p. 174), with responses ranging from strongly agree (SA), to agree
(A), not sure (NS), somewhat disagree (SD), and disagree (D). Questions One through Eight in this series relate directly to the second research question: How does the public school experience of Sikh students affect their religious practices? Table 6 illustrates the results from the second set of survey questions (Series Two).
The following is a question-by-question analysis of the results for Series Two questions of the survey:
1. Question one, “Being a Sikh student is more challenging than being a
Christian student at school”: Those who selected “strongly agree” and “agree”
were 40%. Nearly 33% chose “strongly disagree” and “disagree.” However,
27% of respondents opted for “not sure.” This indicates a lack of consensus
and on the part of the group regarding question one.
87 Table 6
Series Two Survey Results in Percentages
SD D NS A SA Question (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) 1. Being a Sikh student is more 19.2 13.4 26.9 28.8 11.5
challenging than being a Christian
student at school.
2. My classmates who are not Sikh seem 3.8 1.9 23.0 36.5 34.6
comfortable with me and my religious
beliefs.
3. Teachers and school staff seem 1.9 9.6 7.6 42.3 38.4
comfortable with me and my religious
beliefs.
4. Sikh students are able to wear any of the 7.6 11.5 30.7 21.1 28.8
5 K (Kesh, Kanga, Kara, etc.) they
choose to at school.
5. The school is able to communicate with 0 0 13.4 46.1 40.3
Punjabi-speaking students and their
families.
6. There is a teacher or staff member that I 1.9 9.6 15.3 36.5 36.5
can go to who understands the needs of
Sikh students.
88 SD D NS A SA Question (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) 7. Food served by the school serves my 5.7 7.6 42.3 28.8 15.3
religious needs.
8. Sikh students are treated the same as 11.5 9.6 23.0 30.7 25.0
non-Sikh students at school.
Note. SA is strongly agree, A is agree, NS is not sure, SD is somewhat disagree, and D is disagree.
89 2. Question two, “My classmates who are not Sikh seem comfortable with me
and my religious beliefs”: 71% of respondents opted for “strongly agree” and
“agree,” with 5.7% selecting “strongly disagree” and “disagree.” Therefore,
most of the Sikh students surveyed felt their non-Sikh classmates were
comfortable with their beliefs.
3. Question three, “Teachers and school staff seem comfortable with me and my
religious beliefs”: 81% of respondents chose “strongly agree” and “agree,”
with 11.5% selecting “strongly disagree” and “disagree.” This indicates that a
majority of the respondents felt that teachers and school staff were
comfortable with their beliefs.
4. Question four, “Sikh students are able to wear any of the 5 K (Kesh, Kanga,
Kara, etc.) they choose to at school”: Those who chose “strongly agree” and
“agree” were 50% with 19% selecting “strongly disagree” and “disagree.”
30% indicated they were “not sure.” While a greater percentage of
respondents indicated they felt Sikh students were generally free to wear the 5
K, one-third were “not sure” and the rest disagreed. This indicates a lack of
consensus regarding question four among the Sikh students surveyed.
5. Question five, “The school is able to communicate with Punjabi-speaking
students and their families”: 86% of the students selected “strongly agree” and
“agree,” with 0% selecting “strongly disagree” and “disagree.” Therefore,
most respondents felt the school was able to communicate with their Punjabi-
speaking constituents.
90 6. Question six, “There is a teacher or staff member that I can go to who
understands the needs of Sikh students”: 73% of respondents opted for
“strongly agree” and “agree,” with 11% selecting “strongly disagree” and
“disagree.” Therefore, most of the Sikh students surveyed felt there were
school personnel on staff who understand the needs of Sikh students.
7. Question seven, “Food served by the school serves my religious needs”: 44%
selected “strongly agree” and “agree” with 13% opting for “strongly disagree”
and “disagree.” However, 42% indicated they were “not sure.” This
demonstrates a lack of consensus regarding question seven among the Sikh
students surveyed.
8. Question eight, “Sikh students are treated the same as non-Sikh students at
school”: 56% of respondents chose “strongly agree” and “agree,” with 21%
selecting “strongly disagree” and “disagree.” This indicates that a majority of
the respondents felt that Sikh students are treated the same as non-Sikh
students at school.
Summary of Series Two Survey Results
Respondents leaned heavily towards a “strongly agree” and “agree” opinion for Questions Two, Three, Five, Six and Eight. These questions dealt with how comfortable non-Sikh classmates and school staff were with the religious beliefs of
Sikh students, how well the school communicates with Punjabi-speaking school families, if there were school staff who understand the needs of Sikh students, and if
Sikh students were treated the same as non-Sikh students at school. Mixed responses
91 to Questions One, Four, and Seven indicate a lack of group consensus regarding these questions. Question Seven, regarding whether food served by the cafeteria met the religious needs of Sikh students, earned the highest “not sure” rating of all Series
Two questions, with 42%.
As reported, Series One survey questions were designed to correspond to the first research question regarding how Sikhism influences the public school experience of Sikh students. The mixed responses to this series of survey questions indicated an ambivalence of the group in considering whether their religion plays a role in their academic performance or behavior in class. Initially, student interviews showed similar results, with interviewees appearing unsure of how to answer questions about how their religion affected their public school experience. It is the sense of this researcher that the complexity of these types of questions is better suited for a face-to- face interview where subtleties can be articulated and explanations offered. This issue will be further explored in Chapter Five. Nevertheless, an analysis of the results of
Series One survey questions did help the researcher make adjustments that would allow the second set of interviews to yield greater insight. For example, in exploring the apparent ambiguity of respondents to survey Questions One and Two of Series
One questions, this interviewer used related interviewer questions during the second interview two elicit more in-depth responses from interviewees. This was accomplished by encouraging interviewees to provide more concrete examples when explaining why or why not they felt their religion played a role in how they performed academically or to what extent their religion influenced their behavior in class.
92 Series Two survey questions related directly to the second research question regarding how the public school experience of Sikh students affects their religious practices. Sikh students surveyed generally reported that school staff and their non-
Sikh classmates were comfortable with their religion and that the school effectively communicates with Punjabi-speaking families. Respondents also indicated that there were school faculty and staff present at LHS who understand the needs of Sikh students. Those surveyed also felt that Sikh students were treated the same as non-
Sikh students at school. An aggregate “not sure” response of 42% regarding whether food served by the cafeteria met the religious needs of Sikh students was perhaps the most negative-leaning result of all the survey questions. By generalizing the survey results, the researcher is able to provide a summary of the survey findings as they apply to the students surveyed for this study.
First, mixed responses to Series One survey questions reveal that, as a group, those surveyed were unsure whether their religion had a major influence on the way they interacted with their peers or school staff, or degree to which they were involved in school-related activities. Second, in negotiating Series Two survey questions, respondents most often indicated that school staff and non-Sikh classmates were comfortable with their religious beliefs and that the school effectively communicates with Punjabi-speaking families.
