Our Teacher
Research: Past & Present
Helping
all students achieve higher standards
Article courtesy of Journal of the Rochester
Teachers Association,
Spring/Summer 2003
Linking Students to a Curriculum
That Isn't Linked to Them
Jeremy L. Copeland
Teacher, Grady Technical
High School, Brighton Beach, Brooklyn
Jeremy Copeland is currently a Met Life
Fellow at the Teacher's Network Policy Institute.
He has been teaching history for the past two
years at Grady Technical High School in Brighton
Beach, Brooklyn, after receiving his M.A. in
social studies education from NYU, where he
was a Jonathan Levin Fellow.
Introduction
I was still pretty green at teaching when I began this action research project
25 years old and just bounced from a large zoned high school in Bensonhurst,
Brooklyn, to Grady High School in Brighton Beach. I am constantly trying
to learn how to become a better history teacher. When I look at my students'
faces, I see intelligence, I hear bright and new ideas, and have a renewed
sense of hope about the world and my profession. Being African American and
male contributes heavily to the dynamic that drives the interaction between
my students and me. It gives me a slight edge an opportunity to experiment
with my teaching style. Such experimentation, however, bears several risks.
My concerns were primarily
about my students. Creating an environment
in which the content
of the curriculum reflects the students' experiences
had to result in more than my just being seen
as that "cool black dude" by my students
and even some colleagues. Consequently, I used
the teacher research process as a way to demonstrate
and document that the changes I was making were
grounded in solid student centered educational
practices that include students of color. Teacher
research was a way to address my concern that
there could be some risks for students as I explored
new practices.
As I considered my professional needs and my
students' instructional needs, the following
research question took shape: How will my students
respond to a more student centered teaching style?
I was particularly interested to see whether
bringing students' experiences into existing
curriculum and lessons might increase their involvement
and reduce alienation or indifference to curriculum
content.
Centering Students in Practice
I developed my approaches to teaching with the idea that students need to see
relevance in the curriculum and how it is presented. In my action research
project, instruction, classroom management, and assessment were all designed
with the intent to meet this goal.
Background and Context
Teaching history both 10th grade global history
and 11th grade American history at Grady
High School is a challenge in itself. Grady
is a vocational-technical
institution in the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn. Students do not resemble
the mostly Russian and Middle Eastern immigrant populations that live in
Brighton Beach. The school is about 75% Black (the majority of whom are American
born of West Indian ancestry), 20% Latino/a, 5% white, Asian, and "other." It
is about 75% male and 25% female. Because many of these students are in the
school to study a specific trade, history class ranks fairly low among their
interests. Bryan, an African American senior, demanded of me, "Why should
I care about what happened to these dudes a long time ago? What does that
have to do with me getting bread now?" I need to draw on the experiences
of students like Bryan to link them to the curriculum. In fact, about 65%
of my students feel like Bryan. It is evident in their attitude toward their
work, and in daily attendance rates. Apathy toward their work is driven by
a belief that education, at least in its current form in our society, is
irrelevant to them. Many students see few concrete examples of the socio
economic benefits that may come with an education.
Pressures on students and
teachers are at an all-time high since the
implementation of the
new Regents requirements for graduation. Despite
political "adjustments" made to the
passing score, they present quite a contrast
to the now abandoned and much easier RCT, and
include both document and thematic based essays.
The global history exam is given at the culmination
of a two year course in the spring of the sophomore
year. The RCT saw failure rates as high as 70%
in many schools, with students answering essay
questions about Martin Luther of the Protestant
Reformation by quoting passages from the "I
Have a Dream" speech by Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. a contemporary figure. Therefore, there
is an urgent need to do something besides maintaining
the status quo. Current approaches are not working.
Working for the New York City Board of Education,
I learned to conduct my class using the classic
developmental lesson. This included an aim (always
in the form of a question), performance objectives,
a motivation, and a chalkboard full of notes,
to be copied by students word for word. One supervisor
in a previous school demanded that these notes
be in outline form. This style left little room
for students' critical analysis of the content
of the lesson and fostered a teacher dominated
environment. However, I did have some things
going for me.
My age, race, and appearance
in many ways were a reflection of my students.
