A Dissertation Entitled Descriptive Cases of Gifted Indian American
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A Dissertation entitled Descriptive Cases of Gifted Indian American Students and their Families By Karen J. Micko Submitted to the Graduate Faculty as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Curriculum and Instruction ______________________________________________________ Dr. Leigh Chiarelott, Committee Co-Chair ______________________________________________________ Dr. Jane Piirto, Committee Co-Chair ______________________________________________________ Dr. Marcella Kehus, Committee Member ______________________________________________________ Dr. Lynne Hamer, Committee Member ______________________________________________________ Dr. Patricia R. Komuniecki, Dean College of Graduate Studies The University of Toledo December 2015 Copyright 2015, Karen Janish Micko This document is copyrighted material. Under copyright law, no parts of this document may be reproduced without the expressed permission of the author. ii An Abstract of Descriptive Cases of Gifted Indian American Students and their Families by Karen J. Micko Submitted to the Graduate Faculty as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Curriculum and Instruction The University of Toledo December 2015 There is a sparsity of research focusing on the experiences of Asian-Indian American students. This study describes how gifted Indian American students and their families perceived factors contributing to the students’ academic success. Specifically, this study used a qualitative case study design to describe the perceptions of four families, each representing one case. The data collection of two open-ended interviews with both students and parents, observations during school, and student-selected artifacts was utilized to establish an in-depth understanding of their perspectives concerning the factors of home, school, culture and self. After analyzing the cases collectively, the following themes emerged: the academic home climate, parents push—but in a good way, plan for the future, the gifted label, participants’ schools in the United States, teachers matter, values of Indian culture, challenges of living in the United States, model minority stereotype, parents’ educational backgrounds, competition, motivation, and mindset: intelligence is a product of work ethic. Results indicated that the families believed a confluence of these factors contributed to the students’ academic success. iii This study is dedicated to the late Dr. Larry Coleman who acted as teacher, role-model, and guide in seeking out the voices of gifted students. iv Acknowledgements Heartfelt thanks cannot begin to express the gratitude I have for the following people and many more who have helped me achieve this paramount goal of attaining my doctoral degree. Thank you to my parents who instilled a love for education and the continuous support they gave throughout the entire process; to my siblings and friends who listened, cheered, commiserated, and encouraged me for the past years. You insisted upon perseverance when I began to question the journey. I owe tremendous thanks to my two chairpersons, Dr. Chiarelott and Dr. Piirto, who guided my path through academia, taught me invaluable lessons, spent countless hours assisting me in a multitude of ways, and inspired me through their own examples. I am eternally thankful to the two of you. To my other committee members, Dr. Hamer and Dr. Kehus, I truly appreciate the time and suggestions you provided to guide me to a professional study. To my husband and three children who made sacrafices over the past years to allow me to work on my studies; I am in awe by your continued love, support, and encouragement. I could never have completed this without you. Finally, this study could not have been possible without the four families involved. I am grateful for their time, insights, and engagement with this project to shed light on the experiences of Indian Americans. v Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................ iii Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. vi List of Figures .................................................................................................................. xii I. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 A. History of Intelligence Testing ............................................................................ 2 B. Mindset Theory of Intelligence ............................................................................ 7 C. South Asian Views of Intelligence ...................................................................... 8 D. Gifted and Talented Education ............................................................................ 9 E. This Study’s Definition ........................................................................................ 12 F. Statement of the Problem ..................................................................................... 12 G. Research Questions .............................................................................................. 13 H. Purpose of the Study ............................................................................................ 14 II. Literature Review ....................................................................................................... 16 A. Models of Giftedness and Talent ......................................................................... 16 B. The Gifted Label .................................................................................................. 20 C. Family Systems Theory ........................................................................................ 23 D. Parenting the Gifted and Talented ....................................................................... 24 E. Parenting Styles ................................................................................................ 26 F. International Studies ............................................................................................ 27 G. Immigrant Parents ................................................................................................ 28 H. Asian Indian Immigrants...................................................................................... 30 vi H. The Model Minority Stereotype........................................................................... 33 a. Stereotype Threat ........................................................................................... 33 I. Motivation ............................................................................................................ 34 J. Competition.......................................................................................................... 35 K. Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 36 III. Research Design and Methodology .......................................................................... 38 A. Qualitative Research ............................................................................................ 38 B. Research Design................................................................................................... 39 a. Case Study ..................................................................................................... 40 b. Researcher as instrument ............................................................................... 41 C. Participant and Site Selection .............................................................................. 42 D. Data Collection .................................................................................................... 44 a. Interviews ....................................................................................................... 44 b. Artifacts.......................................................................................................... 47 c. Participant observations ................................................................................ 47 E. Data Analysis ....................................................................................................... 48 F. Validity ................................................................................................................ 51 G. Ethics .................................................................................................................. 55 H. Limitations ........................................................................................................... 57 I. Conclusions .......................................................................................................... 59 IV. Data .......................................................................................................................... 60 A. Case One: Yagalla Family ................................................................................... 61 a. Mr. Yagalla .................................................................................................... 62 vii b. Suren ............................................................................................................ 70 c. Suren’s School ..............................................................................................