Summary
Chapter Four was utilized to discuss the findings of this research, beginning with a summary of research methods and concluding with analyses and summaries of
93 the findings for each type of data collected (demographic and testing statistics, interviews, and surveys). Chapter Five will serve to reveal this researcher’s conclusions and recommendations.
CHAPTER V
DISCUSSION
Summary of Findings
The purpose of this study was to add to the existing body of literature that has been developed in order to help public educators gain critical insider information about the cultural minority groups they serve. This research involved an in-depth analysis of religion and, more specifically, how the Sikh religion influences the public education experience of Sikh students. This study was executed in an effort to examine the Sikh students of Merced County, specifically those who attend the
Merced Union High School District (MUHSD) at Livingston High School (LHS).
Therefore, the researcher’s conclusions will be followed by recommendations for
MUHSD and recommendations for future studies.
The first priority of this research is for its results to benefit MUHSD and the
Sikh students the district serves, although the researcher is confident that a broader application of this study can be useful to educators and researchers elsewhere.
Chapter Five will be initiated utilizing the findings in order to draw conclusions and implications. As established, the study modeled a multiple methods approach: a three- pronged qualitative approach involving the analysis of publicly available archival data, interviews, and surveys, conclusions for each of which will be provided in a systematic manner.
94 95
Statistical Data
A demographic-oriented question included in the student survey for this research enabled the researcher to establish that approximately 96% of LHS Punjabi students surveyed considered themselves to be Sikh. MUHSD does not categorize students by religion, so statistical data specifically related to Sikh students remains largely unavailable. An analysis of statistical data provided by MUHSD revealed that
Punjabi students outperformed their peers on the CST. In addition, Punjabi students earned significantly higher advanced/proficiency on the Geometry and Algebra II sections (approximately 25% higher on both tests). Punjabi students also demonstrated better performance on the CELDT than their peers.
The data regarding Punjabi students in this research is localized to Livingston
High School (LHS), where students of this culture constitute 13% of the student population. At LHS, Punjabi students not only outperformed all other ELs on the
CELDT, but they also outperformed all LHS students at large on the CST in English,
Geometry, and Algebra II. These statistics are surprising, given that Punjabi-speaking students experience significantly higher rates of poverty than their LHS peers. The literature strongly suggests that student subgroups of lower socioeconomic backgrounds demonstrate lower rates of academic achievement. (Williams, Kirst,
Haertel, Hakuta, & Perry, 2005; Lin & Harris, 2008). What is more, minority students experienced the greatest rates of poverty. Unfortunately, no research was found specifically addressing the academic achievement of socioeconomically disadvantaged Sikh students. However, Lin and Harris (2008) contrasted the rates of
96 poverty amongst African American, Latino, and White children. According to them, one of every three African American children and one of four Latino children lives in poverty. This is contrasted with the statistic that just one of seven White children live in poverty (Lin & Harris, 2008). Lin and Harris conclude that the problem is that in relative terms, poverty is disproportionately affecting children of color.
The term "achievement gap" is often defined as a disparity in educational achievement among groups of students as determined by formal assessments
(California Department of Education, 2010d). Differences between the scores of students with different backgrounds (ethnic, racial, gender, disability, and income) are evident on large-scale standardized tests proctored in public schools throughout the nation. The achievement gap is commonly manifested in the differences between the test scores of minority and low-income students and the test scores of their White and
Asian peers (California Department of Education, 2010d). Ho and Jackson (2001) discussed the trend of referring to Asian Americans as being America’s “model minority.” The phrase reflects a perception that Asian Americans tend to do well educationally and economically. This is a historical phrase, dating back to the 1960s when students of Chinese, Japanese and Korean backgrounds were noted for their academic achievement (Verma, 2004).
Richwine (2009) explained that in recent years East Indian students have become representative of the so-called “model minority.” In fact, East Indians in the
United States demonstrate a higher per household income than White families
(Richwine, 2009). While Punjabis are certainly East Indians, Mitra (2009) explained that on average, they are significantly poorer than other East Indians and possess a
97 lower social position amongst other East Indian groups and so do not exactly fit the model. Whether they do or not, there is a great deal of literature which rejects the
“model minority” label as an oversimplification and a stereotype (Brydolf, 2009; Ngo
& Lee, 2007; Ng, Lee & Pak, 2007). Generally, scholars refuting the model minority stereotype point to Asian-American subgroups that do not fit the standard model minority profile, as evidence the nomenclature is invalid.
For example, Brydolf (2009) stated that "contrary to stereotypes that cast
Asian Americans as model students of academic achievement, many Asian American students are struggling, failing, and dropping out of schools that ignore their needs.”
Ngo and Lee (2007) established that there are Asian subgroups that neither demonstrate high academic achievement nor represent a higher socioeconomic status.
Ng, Lee, and Pak (2007) discussed how the Asian-American subgroups who do not fit the model minority stereotype fail academically when they do not receive the educational support they need. Students associated with this study are representative of Livingston High School (LHS) Punjabi students with the highest poverty rates of all student subgroups at LHS. Nevertheless, these students demonstrated very high levels of academic achievement. If, as the literature indicates, poverty and lower student achievement go hand in hand, why do LHS Sikh students perform so much better than their peers, White and non-White alike?
Richwine (2009) asserted that one answer might be self-selection: “Someone willing to pull up roots and move halfway around the world will tend to be more ambitious and hardworking than the average person.” Another factor contributing to the academic success of Sikh students might be attributed to their culture. Here,
98 Richwine stated that “the success of Indian Americans is also often ascribed to the culture they bring with them, which places strong--some would even say obsessive-- emphasis on academic achievement.” Chawla (2001) corroborated the idea that Sikh-
Punjabi culture embraces, with passion, a strong desire to excel in school. Gibson
(1988) discussed how Punjabi Sikhs demonstrate the ability to adapt to the American education system and gain academic success, while maintaining much of their traditional culture.
Interviews
Five prominent themes arose from an analysis of interview data: the challenges of being unique, we are treated the same, parental influence, Sikhism’s direct influence, and how “Sikh” is Sikh? Prior to offering an analysis of the themes, it is important to note that the themes are both interconnected and interrelated.
Therefore, the analysis and conclusions offered here are not necessarily linear. This researcher will take the prerogative to link two or more themes together for the purposes of drawing conclusions whenever it makes sense.
Theme One, the challenge of being unique, illustrates how the religious practices of Sikh students differentiate them from their peers, and how this differentiation creates challenges for them. As discussed in Chapter Two, Khalsa
Sikhs, those most orthodox, do not cut, remove, or alter their hair. In addition, men who are baptized wear a turban (McLeod, 1995). This is connected to the commitment to Kesh, certainly the most demonstrative of all the Five Ks (Cole,
1990). As the interviewees detailed in Chapter Four, honoring Kesh has presented
99 social challenges for them, including unkind remarks from peers at school and awkward interactions with those unfamiliar with Sikhism. Fortunately, participants related that they had more good experiences than bad, in terms of being treated equitably and respectfully by staff and students at their school.