In many cases, my
students and I hold a similar worldview. We commonly
share African American culture and experiences
with racism. I could easily flow back and forth
between "standard" English and the
home languages often spoken by my students. We
also know and live in the context of hip hop
and popular culture. These were all influencing
factors during our formative years. I wasn't
a foreign or hostile image inserting myself into
their world for forty minutes a day; on a certain
level, my students could identify with me. Despite
these similarities, I had to do more. My Timberland
boots and cornrows were not enough to get my
students to engage with the curriculum. I needed
to alter my teaching practices and apply research
based approaches. However, I was fearful of changing
my practices to the detriment of my students.
What if they didn't work or I was ineffective
in implementing them? I decided to try new, student
centered approaches, and to continually assess
these practices to build on my strengths and
learn more about my Students' strengths and perceptions.
Instructional Practices
Silverman and Casazza (2000) developed a model
entitled TRPP (theory, research, principles,
and practices) that assisted me in my lesson
planning. Instead
of an aim that changes daily, the model uses themes that are written on the
board and change after several days. For example, imperialism might be a
theme covering several topics, such as the "scramble" for Africa
and "spheres of influence" in China. I did this in the belief that
an understanding of themes is necessary for students to be able to conceptualize
and make meaning of more discrete topics and ideas. Also, students must demonstrate
this kind of knowledge to do well on essays and Regents exams.
Silverman and Casazza suggest
that "teachers
who use concrete examples and suggest practical
applications help learners connect prior knowledge
to new information" (p. 132). For example,
one class began with a discussion about issues
and attitudes related to hairstyle and texture
and skin color within the African American and
African communities. Implicit in the discussion
were questions such as: How are ideas and attitudes
about these topics influenced by a history of
cultural imperialism or cultural domination?
What is the relationship between modern social
and economic problems in Africa and European
imperialism over the last five centuries? The
class session began with student knowledge and
voice and moved to curriculum concepts and personalities
on Regents exams, such as the so called "scramble" for
Africa, imperialism, nationalism, and the roles
of African and European leaders.
Frequent discussions are
another classroom practice advocated by the
TRPP model " [e]nvironments
characterized by critical dialogue, interactive
learning and risk taking promote student learning
and development" (Silverman and Casazza,
p. 132).
Still another example of
instruction built on students' knowledge to
help them construct curricular
content and make their own meanings was a lesson
about civic responsibility and government's regulatory
role and potential for shaping the social structure.
We began our discussion with student observations
about differences in neighborhoods. I explained
that I had just moved from Laurelton, the middle
class African American Queens community I was
raised in, to Far Rockaway, which my students
and I refer to as the "hood."
"Why is it that you can always tell when
you're entering a poor Black neighborhood?" I
asked. Besides the visibility of black people,
I got a variety of answers such as the differences
in the quality of supermarkets and public services
such as health care, garbage collection, and
recreational facilities. They also noted the
presence of graffiti and litter. A discussion
quickly developed as students spoke about the
differences between the black, white, and Jewish
sections of Crown Heights, where many of them
live, and the conditions in the public housing
projects. I asked students why they thought our
living conditions are the way they are, and also
questioned why some of us seem to have a lack
of regard for our environment.
I simply became the moderator at this point,
ensuring that all who wanted to talk had a chance.
I was able to introduce crucial themes such as
the redlining of communities of color in the
1960s and 1970s, fair housing laws, urban renewal,
and the history of public housing. All of these
topics and concepts are relevant to students'
lives, and most are part of the curriculum tested
on Regents exams.
Early in the discussion,
it became abundantly clear that daily discussions
were not supported
by chalkboard outlines. Conventionally, notes
on the board are to be copied exactly. The teacher's
culture and experience are the only things represented.
My students and I needed to develop a new way
of note taking, which my students decided to
call "dictation." Actually, they were
not taking dictation directly from me; the notes
were growing out of our discussions. This cannot
be done if students are not paying attention,
keeping up with, distilling, and recording the
interchange. Writing notes in this way is challenging,
requiring that they track opposing viewpoints
and the beginning of a consensus. Most important,
the notes written on the board were produced
by the students and their teacher. I have integrated
aspects of the social constructivist model in
this approach. According to Silverman and Casazza
(p. 154), students are expected to construct
their own meanings concerning a problem or issue.
The class processes information collectively
in a way that reflects the perspectives of its
members and tries to build consensus as individual
ideas are integrated.
