Responding to Nanette Dougherty, a Lesley University Student who asked the
following questions to the panelist.
What helps immigrant girls in the process of acculturation?
The acculturation process is really very complex. The process of acquiring
knowledge and skills to survive in the new culture depend on a variety of
factors, as I noted in my opening statement. These include particular
individual and family based issues such as age (younger children
acculturate faster; although this does not mean that they continue to do
well in school!) or the family's proficiency in English, prior experiences/
exposure to US/ western culture, or openness to US culture. There are also
community based factors, such as the openness of the community to diversity
(and thereby the presence of supportive networks), and the educational
factors which are the subject of your next question.
What factors affect the process of acculturation in immigrant girls? Are
these different than for immigrant boys?
The difficulty for girls, especially, arises when there are strong
differences between the home and US culture, and the family holds on to its
native cultural identity.
Rumbaut (1995) did a study of the different factors that could impact
immigrant students' academic achievement. One of the more significant of
his findings was that the longer the students spent in the USA, the lower
they performed academically. So, while length of stay in the USA would help
acculturation, increased acculturation led to decreased academic
performance! I think this fact is an intriguing one to consider as
educators.
What are effective practices (for teachers and other schoolbased staff) in
helping
young immigrant girls in their process of adjusting to a new culture?
There are several ideas to think about here: the school's openness and
attitudes towards diverse populations, the attitudes of teachers (as well
as their knowledge base and skills in being able to address the unique
needs of students), instructional support such as after school tutoring or
homework help sessions, and the overall school climate. I will be happy to
elaborate on any one of these, if you would like me to.
In several studies on the multiple worlds of students, Phelan, Davidson and
Yu (1998) noted that students who found it difficult to make the
transitions between home, school and peers were those who perceived
academic goals such as college entrance as unattainable to them, frequently
experienced racism within the school and the community, perceived their
teachers to be unfair and received little information about future
possibilities.
Does anyone have any information or is anyone willing to be interviewed?
I am not sure what you mean by this question. Please clarify.
Dr. Dilys Schoorman
Dept. of Teacher Education
College of Education, Room 485 Phone: 561 297 3003
Florida Atlantic University Fax: 561 297 3335
777 Glades Road e-mail:
dschoorm@fau.edu
Boca Raton, FL 33431-0991
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