Another aspect of Sikh uniqueness that came to light in Chapter Four was the distinction between males and females. Both male and female interviewees asserted that being female is more challenging than being male in the Sikh community. For one, daughters are obligated to follow a stricter set of family rules, a sentiment that is substantiated by the literature. As discussed in Chapter Two, the original Sikh Gurus were forward-thinking regarding the social status of women, especially relative to their contemporaries, and Sikh scriptures do advocate for the equality of the sexes
(McLeod, 1995), but in practice Sikh women generally adopt traditional roles in a male-dominated society.
Jakobsh (2003) discussed the differences between the ideal of Sikh thought on the equality of the sexes on the one hand, and reality on the other. To this end, she proposed that Sikhism promotes a hypermasculine Sikh male of the Khalsa Order at the expense of the female role. In addition, Chawla (2001) indicated that parents relate differently with sons because within traditional Sikh culture sons are expected to care for their parents as they grow older. This researcher did not get a sense that female interviewees were embittered by their station in Sikh society as females. In fact, to a certain degree the female interviewees seemed to accept this fact as an aspect of their culture they were not empowered to change. It is also important to note that all female interviewees appeared to be well-adjusted, happy youths, although that
100 is not to say they were distinctly pleased with the prospect of having less freedom than their male counterparts.
As a result of the interviews, this researcher found that to differing degrees,
Sikh students contend with their own desires to conform to mainstream American culture. For girls, this includes thoughts of a relatively more empowered role for females. The Sikh students interviewed exist in a profound level of psychological and cultural ambivalence. For example, they very much seek to avoid drawing attention to themselves or being seen as different from non-Sikhs. Nevertheless, they also embrace their identity as Sikhs (to differing degrees) and see their uniqueness as a source of pride. Joshi (2001) explained that social identity theory offers insight into the duality of immigrant youth. According to the theory, the ethnic identity of immigrants, like the Sikh youth of this study, are developed based on input from the person’s own group, as well as by the culture of the majority. In addition, Verma
(2004) shed light on the “in-between-ness” and paradoxical existence Asian Indian immigrant youth can experience. Verma upheld that the “in-between space” the
Asian-Indian immigrant occupies represents a transnational hybridity where the world of linkages and connections comes alive and throws all those concerned into paroxysms of confusion and conflict” (p. 19).
To be clear, all of the interviewees embraced their cultural identity and seemed to relish their place within the Sikh society in Livingston. While all the students interviewed were concerned with being treated fairly and being accepted by society at large, they were by no means interested in being grafted into the majority culture. In fact, all of the interviewees explained that by their own personal choices,
101 their closest friends were Sikh. From the standpoint of this researcher, the participants very much appreciated being part of a unique enclave. They all made personal choices allowing themselves to maintain a certain distance from those who are non-
Sikh. This is not to say they were purposefully aloof or unattached from their non-
Sikh peers, but rather that they felt more comfortable maintaining their most intimate relationships with fellow Sikhs.
Two other themes arising from analysis of the interviews were found to be instrumental in helping Sikh students maintain aspects of their culture in the face of pressures to assimilate into the mainstream. Those themes are “parental influence” and “Sikhism’s direct influence.” Of course, these themes are instrumental in ensuring Sikh students maintain their uniqueness. Therefore, the interconnectivity of these themes to the first theme must be acknowledged. In particular, the influence of parents on the lives of the interviewees was noted to be profound.
Participants related that their parents instilled in them a desire to do well in school and expected them to establish high-earning professional careers after school.
This desire led to a strong work ethic and an expectation of excellence being ingrained in those interviewed. Furthermore, interviewees were clearly concerned with making their parents proud of their accomplishments. For their part, the interviewees’ parents taught their children to be good law-abiding American citizens, but not at the expense of the precepts of the Sikh religion. Gibson (1988) indicated that this phenomenon is not isolated to the Livingston Sikh: “Sikh parents encourage their children to become skilled in the ways of the dominant group. Just as explicitly they counsel their young to resist complete assimilation and maintain strong roots
102 within the Sikh community” (p. 24). Gibson’s findings are consistent with the findings of this study.
Joshi (2001) conducted research regarding ethnic identity and Asian Indians, including practitioners of the Sikh religion, finding that his participants were also strongly influenced by their parents. To this end Joshi states, “If nothing else, parents were the ‘why’ research participants ‘had to go’ to ethnoreligious celebrations” (p.
138). Gupta (2008) reported that East Indians, like Punjabis, view the family and the individual member of the family as completely integral and that they raise children in a manner that emphasizes close family bonds. Moreover, family members are expected to demonstrate selflessness in their contribution to the family unit’s greater good (Gupta, 2008). This was certainly corroborated by the results of this study. As reported in Chapter Four, interviewees established that their parents influenced them regarding the way they approached academics, their social lives, and the way they practiced their religion.
Participants reported religion as another influence on their lives. At the Sikh
Temple, each of the participants was taught the basic tenets of Sikhism. In fact, to differing degrees, all interviewees indicated a genuine desire to adopt Sikh practices.
Both Sikhism’s direct influence and parental influence can be characterized as external influences. However, students apparently internalized the ideas both Sikhism and their parents offered them. For example, Participant One related how Sikhism influenced the way he dealt with conflict with friends, and also explained that it was his own decision to read and memorize Sikh scriptures each morning and to sing them
103 (a typical practice performed by Sikhs to meditate on their scriptures) when he took showers.
Participant Two asserted that it was Sikhism’s direct influence on his life that inspired him to do well in school. Participant Three felt strongly that his religion influenced his actions at school. This brings to mind Gupta’s (2008) explanation that, unlike Westerners, East Indians (like Punjabis) are not concerned with separating their individual selves from their family units. Participant Six affirmed this in her statement:
Before I make choices I would think like… what would my parents think. I think about them and what they've taught me and everything, so I wouldn't make bad choices, ‘cause I wouldn't want to disappoint them and like what they've taught me and everything.
In Chapter Four, interviewees recounted being subjected to racism and prejudice. Experiences such as these, documented under Theme One, seemingly contradict Theme Two, which regards the concept of being treated equally. All of the participants indicated that the majority of their peers and school personnel treated them equitably, something five out of the six interviewees were explicit about, and while good experiences outweighed the negative ones, the negative experiences left lasting impressions. This researcher would like to reiterate and affirm that the participants have experienced racism and prejudice in Livingston, outside of
Livingston, and within their school. To make light of this would be egregious. Indeed, each one of the participants interviewed related that they had faced some sort of mistreatment or ridicule. They indicated that most of the negative attention focused on the uniqueness of their appearance.