Classroom Management
Classroom management strategies including dealing
with calling out, hall and bathroom passes,
lateness, and cutting also needed to be
modified. Of these
issues, passes and lateness are discussed here. Early on, I realized the
disruptive effects that asking to go to the restroom had on our work. I felt
myself getting aggravated when a hand would go up in the middle of a heated
discussion, and I would eagerly ask, "Yes, what do you have to say?" and
I would hear, "Can I go to the bathroom?" Therefore, I modified
my restroom policy the pass was on my desk and the students were just allowed
to take the pass and leave. This actually cut down on the number of trips,
averaging now at about two per period; it had been about five. Students seemed
to realize now that if they left, they might miss a crucial part of the discussion.
I used the same policy for lateness, and found
that it also decreased when I paid less attention
to it. Again, students seem to realize that they
could not come in late and simply copy the information
they missed from the board. Also, I was fortunate
to have an assistant principal who permitted
even encouraged this kind of approach as long
as he was convinced I was aware of students'
actions. Convincing him was not very difficult.
He would often drop in on a lesson and contribute,
telling the class and me something interesting
we didn't know. He also occasionally invited
me into his class to observe him teach. He plans
to retire at the end of the term after providing
the Board of Education with 30+ years of service.
Assessment
I am not a proponent of high stakes testing
in my classroom or on the state level.
Instead, in my action research, I developed
multiple assessment strategies,
focusing primarily on my students' ability to answer questions asked by me
and, even more important, by other students. I agree with Baloche, who stated, "Well
structured learning goals that are designed to emphasize cooperation tend
to promote higher achievement than learning goals that are designed to emphasize
either individualism or competition" (1998, p. 3).
To encourage participation, I kept track of who were answering questions,
and called on and encouraged the less vocal and less involved. I made clear
to
students that learning and grades included class participation. I did not,
however, tell students they were "wrong"; I offered skepticism rather
than condemnation or immediate disagreement when a student made a statement
that was factually inaccurate. About the only occasion that my response was
adamant in its opposition was if a student said something that was offensive
or bigoted.
I required more writing
than ever before. Not all of it was graded
it was informal, "writing
to learn." Because students were aware of
the writing demands of the Regents, they were
for the most part cooperative. I think the next
step in my changing over to a less teacher-centered
model will be having students write for each
other. This will also prepare my students for
critical thinking as well as writing at the college
level.
Method
My understanding of the action research approach is that it can help the teacher
researcher understand the student's world from the student's point of view,
as opposed to traditional research, which employs hypothesis testing and
often relies on quantitative rather than qualitative data. Action research
also helps teachers understand and recognize when and why their practices
work for students and if they need to be changed. Much like informants in
an ethnographic study, students in action research are informants, respondents,
and even co investigators.
I have always tried to pay
attention to student experiences as a way of
linking them to the curriculum.
My action research has given me an opportunity
to be conscious of, and to develop, this approach.
Hubbard and Power suggest that good action research
begins from the "basic wonderings of a teacher" (1993,
p. 7). Months of research and wondering have
turned up some surprising answers.
For me, action research involves making changes
in my behavior to encourage changes in student
behavior or action, while carefully researching
the effects or outcomes of these actions. Basically,
I made three types of changes in my instruction.
I modified my lesson planning to work from student
knowledge and interest. I tried to develop classroom
management strategies that were based on different
assumptions about student behavior; this meant
less verbal reprimands for so called inappropriate
behavior. Finally, I changed my assessment strategy,
including oral in class assessments of understanding.
Early in my action research I was concerned
about changing my teaching practices to the detriment
of students' scores on Regents exams. Their scores
are an important source of data, and I have included
material on them here. My sources of quantitative
and qualitative data were students' written and
oral responses and commentary, written and oral
assessments, and my observations and journal
notes. Furthermore, I kept quantitative data
on lateness, attendance, and student interruptions
all in connection with changes in classroom instruction
and management.
Results
At the beginning of the term, many students were very uncomfortable and resisted
the student centered approach. Although student apathy concerning history
was evident, most of the class had definite expectations about how a class
should be run. Complaints about the lack of notes on the board were frequent.
Some incisive analysis of the new approach used in my action research comes
from the students. Student test scores and rate of participation in discussions
began to go up as the classroom environment became less and less teacher
centered. Initially, students would simply not participate. On a typical
day at the beginning of the term, about 10% of the class would answer questions.
