Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Early Childhood and Elementary Education Early Childhood and Elementary Education Dissertations Department 2-12-2008 Keep Your Eyes on Ms. Clark: Two Mexican Immigrant Children Make the Transition to Kindergarten Mark B. Cobb Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/ece_diss Recommended Citation Cobb, Mark B., "Keep Your Eyes on Ms. Clark: Two Mexican Immigrant Children Make the Transition to Kindergarten." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2008. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/ece_diss/4 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Early Childhood and Elementary Education Department at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Early Childhood and Elementary Education Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ACCEPTANCE This dissertation, KEEP YOUR EYES ON MS. CLARK: TWO MEXICAN IMMIGRANT CHILDREN MAKE THE TRANSITION TO KINDERGARTEN, by MARK B. COBB, was prepared under the direction of the candidate’s Dissertation Advisory Committee. It is accepted by the committee members in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Education, Georgia State University. The Dissertation Advisory Committee and the student’s Department Chair, as representatives of the faculty, certify that this dissertation has met all standards of excellence and scholarship as determined by the faculty. The Dean of the College of Education concurs. __________________________ __________________________ Ramona W. Matthews, Ph.D. Julie Rainer-Dangel, Ph.D. Committee Chair Committee Member __________________________ __________________________ Barbara Meyers, Ed.D. Joel Meyers, Ph.D. Committee Member Committee Member __________________________ Date __________________________ Barbara Meyers, Ed.D. Chair, Department of Early Childhood Education __________________________ Ronald P. Colarusso, Ed.D. Dean, College of Education AUTHOR’S STATEMENT By presenting this dissertation as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the advanced degree from Georgia State University, I agree that the library of Georgia State University shall make it available for inspection and circulation in accordance with its regulations governing materials of this type. I agree that permission to quote, to copy from, or to publish this dissertation may be granted by the professor under whose direction it was written, by the College of Education’s director of graduate studies and research, or by me. Such quoting, copying, or publishing must be solely for scholarly purposes and will not involved potential financial gain. It is understood that nay copying from or publication of this dissertation which involves potential financial gain will not be allowed without my written permission. _______________________________ Mark B. Cobb NOTICE TO BORROWERS All dissertations deposited in the Georgia State University library must be used in accordance with the stipulations prescribed by the author in the preceding statement. The author of this dissertation is: Mark B. Cobb 3070 Tina Lane Marietta, GA 30066 The director of this dissertation is: Dr. Ramona W. Matthews Department of Early Childhood Education College of Education Georgia State University Atlanta, GA 30303-3083 VITA Mark B. Cobb ADDRESS: 3070 Tina Lane Marietta, GA 30066 EDUCATION: Ph. D. 2007 Georgia State University Early Childhood Education M.Ed. 1995 Kennesaw State University Early Childhood Education B.S. 1991 Middle Tennessee State University Early Childhood Education PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: 2000-Present Kindergarten and First Grade Teacher Cobb County Schools, GA 1995-2000 First Grade Teacher DeKalb County Schools, GA PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS: Cobb, M.B., Fox, D.L., Many, J.E., Matthews, M.W., McGrail, E., Taylor, D.L., Tinker Sachs, G., Wang, Y.,Wallace, F.H. (2006). Mentoring in the political and cultural world of academia: An Exploration of the experiences of literacy educators. 55th Yearbook of the National Reading Conference, 125-140. Cobb, M., Fox, D.L., Many, J.E., Matthews, M.W., McGrail, E., Tinker-Sachs, G., Taylor, D.L., Wallace, F.H., Wang, Y. (2006). Mentoring in literacy education: a commentary from graduate students, untenured professors, and tenured professors. 