104 However, this study would lack balance if a disproportionate amount of time was spent focusing on the prejudice and racism experienced by participants when they themselves reported they were treated equitably and respectfully at school and in the city of Livingston. When asked what percentage of Livingston High School
(LHS) non-Sikh students and staff they perceived are comfortable with them and their religious beliefs, five of six interviewees stated 90% or more. In contrast to other interviewees, Participant Five asserted that only about 60% of others were comfortable with the Sikh culture. What is more, in responding to the survey question
“Teachers and school staff seem comfortable with me and my religious beliefs,” 81% of respondents chose “strongly agree” and “agree,” indicating that a majority of the survey respondents felt that teachers and school staff were comfortable with their beliefs.
The final theme to be addressed in Chapter Five addresses the extent to which a Sikh exhibits orthodoxy. As reported, the uniqueness of Sikh students sets them apart from their peers. Indeed, Sikh students are part of a unique enclave, and therefore share a great deal in common with one another. Nevertheless, there are clear distinctions made within the Sikh community about different degrees of “Sikh-ness” being lived out by community members. Sikh students perceive that there is great pressure from inside and outside of their community regarding where they are situated on the spectrum of Sikh orthodoxy.
While Theme One revealed that the interviewees felt they received negative attention from some outside of the Sikh community for honoring one or more of the
Five Ks, Theme Five demonstrated that the interviewees feel pressure from within
105 their community and by their own conscience to take amrit (the sign of orthodoxy) and make a commitment to honoring all five of the sacred symbols. On the one hand, participants feel pressure from their non-Sikh peers and society in general to fit into mainstream American culture, but on the other hand, they desire to honor their faith.
As reported in Chapter Four, students tend to categorize themselves into two groups: those who are more orthodox and those who are more “modern,” and there is some disharmony between these groups.
Klein (2007) discussed what she describes as the difference between
“turbaned and non turbaned Sikhs” (p. 38). She established that according to Sikh scripture, a Sikh is not defined by family lineage or place in society, but by how carefully he or she observes the Five Ks. Those Sikh participants in Klein’s study describing themselves as less orthodox reported feeling judged and thought less of by turbaned Sikhs. In order to conduct this study, the researcher did a great deal of social networking with Sikh adults within Merced County to establish connections to the
Sikh community in Livingston. In the process, this researcher witnessed firsthand the division between more and less orthodox Sikh members of the Livingston Sikh community.
Two student interviewees represented two ends of the spectrum in terms of
Sikh orthodoxy. On one end, Participant Two was the only interviewee to profess he had taken amrit. On the other end, Participant Five sported a stylish modern haircut, visibly making herself representative of the culturally dualistic and ambiguous mind set of Sikh immigrant youth. Verma (2004) offered insight into the apparent contradiction, expressing the idea that East Indian immigrant children forge bicultural
106 identities, combining together elements of their own culture with the culture of the majority group.
Korzenny (1998) differentiated two terms that remain relevant to this discussion: acculturation and assimilation. Those from an immigrant group may gradually lose their original culture in favor of the “host” country’s culture, thus assimilating. Other “newcomers” may choose to adapt some aspects of the host culture but opt to preserve their original culture as well. In this way, they acculturate by adding a second culture to their behavioral repertoire (Korzenny, 1998).
Undoubtedly, all of the participants in this study have been influenced by American culture to varied extents. This Americanization involves aspects of assimilation and acculturation. It is difficult to determine why some immigrant youth undergo more acculturation or assimilation than others (Verma, 2004). However, it is critical that educators understand that immigrant youth endure challenges associated with deciding just how much they want to adapt and fit in with the host society (Klein,
2007).
Conducting qualitative research interviews allowed this researcher to gain intimate understanding of the central themes related to the lives of the participants, providing an opportunity to comprehend the meaning and implications of the interviewees’ experiences as immigrant youth (Kvale, 1996). In turn, the interviews proved valuable in revealing the story behind the participants’ experiences
(McNamara, 1999).
107 Survey
The student survey associated with this study was created in order to give the study more dimensionality and increase the validity of its findings. As revealed in
Chapter Three, the survey questions were organized into two series. Series one addressed Research Question One: “How does Sikhism impact the public school experience of Sikh students?” Series two of the survey questions addressed Research
Question Two: “How does the public school experience of Sikh students affect their religious practices?” As will be seen, the researcher concludes that the survey results substantiate the information gleaned from the interviews. In fact, conducting the interviews gave this researcher new insight into the Sikh student experience in
Livingston, California and a greater ability to draw conclusions regarding survey results.
Conducting qualitative research interviews allowed this researcher to gain intimate understanding of the central themes related to the lives of the participants.
This presented this researcher with the opportunity to comprehend the meaning of what the interviewees related about their experiences as immigrant youth (Kvale,
1996). In turn, the interviews proved valuable in revealing the story behind the participants’ experiences (McNamara, 1999). In the process, this researcher became more qualified to make educated assumptions and draw conclusions regarding survey results. With this in mind, assumptions and conclusions associated with the survey will commence with an examination of Series One survey questions.
Mixed responses to Series One survey questions indicate that, as a group, those surveyed seemed to be unsure as to whether their religion had a major influence
108 in the way they interacted with their peers, school staff, or to the degree they were involved in school related activities. As a reminder, in negotiating Question One of
Series One of the survey, “My religion plays a role in how I perform academically
(grades, test scores)”: Those who chose “very often” or “often” were 40%. Those who chose “rarely” and “almost never” were nearly 29%. The remaining one-third of respondents (31%) chose “sometimes.” The lack of consensus to this question is striking, given that the respondents are all members of the same unique enclave.
Question Two, “My religion influences my behavior in class”: 46% of those surveyed opted for “rarely” and “almost never,” with 34.6% selecting “very often” and “often.”
As with Question One, responses to Question Two did not indicate a group consensus. Question Five, “My religion plays a role in how I observe school rules”:
50% of students surveyed opted to choose “rarely” and “almost never,” with 25% of them selecting “very often” and “often.” With half of the students indicating that their religion has little influence on the way they observe school rules, one might conclude that the respondents are not fully engaged in their religion.
In general, respondents leaned towards “rarely/almost never” in Questions
Three through Seven. Had interviews not been conducted as part of this study, it might be concluded that the aggregate survey responses to series one questions reveal that the Sikh students surveyed generally felt their religion did not have a major influence in the way they interacted with their peers, school staff, and/or their involvement in school related activities. However, given this researcher’s experience at this stage of the study, the researcher feels qualified to draw conclusions regarding survey results.
109 In communicating, via the survey, how their faith affects their experience as students, the theme of “in-between-ness” and ambivalence apparent in the interviews was very much evident in responses to survey questions one, two and three. It is this researcher’s contention that in responding to these questions, respondents wrestled with whether or not they wanted to embrace their uniqueness. To acknowledge they are different from their peers may make them feel complicit in how some non-Sikhs view their uniqueness in an unkind light. On the other hand, they are beholden to their gurus and parents to accept their uniqueness and be proud of it.