This figure would rise slightly when the topic was something more interesting
to them-usually something current. Over time, students began to remember
the content of lessons based upon the contributions of fellow students instead
of mine alone. James, an eleventh grade African American in my American history
class, wrote:
I honestly enjoy this class because it's different
... discussion instead of constantly question
and answer is a change. To me, you learn a
lot more about history from what other people
discern from it.
As the semester progressed,
student absences became less frequent. After
extracting "no
shows" (students on the roster who had never
reported), the attendance rate was about 95%.
This is excellent for a school that averages
80% to 85% attendance on a school wide basis.
Class participation also improved. In my smallest
American history class, 15 students attended
regularly and about 12 of them were participating
on a consistent basis. Tracy, an African American
student in the eleventh grade, led a discussion
one day about the difference between single and
two parent households. With regard to the student
experience model, she wrote:
This class is definitely different from all
of my history classes in general. In my other
history classes I've taken, the lesson plan
was taught by giving the class a certain amount
of pages to read and questions to answer at
the end, followed by notes to write down on
the board. This type of lesson plan results
in students either falling asleep, not participating
and cutting class.... On the other hand this
class, it helps you to learn from the discussions
about current events to the discussions about
history... Usually when I learn history I forget
it the next week....
Joseph, one of two Italian American students
in my largest American history class, was one
of the first students to adapt to this method.
He scored fairly high on exams in the beginning,
and showed marked improvement as the semester
progressed:
I think that this is my best class because
it's REAL. The teacher gets us into the subject
by relating history to the current day, like
history and music. If he talks about a subject
and relates it to a popular song, it's easier
to remember. Copeland does a good job in keeping
up with what happens in order to teach.
I realized that less vocal students may be somewhat
uncomfortable. A class focused around discussion
involves more oral assessment and less testing
of the traditional type. Most tests given were
essay exams, and they were less frequent - covering
several chapters at a time and given over a span
of several weeks. Report card grades reflected
about 50% exam scores and 50% class participation.
Robert, an African American student of Caribbean
background, wrote:
This class is different from my other history
classes because I feel that it is unfair that
Mr. Copeland judges people on class participation
rather than test scores. So that means people
as shy as myself will always get a 75 and my
test score of 100 will mean nothing. I understand
most of the concepts given by Mr. Copeland.
I just wish that when he gives a test, he will
realize that and grade me based on the test.
By the end of the semester most of the students,
including Robert, were actively participating
in daily discussions. They were answering each
other's questions and correcting each other's
mistakes. All of the students who came on a regular
basis spoke in class at least once a week and
about 60 % spoke once a day. This was a no table
increase from the beginning of the semester,
when only about 25% participated on a regular
basis. The most dramatic improvement was in my
fourth period American history class of 30 students.
Students themselves encouraged me to call on
the quieter students; it would have been even
less teacher centered if they had directly invited
a classmate to speak. Ultimately, I would like
to see students do this to demonstrate leadership
and responsibility for each other. Sophia, an
African American student in the class, wrote:
... I feel like he is talking to each one
of us. [He] doesn't just run off a list of
facts, but he takes time to adapt the information
to things we can relate to.... This causes
me to relate to him as a person, even as a
friend rather than just a teacher. Even when
discussing matters of opinion, Mr. Copeland
takes caution not to crush our opinions as
if his were right.... that gives me an open
forum to talk and share my opinion with my
classmates.
Upon occasional notebook reviews, I have found
that about 85% of the students took notes during
the discussions. The notes were often skimpy,
but they did track the discussion. This was the
greatest challenge. Students are accustomed to
the talk and chalk method of teaching. Many were
very resistant to a format of listening and writing
things down. Glen, an Italian American student
in my American history class, wrote about note
taking:
... this class makes us think more.... I mean
that this class is more interactive, where
we have to take our notes [based] upon what
we talk about. By taking notes through class
conversations and interactions I believe we're
getting more insight on a topic by talking
and getting more involved with the class instead
of just writing notes on the board. Not only
with this class but in any class where the
teacher was fun and made us take our notes
based on what we talked about, in those classes
I learned a lot more and passed.
Joseph, a Latino student in the same class,
wrote:
We started to write more and understand more
because my teacher didn't really write on the
board. It's almost like forcing you to learn
and that really helped me pay close attention
to details.
Note taking was time consuming in the beginning.
Many students became frustrated as they tried
to keep up. Initially, it was difficult for some
students to determine what material was noteworthy.
