Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Dissertations Graduate College 8-1973 The Effect of Integrated Grouping and of Studying Minority Culture in Reducing Cultural Cleavage in Elementary Classrooms Daniel L. Paul Western Michigan University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations Part of the Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, and the Elementary Education Commons Recommended Citation Paul, Daniel L., "The Effect of Integrated Grouping and of Studying Minority Culture in Reducing Cultural Cleavage in Elementary Classrooms" (1973). Dissertations. 2866. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations/2866 This Dissertation-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE EFFECT OF INTEGRATED GROUPING AND OF STUDYING MINORITY CULTURE IN REDUCING CULTURAL CLEAVAGE IN ELEMENTARY CLASSROOMS by Daniel L. Paul A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the Degree of Doctor of Education Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan August 1973 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Sincere appreciation to my entire committee is offered. Dr. Dorothy McCuskey, my committee chairman, deserves special thanks for her conscientous assistance and sincere concern for a period of many years. Dr. Stanley Robin was especially helpful in providing technical advice and many fruitful suggestions. Dr. Harold Boles provided encouragement and his own standard of high quality work to the entire project. Finally, the friendly support and understand­ ing of Dr. William Coats will always be remembered. Some of my colleagues at Hope College also deserve mention because they gave their time and expertise to help me -- Dr. Nancy Miller, Dr. David Myers, Dr. Elliot Tanis, Dr. Peter Schakel and Dr. Lamont Dirkse. Dr. James Bultman is singled out for a special thanks because of his continued positive support and confidence in me and my study. Mr. Paul Bach and Mrs. Sharon Nienhuis also provided valuable assistance. A word of thanks is also given to the administrators and teachers of Washington, Lincoln, and Federal Elementary Schools of the Holland Public School system, for their invaluable help. Finally, to my wife, Joan, and our sons, Jim, John and Peter, I offer my thanks for their support even when I was irritable because of problems encountered in the study. My wife deserves the special "P" award for knowing when to Prod or Praise. Jim and John's assured ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. confidence in the success of the project helped, but I especially thank Peter for his words of encouragement when he said, "Daddy, you are working so hard on your study, I hope you get a gold star for it." Daniel Paul Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. INFORMATION TO USERS This material was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. While the most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of the original submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help you understand markings or patterns which may appear on this reproduction. 1.T h e sign or "target” for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is "Missing Page(s)". If it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting thru an image and duplicating adjacent pages to insure you complete continuity. 2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a large round black mark, it is an indication that the photographer suspected that the copy may have moved during exposure and thus cause a blurred image. You will find a good image of the page in the adjacent frame. 3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., was part of the material being photographed the photographer followed a definite method in "sectioning" the material. It is customary to begin photoing at the upper left hand corner of a large sheet and to continue photoing from left to right in equal sections w ith a small overlap. If necessary, sectioning is continued again — beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete. 4. The majority of users indicate that the textual content is of greatest value, however, a somewhat higher quality reproduction could be made from "photographs" if essential to the understanding of the dissertation. Silver prints o f "photographs" may be ordered at additional charge by writing the Order Department, giving the catalog number, title, author and specific pages you wish reproduced. 5. PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print. Filmed as received. Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 73-31,409 PAUL, Daniel L., 1926- THE EFFECT OF INTEGRATED GROUPING AND OF STUDYING MINORITY CULTURE IN REDUCING CULTURAL CLEAVAGE IN ELEMENTARY CLASSROOMS. Western Michigan University, Ed.D., 1973 Education, general University Microfilms,A XEROX Company Ann, Arbor, Michigan THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................. ii LIST OF TABLES ................................................ vii LIST OF FIGURES .............................................. ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ..................................... 1 Statement of the Problem ..................... 1 Objectives of the S t u d y ....................... 3 Definition of Terms ........................... 5 Importance of the S t u d y ....................... 7 Assumptions .................. ................ 10 Summary ....................................... 10 II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ........... 11 Attitudes, Prejudice, Discrimination .... 11 Changing Attitudes ........................... 15 Contact As a Change F a c t o r .......... 21 Curriculum As a Change Factor ................ 27 Summary ....................................... 33 III RESEARCH DESIGN, SETTING, AND PROCEDURES ... 34 Review of the P r o b l e m .................. 34 Hypotheses of the S t u d y ....................... 36 Design of the Study ......................... 40 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. V Statistical Procedures Used .................. 42 Research Paradigm ........................... 44 The Setting .................................. 44 Procedures .................................. 46 Selection of the I n s t r u m e n t .................. 51 Summary ....................................... 64 IV PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE DATA ......... 65 Results of Baseline Statistical Data .... 66 Summary of Baseline D a t a ..................... 68 Post Test Data on Experimental Treatments . 68 Summary of Findings ......................... 89 V SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, EXPLANATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................ 92 Review of the P r o b l e m ......................... 92 Review of the P r o c e d u r e s ..................... 92 Summary of the F i n d i n g s ....................... 93 Discussion of the R e s u l t s ..................... 94 Concept of Attitudes ....................... 95 Changing Attitudes ......................... 99 Contact Hypothesis ......................... 103 Knowledge Hypothesis ....................... 106 Questionable Procedures and Measuring Devices .................................. 109 Suggestions to Educators .................... 112 Theory and Procedures for Further Research . 115 C o n c l u s i o n ..................................... 122 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. vi BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................... 124 APPENDIXES ............................. 131 A Reasons for using the term "Mexican American" . 132 B Unit on Mexico ................................... 134 C Suggestions to the t e a c h e r ..................... 152 D Unit on Electromagnets ......................... 156 E Instructions for sociometric test ............. 164 F W o r k s h e e t ......................................... 166 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE 1 Composition of the Four Treatment Groups ............. 31 2 2 Pre-Treatment Cross Cultural Choices and X Coefficients by Conditions .......................... 67 3 Percentage of Students Making High or Low Cross Cultural Choices on Pre-Treatment Sociometric M e a s u r e ............................................... 67 4 Effect of Studying Culture on Cross Cultural Choices of Mexican Americans ........................ 69 5 Effect of Studying Culture on Cross Cultural Choices of Anglo Americans ........................ 70 6 Effect of Studying Culture on Cross Cultural Choices According to Sociometric Areas