Question One of Series Two, “Being a Sikh student is more challenging than being a Christian student at school”: Showed those who selected “strongly agree” and
“agree” were 40%. Nearly 33% chose “strongly disagree” and “disagree.” And 27% of respondents opted for “not sure.” In these results, the researcher, once more, sees the duplicity of Sikh immigrant youth manifested. As reported, in responding to those questions regarding how comfortable non-Sikh classmates and school staff were with the religious beliefs of Sikh students and how well the school communicates with
Punjabi-speaking school families, if there were school staff who understand the needs of Sikh students, as well as if Sikh students were treated the same as non-Sikh students at school, participants leaned heavily towards a “strongly agree” and “agree” opinion. This affirms that while Sikh students have reported experiencing poor treatment (purportedly having to do with displaying one of the Five Ks), in general they feel they are treated equitably by both school staff and their peers. Even more, respondents most often indicated that school staff and their non-Sikh classmates were
110 comfortable with their religious beliefs and that the school effectively communicates with Punjabi-speaking families.
Recommendations
This research was designed to have both local and global applications. While the research questions related to this study were general in nature, the findings of the study have produced information that Merced Union High School District (MUHSD) can use to better serve religious minority groups like the Sikhs. Prior to offering recommendations to the school district, the researcher is obliged to discuss some of the many effective practices, as indicated by the study, the school district has implemented making Livingston High School (LHS) a positive place for Sikh students to learn and develop academically.
First, the school has on-staff administrators, teachers, instructional aides, and other personnel who represent Punjabi and/or Sikh backgrounds, a fact that was not missed by participants involved in the study (both interviewees and those surveyed), which has subsequently helped to create meaningful connections between the Sikh students and the school. Second, according to participants, the school communicates effectively with Punjabi-speaking families, which has helped to integrate Sikh students’ families into the school community. This has further enriched the educational experience of Sikh students. Third, participants generally feel that the school is a safe place for Sikh students and that they are a part of the school culture.
These are significant accomplishments that should be celebrated by the school district.
111 The study also brought to light a number of issues the school district may want to consider, as these issues may become bigger problems in the future. The findings of this study lead the researcher to make the following recommendations:
• The school district should address some of the issues involved in Sikh
students honoring the 5 K. For example, Sikh girls face ridicule from their
peers for not shaving their armpits or legs, which in turn, affects their
involvement in sports and P.E.; and Sikh boys have been required to swim
in P.E., though turbaned.
• The school district should address the issues of whether food served by the
cafeteria is complementary to the religious needs of Sikh students (e.g.
vegetarian offerings).
• In order to prevent the marginalization of Sikh students, the school district
should consider increasing the cultural competency of all faculty and staff
(Sikh and non-Sikh) through meaningful professional development
opportunities.
• In order to increase goodwill between Sikh and non-Sikh students of LHS,
the school district should consider strategies for helping both Sikh and
non-Sikh students become more culturally competent.
• The school district should appreciate that there are differences among
those who are active in the local Sikh community, and that to some degree
a division exists between those who are more orthodox and traditional and
those who are more contemporary.
112 In order to provide specific examples of how the district might act on these recommendations, this researcher has collaborated with other scholars. To this end, on December 30, 2009, in a personal communication with this researcher, Kingdon suggested that the school could arrange field trips to one of the local Gurdwaras. In fact, this is something this researcher did while serving as an Advanced Placement
Geography teacher for MUHSD in 2006. After a tour of the Peach Street Gurdwara, this researcher discovered that he was the only high school teacher to have ever asked for a tour. The Gurdwara staff was very receptive about the visit and facilitated an educationally rewarding opportunity for students. Another suggestion involved instituting in-service days on Sikhism. Kingdon further recommends that the school district establish a formal liaison with the Sikh community and consider amending curricula standards to include the cultural and historical background of any student subgroups that represent a significant percentage of the school’s enrollment.
Modesto City Schools (MCS), a neighboring district, “requires that every
9th-grader in the district enroll in a semester-long world religions course” ( Lester &
Roberts, 2009). According to Lester and Roberts (2009), MCS is the only school district in the United States to mandate a world religions course for high school graduation. Purportedly, students at MCS learn about Buddhism, Christianity,
Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Sikhism. In explaining the merits of the course, Lester and Roberts articulated that, “Our surveys and interviews of over 350 students indicate that the course not only increased respect for religious liberty, but for basic
First Amendment rights in general“ (p. 197).
113 Kilman (2007) reported that research indicates MCS’ program increased students’ understanding of and respect for other religions. In research conduct by
Lester and Roberts (2009), 400 students, as well as school administrators, teachers, school board members, and leaders in the religious community, were interviewed. In part, the results of the study showed “ statistically significant increases in students' knowledge about other religions, and levels of passive tolerance—(and) willingness to refrain from discrimination - and active tolerance - willingness to act to counter discrimination” (p. 192). Furthermore, “students showed more support for basic First
Amendment rights for everyone. This included a willingness to take action when a fellow student was harassed for religious reasons and support for the rights of people with whom they disagreed” ( p. 190).
While it seems advisable that MUHSD consider what its neighbor, MCS, is accomplishing with its program, a program like this may not be completely transferable. In fact, this researcher consulted with one of the researchers involved in the MCS study, Dr. Patrick Roberts. In personal communication with Roberts on
December 30, 2009, he stated that Modesto’s solution was unique to Modesto.
Therefore, Roberts asserted that it would be impossible to tell if Modesto’s world religions course would suit every school district, although it might have lessons that could be adapted to the needs of other districts. The bottom line is that the MCS program may serve as something MUHSD can glean from in order to create a program tailored to its own unique needs.
114 Conclusions
This study serves to give a voice to Sikh students. In doing so, the study also serves as a challenge for public educators to become more culturally competent regarding the religions represented by the students they serve. Indeed, some student subgroups find their core cultural identity inseparable from the religion they practice.
Student subgroups whose backgrounds are distinctly non-Western can pose the greatest challenge for those in the public sector who are charged to serve them. For public educators, effectively meeting the educational needs of such subgroups hinges on leveraging knowledge about students’ beliefs and their religious practices (La
Brack, 1980). When that knowledge is missing, public educators are unable to effectively serve their constituents.
Without a doubt, effectively meeting the educational needs of students of unique religious minority backgrounds is challenging on a number of levels. It is an issue certainly complicated by politics. Khrais (2009) contended that in an effort to safeguard First Amendment rights and avoid legal pitfalls, American public educators tend to avoid the topic of religion. Purportedly, this is primarily due to the American commitment to the separation of church and state. In reference to this, Kilman (2007) stated,
For decades, educators have wrestled with how to handle the increasingly diverse religions of an increasingly diverse student body. Sometimes, the line between church and state—what schools can and cannot do under the Constitution—can feel confusing and slippery. (para. 2)
There is no disputing that the American public education system is an arm of the state
(United States Department of Education, 2009).
