dr. ronald e. mcnair acknowledgements - University of St. Thomas

More documents

Recommendations

Info

UST McNair Scholars Program Research Journal stated they have had limited, but fairly positive, interaction experiences with Hmong parents. This study found Hmong parents are responsive to their students’ learning, but only a few parents are active within the school. Four of the teachers agreed Hmong parents have limited English speaking skills and this may have contributed to how often they volunteered at school events. The results do show opinions on extreme levels where respondent two, highly perceived Hmong parents as intimidated to enter the school building due to language barriers and accessibility. Respondent two said, The most challenging thing working with Hmong parents is getting any sort of communication with them. We have mandatory calls with them all the time. Even when we try calling home, so often their phones are disconnected, their voicemail are full, they will hang up when they see it’s our school that is calling. It is a real challenge. We had in the past, do home visits for all of our students. Even then, we have parents who sit down and start to leave. I do not know what it is, intimidation? There’s needed to be something so parents are not intimidated of coming into the building. It could be as simple as making the front entrance more inviting and not having the metal detector sitting right there or having so many locked doors everywhere so they can at least come in and not sit outside. ACADEMIC LEARNING ACTIVITIES Five teachers suggested Hmong students struggled to learn English, but Hmong students are visual learners. Hmong students need reading, writing, and hands-on learning activities within their home and school environment to help them succeed. Teachers suggested Hmong students should have conversations with their parents, have access to books at home, and go to the public library. Hmong students may not have the opportunities to go to camp and classes during the summer but having additional resources could be helpful for Hmong students to gain the academic and social skills they need in school. Two teachers included in their comments that Hmong students should interact more with students who are different from them because it will help improve their communication skills. The teachers also agreed Hmong students are very open to learn about others’ cultures and may not be comfortable at first, but other students enjoyed 78 interacting with them. In addition, teachers believe having a mix of quiet times and interactive activities within the classroom will allow Hmong students to fully engage in their learning. As mentioned by respondent four, a male teacher: Many Hmong students are into the arts, such as, singing, dancing, and poetry writing. I think incorporating some things like that will definitely be helpful to their learning. They are really hands on too and like movement, and so any kind of hands-on activity where they can get up and move around are some of the things that we can definitely do to help them achieve. DISCUSSION The findings from this current study correspond with the results of previous studies that Hmong students need additional support and academic resources within their home and school environment in order to excel in school. In Thao (2003), Hmong students were empowered when their school valued their culture and utilized their parents as resources. In this way, Hmong parents can collaborate with school professionals to support their children’s education and provide the necessary tools to guide the students. It is also evident from Thao (2003) that the home and school environment has a critical role in the academic success of Hmong students. Hmong students should receive relevant Hmong history and culture courses in the school to help Hmong children identify with their culture and understand its values (Thao, 2003). This perspective was perceived to be imperative by four teachers in the current study. Moreover, in correspondence to Xiong (2008), Hmong children are growing up in disadvantaged families, where Hmong parents lacked an educational background, and as a result, may have hindered their children from having a supportive home environment. This finding was reinforced by the results of the current study where five teachers felt Hmong parents are struggling with language barrier and acculturation. These two factors were perceived as the greatest hindrance to Hmong parents in order for them to support their children academically.
Mai-Eng Lee Social Work Teachers’ Perception towards Hmong Students IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL POLICY MAKERS It has become evident that Minnesota has a growing population of Hmong students in the Twin Cities area. The essential implications for school policy makers that were developed from the results are the following: 1) ensure schools have formal translation services available for teachers so they can better communicate effectively with parents who do not speak English or have limited English speaking skills, 2) provide additional funding to allow Hmong students to have access to a Hmong language and cultural classes, and 3) support school-based programs to provide extra help for students who speak more than one language. Moreover, there is a need for better representations of Hmong staff because it allows Hmong parents to feel less intimidated and instead more welcome within the school building. LIMITATIONS It is important to note there are limitations in this research study. Snow ball design calls for a cautious generalization from the sample so it only reflects the participants in this study. Due to the small sample size, this study provided little insight about teachers’ perceptions of Hmong American students. Future research relating to this topic should include a larger population base to be more favorable. There are implications for future study where the researcher could explore the educational perspectives from teachers and both Hmong parents and students. This will allow the researcher to study more indepth and understand the perspectives of Hmong parents and students. CONCLUSION Through this research, the primary researcher conducted interviews with six teachers who have taught Hmong students throughout their teaching career in the Twin Cities area. It is evident from the study that Minnesota has a growing population of Hmong students who have literacy challenges with reading, writing, and verbal communication in English. The current study identifies Hmong students are in need of more reading, writing, and grammar activities. Hmong students are encouraged to talk to other students and be in a mixed group of kids in order to improve their communication skills. Acculturation to the Western education system also may have contributed to how well Hmong students are able to perform in school. The results show Hmong students are in need of a culturally sensitive school environment to help them actively engage in their learning, where Hmong students can learn about their own culture and language. In addition, Hmong students need a supportive home environment that provides a quiet study space and some hands-on learning activities to enhance their academic learning abilities. Despite the lack of Hmong parents’ academic involvement and their intimidation within their children’s school, they highly value education and want to understand the Western education system to better provide a supportive home environment for their children. Therefore, it is imperative for teachers and other school professionals to collaborate with Hmong parents in assisting Hmong students to achieve academic success. 79
Page 1 and 2:
DR. RONALD E. MCNAIR Ronald E. McNa
Page 3 and 4:
ABSTRACT The purpose of the present
Page 5 and 6:
Oluwademilade Adediran Psychology M
Page 7 and 8:
Page 9 and 10:
Page 11 and 12:
Page 13 and 14:
Page 15 and 16:
Page 17 and 18:
Page 19 and 20:
Page 21 and 22:
ABSTRACT Early childhood education
Page 23 and 24:
Kesha Berg Public Policy Enhancing
Page 25 and 26:
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30: Kesha Berg Public Policy Enhancing
Page 43 and 44: ABSTRACT Human immunodeficiency vir
Page 45 and 46: Mondraya Howard Pharmacy HIV-1 Resi
Page 47 and 48: Mondraya Howard Pharmacy HIV-1 Resi
Page 49 and 50: ABSTRACT Food waste in the United S
Page 51 and 52: Bridgette Kelly Environmental Scien
Page 63 and 64: ABSTRACT This research discusses he
Page 65 and 66: Chia Lee Public Health Health care
Page 75 and 76: Mai-Eng Lee Social Work Teachers’
Page 77 and 78: Mai-Eng Lee Social Work Teachers’
Page 79: Mai-Eng Lee Social Work Teachers’
Page 83 and 84: APPENDIX B INTERVIEW QUESTIONS Back
show all

dr. ronald e. mcnair acknowledgements - University of St. Thomas

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?