A Study of Four Secondary Social Studies Teachers in New York City Urban Newcomer Scho

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A Study of Four Secondary Social Studies Teachers in New York City Urban Newcomer Scho Pedagogy for Latino/a Newcomer Students: A Study of Four Secondary Social Studies Teachers in New York City Urban Newcomer Schools Ashley M. Taylor Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the Executive Committee of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2013 © 2013 Ashley M. Taylor All rights reserved ABSTRACT Pedagogy for Latino/a Newcomer Students: A Study of Four Secondary Social Studies Teachers in New York City Urban Newcomer Schools Ashley M. Taylor This dissertation study examined how teachers in four newcomer schools conceptualized and implemented social studies education for newcomer Latino/a youth. I designed this multi- site, collective case study to examine the perspectives and decision making of four social studies teachers’ enacted pedagogy for Latino/a newcomer students. I documented how social studies teachers (U.S. History and Global History) were teaching Latino/a newcomer youth within urban newcomer high schools through the research question: how do four secondary teachers conceptualize and implement social studies education for newcomer Latino/a youth? As evidenced in their culturally and linguistically relevant pedagogy, teachers in this study provided constant support, encouragement, and opportunity for Latino/a newcomer students to succeed academically, and encouraged active civic engagement by using students’ cultural, linguistic, and civic knowledge and experiences as central to their pedagogy. I analyzed the findings within and across four case studies to develop an emerging grounded theory of culturally and linguistically relevant citizenship education. This developing grounded theory analyzed the intersections of culturally relevant pedagogy, linguistically responsive teaching, and active and engaged citizenship. These intersections and cross-case analysis of the four teachers’ social studies pedagogy for newcomer Latino/a students developed five principles of culturally and linguistically relevant citizenship education. These principles included: pedagogy of community, pedagogy of success, pedagogy of making cross-cultural connections, pedagogy of building a language of social studies, and pedagogy of community- based, participatory citizenship. This study has the potential to add to and expand on the discourse regarding social studies pedagogy for culturally and linguistically diverse students (Ladson-Billings, 1995b; Lucas & Villegas, 2011), newcomer schools (Short & Boyson, 2000), English Language Learners (Cruz & Thornton, 2009), and citizenship education for newcomer youth (Salinas, 2006). Possibilities for future research might include examining how Latino/a immigrant students’ cultural and linguistic experiences influence their perceptions of social studies and how they conceptualize citizenship. Furthermore, additional research might also explore how the findings in this study may be used to develop a more culturally and linguistically responsive teacher education program, create professional development opportunities for in-service teachers, and examine how elementary teachers and teachers in rural/suburban contexts conceptualize their social studies pedagogy for immigrant youth. TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................ i LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... ix DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................... xi I. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY .....................................................................................................1 Statement of the Problem ...........................................................................................................1 Research Questions ....................................................................................................................4 Theoretical Framework ..............................................................................................................4 Culturally Relevant Pedagogy .............................................................................................6 Conceptualizing Cultural and Identity ...................................................................10 Linguistically Responsive Teaching ..................................................................................11 Active and Engaged Citizenship ........................................................................................17 Culturally and Linguistically Relevant Citizenship Education ..........................................22 Significance of the Study .........................................................................................................23 Chapter Summary ....................................................................................................................25 II. LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................................27 Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices for Teaching Newcomer Youth in the Social Studies ..........28 Cross/cultural Learning/discussion ....................................................................................28 English Language Acquisition/literacy ..............................................................................31 Immigrant Students’ Perceptions, Understandings, and Experiences in Social Studies ..........35 Cultural Contexts and Understanding History ...................................................................35 i Civic and Political Participation and Conceptualizing Citizenship ...................................37 Contextual Influences on Newcomers’ Adaptation and Achievement in School ....................39 Brief History of Latino Immigration to the United States .................................................40 Teacher Practice and Pedagogy .........................................................................................42 Community Network and Membership .............................................................................43 Family Capital and Parental Impact ...................................................................................44 Chapter Summary ....................................................................................................................47 III. METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................................48 Research Context .....................................................................................................................50 Case Selection ....................................................................................................................50 School Context and Participants ........................................................................................51 Mission Valley International High School and Ms. Linda Sanford .......................52 Empire International High School and Mr. Jeremy Sharp .....................................53 Pacific International High School and Mr. Rafael Burgos ....................................54 Newbridge International High School and Mr. Colin Garrett ...............................55 Data Collection ..................................................................................................................56 Observations ..........................................................................................................56 Interviews ...............................................................................................................58 Artifact collection ..................................................................................................60 Data Analysis ...........................................................................................................................61 Phase One: Organizing and Immersion of the Data ...........................................................61 Phase Two: Coding the Data and Memo Writing ..............................................................62 Phase Three: Theoretical Sorting, Diagramming, and Integrating ...................................65 ii Phase Four: Reconstructing Theory ...................................................................................66 Positionality of the Researcher ................................................................................................67 IRB/Human Subject Clearance ................................................................................................74 Limitations of the Study...........................................................................................................75 Chapter Summary ....................................................................................................................77 IV. FINDINGS ...............................................................................................................................78 Case 1: Ms. Linda Sanford and Mission Valley International High School ............................80 Teacher Background ..........................................................................................................80
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