115 Fraught with insecurities about their role in protecting the First Amendment rights of students, “teachers have in essence thrown the good out with the bad by avoiding the topic of religion altogether in order to steer clear of inadvertently violating the First Amendment” (Khrais, 2009). Indeed, balancing the religious rights of all in a public education setting is a complicated affair (Daniel, 2007).
Nevertheless, those in public service could assuage their insecurities by gaining a greater understanding of the First Amendment and of precedent setting U.S. Supreme
Court decisions. One of the most influential U.S. Supreme Court decisions in this regard was made in 1971, in Lemon v. Kurtzman. The Court's decision in this case established the "Lemon test," which provides representatives of the state three benchmarks for avoiding the inhibition of rights provided to citizens under the First
Amendment: the government's action must have a secular legislative purpose; the government's action must not have the primary effect of either advancing or inhibiting religion; and the government's action must not result in an excessive government entanglement with religion (Zirkel, 2009).
As discussed in Chapter One of this study, legal issues involving religious minority groups in the American public education system often involve representatives of the state inhibiting religion. From the standpoint of those in public education, one of the major concerns is “to ensure that school policies don’t unduly interfere with students’ practice or expression of their beliefs” (McCarthy, 2009).
Those in public service must be concerned with both protecting students from religious indoctrination (Establishment Clause) and with allowing citizens to freely exercise their own religion (Free Exercise Clause) (Haynes & Thomas, 2007).
116 Beyond the political concerns surrounding the issues of religion in a public education setting, educators must consider their own level of cultural competency in meeting the academic needs of students of unique religious minority groups. To the average person, the concept of culture can seem esoteric, a term not easily defined. O'Neil
(2006) offered the definition of culture “The word culture has many different meanings… for anthropologists and other behavioral scientists, culture is the full range of learned human behavior patterns” (para. 1). While he offers an articulate definition of culture, O’Neil also concedes that culture is difficult to quantify, as it tends to exist at an unconscious level. Because culture cannot be defined in concrete terms, the path to cultural competency can seem like a journey without a road map. It is true that researchers can be of assistance to educators as they work to gain greater levels of cultural competency, but it is also true that issues of culture are challenging for even the most competent researcher.
The complexity of the subject of culture (and/or religion) necessitates a research approach that produces the greatest degree of validity and reliability. By having used statistical data to develop an academic profile of Sikh students at LHS as well as qualitative interviews and a student survey, a three-pronged research approach was accomplished. As a result, the study achieved a multidimensional analysis. In addition, in utilizing two or more research methods to study one thing, this study achieved triangulation (Livesey, 2009). Triangulating different types of data provides cross-data validity and may decrease vulnerabilities to error (Fonseca, 2008). By triangulating the data, this study corroborated, elaborated, and illuminated the
117 research in question (Fonseca, 2008). All this was done in an effort to help the school district increase its institutionalized cultural knowledge.
The best case scenario is that the research findings of this study are used by others in an effort to gain greater cultural proficiency. Institutionalized cultural knowledge can enhance an organization's ability to serve diverse populations, but the knowledge must be used in a meaningful way. In providing educators and others serving the public with research-based findings regarding the unique cultural groups they serve, researchers provide them with the opportunity to move towards cultural competency. In a personal communication with this researcher on December 30,
2009, Kingdon contended that if cultural competency is truly the goal, learning
“about” religious minority groups, like the Sikh, is far less important than understanding their religious world view. Researchers comprise the only group that possesses the academic prowess needed to investigate and illuminate the unique characteristics of non-Western cultural minority groups, so that their world view is truly understood. It is the hope of this researcher that other researchers will rise to the occasion and partner with educators in an effort to increase the cultural proficiency of all stakeholders for the purpose of improving the public education experience of those with unique cultural backgrounds.
Implications for Further Research
This study opened up possibilities for other inquiry and additional research.
Little in current literature focuses specifically on the academic achievement and educational experience of Sikh students. For that matter, studies are scarce regarding
118 the public education experiences of non-Western religious minority groups in the
United States. This is a grave concern for this researcher, as there are enclaves of people whose cultures are distinctly different from mainstream American culture, and it is imperative that these unique communities be supported in their efforts to transition into the American public education system. Skills needed to serve such groups are not acquired by educators in credentialing programs. Credentialing programs can and must do more to prepare educators to serve a diverse and multicultural student body. However, to be fair, it is impossible to prepare educators for the myriad of unique cultural groups they may have the opportunity to serve.
Therefore, researchers have an outstanding opportunity to come alongside educators and credentialing programs to provide them with the insider information they need in order to prepare to serve these unique groups effectively.
This present research was designed to give the Sikh students of Livingston
High School (LHS) a medium in which they could voice their experiences. This was done for the purpose of improving the educational experience of Sikh students at LHS and elsewhere, which is why the research focused specifically on Sikh students themselves. Another area of research that could be helpful in understanding how specific groups, like the Sikh, can be served more effectively would be one that specifically highlights the practices of educators who serve such groups. This could involve both interviewing and surveying teachers, administrators and staff. Being informed by their practices, as well as their experiences, could be very helpful to educators serving the same groups in different locations. To this end, much can be gleaned from the successes and even missteps of others.
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APPENDICES
137
APPENDIX A
PERMISSION LETTER TO WORK WITH MERCED
UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT
138
APPENDIX B
STUDENT INERVIEW QUESTIONS
Steve Charbonneau California State University, Stanislaus General Background Questions: 1. What grade are you in? 2. Were you born in the United States? 3. What languages are spoken in your home? 4. Do you consider yourself to be Sikh? Series 1 1. Does your religion play a role in how you perform academically (grades, test scores)? Follow-up: If yes; In what ways? If no; Why do you feel that is the case? 2. Does your religion influence how you behave in class and at school? Follow-up: Can you explain why/why not? 3. Does your religion impact how you interact with your non-Sikh peers? Follow-up: Can you provide some examples that illustrate how it has or has not? 4. Does your religion influence how you interact with your teachers and school staff? Follow-up: How would you explain (how or why not) this is the case?
139 5. Does your religion influence the degree to which you are involved in extracurricular activities at school (dances, sports, field trips, etc.)? If yes; In what ways? If no; Why do you feel that is the case? Series 2 1. Do you think being a Sikh student is more challenging than being a Christian student? Follow-up: Why do you feel this is the case? Can you provide some examples for your experience(s)? 2. Do you feel your fellow non-Sikh students are comfortable with you and your religious beliefs? Follow-up: Can you provide some examples that illustrate how (they are or are not)? 3. From your perspective, are teachers and school staff comfortable with you and your religious beliefs? Follow-up: Can you provide some examples that illustrate how (they are or are not)? 4. Do you find it possible to honor your commitment to the 5 K at school? If yes; In what ways? If no; Why do you feel that is the case? 5. Do you feel that Sikh students are treated the same as non-Sikh students at school? Follow-up: How would you explain (how or why not) this is the case?