By the middle of the semester the complaints
became less frequent, and I had to repeat myself
less often. John, an African American student
in my fourth period history class, wrote:
This class is different from my other history
classes because of the dictation. The dictation
helps you write and remember all the important
facts you need to know. I never had a history
class where my teacher was young. This makes
the class more alive than my other previous
history classes.
James, an African American student, did not
exactly share the same view:
I think the way [he teaches] is good, [but]
I wish he would write on the board more, but
the notes are short and easy to remember. Mr.
Copeland prepared me for college with research
papers and long essays. The discussions we
had in class were sometimes off the topic,
like when we were saying that Brownsville,
Crown Heights, Queens and Bed Sty how they
were segregated. I like it, but sometimes he
bores me with the history.
By June, I was dedicating about two class sessions
per week to Regents review. As a class, we would
read through the multiple choice exams and discuss
the correct and incorrect answers. I got permission
from my departmental assistant principal as well
as from my administrative assistant principal
to have a review session the morning of the global
history exam. About 30%, or 40%, of my history
students showed up for the review. We were interrupted
and continued in a local pizza parlor, with more
students joining us on their way to school. Seventy
three percent of these students scored 55 or
better fulfilling state requirements.
Discussion
A student centered model is part of a multifaceted approach to developing the
whole student, as opposed to teaching one subject to that student. Student
interaction, cooperative learning, conversational skills, and providing constructive
criticism are all embedded in this approach. These skills are not only beneficial
for future endeavors in school, but also for home relationships, the workforce,
and the adult world which students cannot simply tour and leave.
In response to my original research question,
I found that as a result of a student centered
teaching style, students learned to engage with
the curriculum and with each other. Through discussion,
they experienced the thought processes of themselves
and others, and learned to determine what information,
ideas, and insights were relevant to the topics
being covered. Students developed the ability
to generate their own notes as a result of this
type of interaction. It became evident that historical
knowledge usually provided information that was
related to the answers to their questions and
concerns as well as to those raised by their
teacher or their assessments. Students came to
understand and learn how to perform the kinds
of activities and actions that make academic
success a probability. They also learned to give
and take constructive criticism and to assist
each other's learning; this includes the areas
of preparation, participation, attentiveness,
note taking, and self monitoring. Any outward
evidence of apprehension about seeking assistance
was minimal by June. Through teaching lessons
themselves, some students experienced how teaching
others enhances one's own learning. In general,
students were observant of the practices being
used and how they affected them as learners.
In the beginning of this project, I was relatively
certain that student centered approaches were
the most effective practices for teaching and
learning. My concerns were related to my ability
to be effective in their design and implementation.
I found that working from student knowledge and
experience was more engaging than the highly
scripted teacher directed method I had been using.
I felt more confident as students' responses
provided the evidence that strengthened my thinking
and my resolve.
Conclusion
There is a definite apathy toward schooling felt by many young people in our
community. I saw it when I was a teenager and I see it now. This is a crisis,
especially among young Black men. Many of my students see education, especially
about things that happened before they were born, as totally irrelevant.
Constant bombardment by images on MTV, BET, and the movies make so many of
my students' icons people who contribute little or nothing to the betterment
or empowerment of people of color.
We live in a world where
everybody sees negativity and dysfunction on
TV, whether rich or poor,
Black or white. When you are teaching low income
children of color, most from one parent homes
and who have been underserviced most of their
lives, you have to do whatever it takes to encourage
learning. They already know how things are "screwed
up" because they see it every day. As a
history teacher, I used their experiences and
frames of reference to show them why things are
the way they are and that it's not inevitable.
Obviously, as a Black man, regardless of where
I grew up, I see it all just as clearly as they
do.
As teachers, we have a responsibility to acknowledge
where our students find themselves not only in
the educational system but also in the world.
I learned through this study that effective teaching
practices make a significant difference in student
motivation and learning. This study shows that
there are practices that all teachers can use
to enhance the learning of all students.
References
Baloche, L. A. (1998). The cooperative classroom: Empowering learning. Columbus,
OH: Prentice Hall.
Hubbard, R. S., & Power, B. M. (1993). The art of classroom inquiry. Portsmouth,
NH: Heinemann.
Silverman, S., & Casazza, M. (2000). Learning and development: Making
connections to enhance learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass Publishers.
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