2006, Mentoring and Tutoring, 14(4), 371-387. Cobb, M.B. (2006). “You Put your Whole Self in: Luz Comes to Kindergarten.” A paper presented at the Pilcher Forum, Department of Early Childhood Education, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA: March 29, 2006. Matthews, R. & Cobb, M. (2005). Broadening the interpretive lens: Considering individual development along with sociocultural views of learning to understand young children's interactions during socially mediated literacy events. Journal of Literacy Research, 37(3), 325-364. Cobb, M.B. (2005). “Becoming a Student: Mexican Immigrant Kindergarteners Find their Place in the Institution.” A paper presented at the conference of the Georgia Educational Research Association, Savannah, GA: November, 2005. PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES AND ORGANIZATIONS: Georgia Association of Teacher Educators 2003-Present National Reading Association 2002-Present ABSTRACT KEEP YOUR EYES ON MS. CLARK: TWO MEXICAN IMMIGRANT CHILDREN MAKE THE TRANSITION TO KINDERGARTEN by Mark B. Cobb Presented are case studies of two children as they make the transition from Mexican immigrant homes to kindergarten in an English-dominant school in the United States. In the first case, Victor adapts by keeping his attention focused on the teacher, which allows him to avoid disorientation and take on the role of exemplary student. In the second, Natalie adapts to kindergarten through her relationships with peers and the teacher. She often participates in class activities, however, without understanding the narrative or rationale behind them. Cross-case comparisons suggest that each student adapted in a way suited to his or her own needs and resources. The journey from disorientation to adaptation is described through the application of the holistic, systems-oriented, interactionalistic developmental approaches of Werner, Wapner, and Koizumi. KEEP YOUR EYES ON MS. CLARK: TWO MEXICAN IMMIGRANT CHILDREN MAKE THE TRANSITION TO KINDERGARTEN by Mark B. Cobb A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of Requiremens for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Early Childhood Education in the Department of Early Childhood Education in the College of Education Georgia State University Atlanta, GA 2007 Copyright by Mark B. Cobb 2007 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Ramona W. Matthews, my mentor, advisor, and friend, for her tireless support of my work on this project and as a student and scholar overall. She has been my "tool of tools" throughout this process. I would also like to thank the other members of my committee, Julie Rainer-Dangel, Joel Meyers, and Barbara Meyers. Their faith in me and mine in them have sustained me throughout this long and challenging effort. The project was also dependent on the generous and eager participation of the classroom teacher, known here as Ms. Clark. The two focal children and their respective families also generously volunteered to participate and trusted me to enter their lives. Above all, I thank my wife, Maria Carolina Senior-Cobb, for the thousands of ways in which she has made this work possible. Over and over again she has defended me from the many other demands of life so that I might complete this project. I would like to thank my wife and my children, Amanda and Maximilian, for their love, support, encouragment, and understanding throughout this project. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of Figures ……………………………………………………………..….........…… iv Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………….…........ 1 Rationale …………………………………….……………………....…... 1 Research Questions ………………………………………..........….....…. 4 Theoretical Orientation …………………………….............…….......….. 6 Conclusion ……………………………………………............….....….. 35 Research Questions ……………………………………….……............. 36 2 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ………………………….…...….… 37 Predicting and Supporting the Transition to Kindergarten ……...…..…. 38 Classroom Culture and Kindergarten Identities ………………..…....…. 49 Latinos in American Schools …………………………....……..........…. 57 This Study ……………………………....……………............................ 64 3 METHODS ………………………………………………….……....…. 66 Setting ……………………………………………………….……....…. 66 Data Collection ………………………………………………..…....….. 70 Analysis ……………………………………………………….….....…. 82 Researcher Role and Bias ……………………………………….......…. 95 4 FINDINGS ………………………………………………….…..…....… 99 Ms. Clark and her Class ………………………………………..…..…. 100 Victor ………………………………………………………….…...…. 113 Natalie …………………………………………………………..…..… 140 Cross-Case Comparisons …………………………………….……..… 165 5 DISCUSSION …………………………………………………........… 179 Holistic, Systems-Oriented, and Interactionalistic Developmental Theory .…………………………………………………….…….......... 180 From Disorientation to Adaptability and Identity.………......……...… 186 Conclusions: Returning to the Research Questions ............................... 206 6 LIMITATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS………......……….….…...…. 208 References………………………………………….……….……………………...…. 226 Appendixes…………………………………………..……….………………....…..… 242 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Levels ………………....………………………… 12 2 An Example of an Ecological Diagram for a Mexican