140
APPENDIX C
STUDENT SURVEY
Steve Charbonneau California State University, Stanislaus General Background Questions:
1. I am male/female (circle one)
2. I am in the ____ grade (fill in the blank).
3. I have lived in the United States for ____ years (fill in the blank).
4. Languages spoken at home (select all that apply):
A. English B. Hindi C. Punjabi D. Other
5. I consider myself to be Sikh: yes/no (circle one).
6. When I am ready for marriage, I plan on marrying a Sikh: yes/no (circle one).
7. I try to practice my religion in a traditional/orthodox manner: yes/no (circle
one).
141 Series 1 Almost Some- Very Question Rarely Often never times often 1. My religion plays a role in how 1 2 3 4 5 hard I try at school (grades, test scores, etc.).
2. My religion influences my 1 2 3 4 5 behavior in class.
3. My religion influences how I 1 2 3 4 5 treat people who are not Sikh.
4. My religion influences how I 1 2 3 4 5 interact with my teachers and school staff.
5. My religion plays a role in how 1 2 3 4 5 I observe school rules.
6. My religion impacts the degree 1 2 3 4 5 to which I am involved in social activities at school (dances, field trips, etc.)
7. My religion influences my 1 2 3 4 5 involvement in school sports.
142 Series 2 Some-what Not Strongly Question Disagree Agree Disagree Sure Agree 1. Being a Sikh student is 1 2 3 4 5 more challenging than being a Christian student at school.
2. My classmates who are 1 2 3 4 5 not Sikh seem comfortable with me and my religious beliefs.
3. Teachers and school staff 1 2 3 4 5 seem comfortable with me and my religious beliefs.
4. Sikh students are able to 1 2 3 4 5 wear any of the 5 K (Kesh, Kanga, Kara, etc.) they choose to at school.
5. The school is able to 1 2 3 4 5 communicate with Punjabi-speaking students and their families.
6. There is a teacher or staff 1 2 3 4 5 member that I can go to who understands the needs of Sikh students.
7. Food served by the school 1 2 3 4 5 serves my religious needs.
8. Sikh students are treated 1 2 3 4 5 the same as non-Sikh students at school.
143
APPENDIX D
STUDENT SURVEY, PUNJABI VERSION
iv&idaArWI srvE - xrb~nIuU k~z inb*Y c>lIF~rnIa; stEt y
5. m>: aAdmI/aOrV h;. (ie&c uU&VE g~lA lgAo)
6. m>: ies clAs ____ iv&C h;. (kAlI W; n*< Br~)
7. m>: amrIcA iv&C ie*nE ____ sAlA V~: rih irhA h;. (kAlI W; n*< Br~)
8. Gr iv&C b~lIa; j;dIa; BASAv; (uUnH; sArIa; n*< CUN~ j~ VUhADE uU&VE lAg< hU*dIa; hn) :-
A. a*grEzI B. ih*dI C. p*zAbI D. c~eI h~r
9. m>: aApNE aAp n*< is&k m*ndA h; : h;/n;h (ie&c uU&VE g~lA lgAo)
10. jd~: m>: ivaAh leI iVaAr h~vAgA V; m>: s~CdA h; ic m>: is&k nAl ivaAh crAgA : h;/n;h
(ie&c uU&VE g~lA lgAo)
11. m>: aApNE Yrm n*< pr*prAgV VrIcE nAl aVE c&tRVA nAl inBAvAgA : h;/n;h (ie&c uU&VE
g~lA lgAo)
144 SqENI 1 lgpg bhUV aAm VOr bhUV pqSn cdE vI cdE-cdE G&t uU&VE izaAdA nhI:
1. m>: sc
2. m>: clAs iv&C ijs VrH; dA ivvhAr crdA h; uUs uU&pr mErA 1 2 3 4 5 Yrm pqBAv pAuU:dA h>.
3. jd~: m>: aijhA l~cA nAl imldA- vrVdA h; j~ is&k nhI: hn uUs 1 2 3 4 5 uU&pr mErA Yrm pqBAv pAuU:dA h>.
4. m>: aApNE aiYaApcA aVE stAF nAl ijs VrHA dA vI ivvhAr crdA h; uUs uU&pr mErA Yrm pqBAv 1 2 3 4 5 pAuU:dA h>.
5. m>: sc
6. sc
7. sc
145 SqENI 2 ycInI VOr uU&VE W~RHE ijhE p 1. sc 2. mErI clAs dE iv&idaArWI j~ is&k nhI: hn uUh mErE is&k h~N aVE mErE YArimc ivCArA dE nAl aArAmdAiec 1 2 3 4 5 hn. 3. aiYaApc aVE stAF vI mErE is&k h~N aVE mErE YArimc ivCArA dE 1 2 3 4 5 nAl aArAmdAiec j; TIc hn. 4. is&K iv&idaArWI p*zA c&ica; izvE: ic c*gA, cEs, cRA aAid iv&C~: j~ vI uUh ps*d crE sc 5. sc 6. ie&WE ieh~ ijhA c~eI aiYaApc j; stAF m>:br h> j~ ic is&k iv&idaArWI dIa; zr 7. sc 8. is&k iv&idaArWIa; dE nAl vI uUh~~ ijhA hI ivvhAr cIVA j;dA h> ijh~ ijhA ic uUnH; iv&idaArWIa; dE 1 2 3 4 5 nAl cIVA j;dA h> j~ ic is&k nhI: hn. 146 APPENDIX E PERMISSION TO USE INTERVIEW SPACE 9/2009 To: California State University, Stanislaus Officials From: Mohani Thiara (209) 648-9884 Reference: Steve Charbonneau’s Dissertation Research To whom it may concern, I am a member of the Sikh community located in Livingston, and I am interested in assisting CSUS doctoral student, Steve Charbonneau, in conducting qualitative interviews with Sikh students of Livingston High School. I have offered to allow Steve to conduct the interviews at my home. Steve is committed to obtaining expressed written permission from the parent or guardian of each of the six student he intends to interview. He has informed me that he will interview only students who willingly volunteer to be part of the study. I understand there will be two different interview sessions (with the same students in both sessions) and that the interviews will take place within approximately four weeks of each other. Finally, when it is time for publishing his research, Steve will change the names of the students he interviews in order to protect their anonymity. I am a mother of three and am very active in the Sikh community here in Livingston, CA. I am a fluent Punjabi speaker and am well connected to Sikh parents in the community. I fully support Steve and his research. I am confident that he will conduct himself ethically and that he cares deeply for the safety and privacy of Sikh students. Please contact me should you have any questions. Sincerely, Mohani Thiara 147 APPENDIX F STUDENT INTERVIEW CONSENT FORM Steve Charbonneau California State University, Stanislaus Dear Participant and Parent/Guardian of Participant: You are being asked to participate in a research project that is being done to fulfill requirements for a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership at CSU Stanislaus. We hope to learn to what degree your religious beliefs may or may not affect your public school experience. If you decide to volunteer, you will be asked to be interviewed by doctoral student, Steve Charbonneau. The interview will last approximately thirty minutes and will involve answering 14 questions. A follow-up interview would occur within thirty days of the initial interview, which would involve responding to the same questions. A total of six students will be interviewed for this study. There are no risks to you for your participation in this study.The information collected will be protected from all inappropriate disclosure under the law. All data will be maintained for a period of two years and will be discarded/destroyed two years from the date of your second interview. The names of students