A simple interview is never really simple is it?

I interviewed J over the phone. This presented challenges because I wasn't able to observe his facial expressions nor body language. It was very difficult to rely simply on a phone conversation and I realized that all future interviews should be video recorded. I have done video interviews before and while transcribing them is tedious, it's good to have something tangible to review.

J failed the the fifth grade language arts assessment and was forced to repeat the fifth grade. Interestingly, I taught J the year before in fourth grade. He's a challenging student. He receives therapy once a week and takes medication to adjust his mood. However we have a good relationship and he was happy to answer my questions to help me with my schoolwork.

Similarly to Michelle's and Edolla's students, J initially gave one word answers. I had to follow up with questions such as, "Can you tell me more?" or "How so?"

I also considered the fact that having another teacher interview J might have yielded different responses. Since I'm his teacher, J might have felt compelled to answer in a certain manner. Overall the interview gave me more insight into more effective ways to interview and adapt questions in real time.

Interview Reflection

Going into the interview assignment, I assumed the task would be relatively simple and that the process would come naturally. I have served as a member of my school's recruitment team for years and usually enjoy conducting interviews and speaking with our interviewees.

This experience was the first time I used my students in a one-on-one interview setting and it proved to be a more challenging experience than I expected.

I went into the interview equipped with the following questions aimed to gather some feedback about classroom participation:

1. How many times did you raise your hand in today?
2. What period do you like to share in class?
3. Do you share more in one subject or the same in all subjects?
4. Do you like when a teacher calls on you in class?
5. Do you share more in a certain teacher’s class? Why or why not?

I honestly don't know how I missed some of the obvious problems I faced with such direct questions. I interviewed two students and both gave me short, one word answers. For example, 15, 1st and 6th, Yes etc... I think adding a few explanatory questions would have helped me develop more of the conversational experience I was hoping to have during the interview.

However, besides just the questions, I faced some problems with environment and my relationships with the participants. I held the interviews in the back of my classroom while the other students were participating in S.S.R. I often conference with students about their work or writing in this same setting, so I assumed the same calm and reflective setting would serve me well. However, both of my interviewees were a little nervous and anxious to get back to their seats during the interview. Even though I told both students they could take their time during each question, they rushed through the interview, constantly looking back at the rest of the class and after the last question asked me, "Am I done now?"

In addition to a little discomfort surrounding the setting of the interview, both students seemed uncharacteristically nervous around me during the interview. I have two theories regarding this occurrence, but I'm not sure what the true reason was for this discomfort. My first theory is that since I usually review student writing and classwork in this setting, the students were expecting to be evaluated. My second theory has to do with the questions themselves. Perhaps because I am one of the class's five subject teachers, the students felt nervous about honestly telling me which classes they participate more in and why. Both students I interviewed insisted that they share in some classes more than others because of the subject matter, not the teacher. Personally, I found this response to be surprising, because I know that my teacher's personality usually has some influence over my class participation (even in college), so I wondered if the students were telling me that because I was a part of the group (7th grade teachers) being discussed.

In the future, if I was going to consider continuing this research topic, I would ask my coach to conduct the interviews in her office away for the gazes of the class and the teacher. I'm curious to see of that process would result in more detailed responses. Perhaps I will try this out tomorrow!

Interview Questions

Hey Think Tank Girls!

I'm just posting the interview questions I used for our interview assignment. I had a lot of notes from our class meeting and edited the questions down for 7th graders. Here's what I came up with:

1. How many times did you raise your hand in today?

2. What period do you like to share in class?

3. Do you share more in one subject or the same in all subjects?

4. Do you like when a teacher calls on you in class?

5. Do you share more in a certain teacher’s class? Why or why not?

Please let me know what you think and whether I should change them! I interviewed one student, but will interview a second if we need to alter the questions!

Concept Narrative

White students often outperform Blacks and Latinos academically. Contributing factors include lack of resources, the school’s curriculum and the pervasive stereotype threat. Blacks and Latinos from urban areas often lack the resources available to affluent white students and, as a result, experience fewer learning opportunities. They often reside in poverty stricken neighborhoods and attend schools plagued by overcrowded classrooms, poor administration, and inexperienced teachers. This, in conjunction with lack of administrative support and the teacher training necessary to meet the special needs of this population, further widens the gap and reproduces a culture of missed opportunities.

My Purpose Statement-Needs WORK!

Firstly, I’m not sure if this will be an phenomenological or an ethnographic study. As you know from last Monday’s class, Rebecca and I are planning on examining the differences in achievement of boys of color who participating in the Independent Schools Preparatory Program at the Boys’ Club of New York in East Harlem. I’m thinking/leaning more toward ethnographic though. We’ve gotten consent from the Program Director, next we need to get consent from the parents. I’m hoping that we’ll get at least 10 boys from the Queens group that is predominantly Asian descent an at least 10 from the Manhattan group that is mostly African American or West Indian descent. So here’s what I came up with for the purpose statement.

The purpose of this phenomenological /ethnographic study is to describe the differences in achievement in mathematics and literacy for boys of color who attend the Independent Schools Preparatory Program at the Boys’ Club of New York City. At this stage in the research, the differences in achievement will be defined and measured by test scores an student perception as evidenced by surveys.

Do we have to post these?

The purpose of this narrative study is to discover effective literacy strategies to engage adolescent boys at City Charter School. At this stage in the research the strategic approaches employed will generally be defined as teaching style, strategic lesson plans and class participation.

My personal "I's"

Using the Peshkin article as a point of departure, I began exploring my own I’s which might inevitably lead to bias in my research pursuits. One of my research interests is the racial achievement gap in the gifted and talented classroom. I intend to use my school as the research site. Traditionally, Black and Latino students at my school do not perform as well academically as their White and Asian counterparts. These differences can be attributed to cultural background and/or socioeconomic status. My “selective I” can blur my vision and lead me to solely focus on the underperforming Black and Latino students and fail to acknowledge those which are , in deed, performing at a high level comparable to their peers. Now that I have read the Peshkin article, I have gained a deeper understanding of the detrimental affect this can have on my research results and am now determined to view participants through a more objective lens.

Another “I” which might lead to bias relates to my ethnic background. As a Puerto Rican woman, I tend to focus great attention on female students of Hispanic descent because they are a group with which I am extremely familiar. However, as a researcher, I am charged with the responsibility to maintain an objective stance and to not allow my personal experiences and biases contaminate my perception of a given situation.