interviewed for this study will be changed in order to protect their anonymity. There is no cost to you beyond the time and effort required to complete the interviews described above. Your participation is voluntary. Refusal to participate in this study will involve no penalty whatsoever. You may withdraw from the interview at any time without any penalty. Should you experience discomfort as a result of the interviews, please contact the Livingston High School Counseling Department at (209) 394-7961 and/or Sikh community member, Mohani Thiara, at (209) 394-3903 for counseling and assistance. You will be given a copy of this consent form to keep for your own reference . If you have any questions about this research project please contact me, Steve Charbonneau, at (209) 345-6761 or my faculty sponsor, Professor Vega de Jesus at (209) 667-3397. If you have any questions regarding your rights and participation as a research subject, please contact Lauren Gee, Campus Compliance, California State University, Stanislaus at (209) 667-3747. Sincerely, Steve Charbonneau Ed.D. Student California State University, Stanislaus 148 I have read the above form and, with the understanding that I can withdraw at any time and for whatever reason, I consent to participate in the interview. I have been offered a copy of this consent form that I may keep for my own reference. Participant Signature: ______ Date: ______ Parent/Guardian Signature: ______ Date: ______ 149 APPENDIX G STUDENT INTERVIEW CONSENT FORM, PUNJABI VERSION stIv xrb~nIuU k~z inb*Y , iv&idaArWI ie*trivuU: —rzAm*dI j; sihsihmVImVI fArm c>lIF~rnIa; stEt y aAp jI dA aAigaAcArI , stIv xrb~nIuU eIDI . DI . iv&idaArWI c>lIF~rnIa; stEt y 150 m>: uUpr~cV fArm piRHa; h>, m>: ieh smJdA h; ic m>: icsE vI smE: aVE icsE vI cArn crcE ies V~: ip&xE h&t scdA h;, m>: ies ie*trivuU: iv&C ih&sA l>N vAsVE aApNI sihmVI id*dA h;. m>:n*< ies srvE FArm dI cApI vI id&VI geI h> V; j~ m>: ies n*< aApNE hvAlE leI (sb 151 APPENDIX H STUDENT SURVEY CONSENT FORM Steve Charbonneau California State University, Stanislaus Dear Participant and Parent/Guardian of Participant: You are being asked to participate in a research project that is being done to fulfill requirements for a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership at CSU Stanislaus. We hope to learn to what degree your religious beliefs may or may not affect your public school experience. If you decide to volunteer, you will be asked to take part in a survey created by doctoral student, Steve Charbonneau. The survey should take approximately fifteen minutes and will involve answering 22 questions. There are no risks to you for your participation in this study.The information collected will be protected from all inappropriate disclosure under the law. All data will be maintained for a period of two years and will be discarded/destroyed two years from the date you take the survey. As you will not be disclosing your name in the process taking the survey, your anonymity will be protected. There is no cost to you beyond the time and effort required to take the survey described above. Your participation is voluntary. Refusal to participate in this study will involve no penalty whatsoever. You may withdraw from taking the survey at any time without any penalty. Should you experience discomfort as a result of taking the survey, please contact the Livingston High School Counseling Department at (209) 394-7961 and/or Sikh community member, Mohani Thiara, at (209) 394-3903 for counseling and assistance. You will be given a copy of this consent form to keep for your own reference . If you have any questions about this research project please contact me, Steve Charbonneau, at (209) 345-6761 or my faculty sponsor, Professor Vega de Jesus at (209) 667-3397. If you have any questions regarding your rights and participation as a research subject, please contact Lauren Gee, Campus Compliance, California State University, Stanislaus at (209) 667-3747. Sincerely, Steve Charbonneau Ed.D. Student California State University, Stanislaus I have read the above form and, with the understanding that I can withdraw at any time and for whatever reason, I consent to taking the survey. I have been offered a copy of this consent form that I may keep for my own reference. Participant Signature: ______ Date: ______ Parent/Guardian Signature: ______ Date: ______ 152 APPENDIX I STUDENT SURVEY CONSENT FORM, PUNJABI VERSION stIv xrb~nIuU k~z inb*Y , iv&idaArWI srvE—rzAm*dI j; sihmVI fArm c>lIF~rnIa; stEt y 153 jEcr VsI: ies is&ika; leI ie*trivuU: vI dENA CAhU*d E h~ V; icqpA crcE ies bA&cs iv&C C>&c dA inSAn lgAo : ih&sAcArI dE dsKV : ______ VrIc : ______ mAVA-ipVA/gArDIan dE dsKV : ______ VrIc : ______ ies k~z-inb*Y dA a*grEzI BASA V~: p*jAbI BASA iv&C anUvAd hriv*dr cOr c*dO:lA dUaArA cIVA iga; h>. 154 APPENDIX J COUNSELING SERVICES FOR PARTICIPANTS Steve Charbonneau California State University, Stanislaus What if being involved in the study results in discomfort? Dear Prospective Participant/Guardian of Prospective Participant: It is important that all who participate in the study (conducted by Steve Charbonneau, CSU Stanislaus doctoral student) understand that your participation is completely voluntary. There are no risks to you for your participation in this study and refusal to participate in the study will involve no penalty whatsoever. Beyond this, you may withdraw from the study at any time without any penalty. Should you experience discomfort as a result of your involvement in the study, please contact the Livingston High School Counseling Department at (209) 394-7961 and/or Sikh community member, Mohani Thiara at (209) 394-3903 for counseling and assistance. If you have any questions about this research project please contact me, Steve Charbonneau, at (209) 345-6761 or my faculty sponsor, Professor Vega de Jesus at (209) 667-3397. If you have any questions regarding your rights and participation as a research subject, please contact Lauren Gee, Campus Compliance, California State University, Stanislaus at (209) 667-3747. Sincerely, Steve Charbonneau Ed.D. Student California State University, Stanislaus 155 APPENDIX K COUNSELING SERVICES FOR PARTICIPANTS, PUNJABI VERSION stIv xrb~nIuU k~z inb*Y , ih&sAcArIa; leI slAhcArI sEvAv; c>lIF~rnIa; stEt y N vAsVE liv*gstn hAeI scN vAsVE liv*gstn hAeI scN vAsVE liv*gstn hAeI sc