“Another factor may be a mismatch between minority-learner characteristics and the materials and teaching methods presented in school, which contributes to underachievement among this group of students (Powers, 2001; Vogt & Shearer, 2003). Much of what students understand and are able to do in school is based on their background, and most academic tasks and curricula reflect middle class values and experiences” (Echevarria, Vogt, & Short). This mis-match can result in devastating outcomes for students who are not proficient EL learners. .Echevarria, Vogt & Short (2004) quote Corner (1984) “In general, students achieve better educational outcomes if they have been reared in a culture that has expectations and patterns of behaviors that are consistent with those of the school. Child-rearing has an impact in socio-economic and ethnic variations.
According to Bee & Boyd (2007), “the Steinberg and Dornbusch sample experiment on child-rearing was large enough to allow them to do sub-groups of African American, Hispanic American, Asian American, and Caucasian Americans. The results of the study suggest both common processes and unique cultural variations. After examining a wide variety of aspects in cultural difference they conclude that an additional key element is the belief students and parents hold about the importance of education for later success in life. All four racial and ethnic groups studied share a belief that doing well in school will lead to better chances later, but the groups disagree on the consequences of doing poorly in school” (Bee & Boyd, p.373, 2007).
Bronfenbrenner, according to Bee & Boyd (2007), “is a developmental psychologist who developed a theory that is referred to as a bio-ecological approach off the basis that the family is the filter through which larger society influences child development. He attempted to explain how all of the various environmental influences on child development are related to one another.” An earlier study by Bronfenbrenner reported by Elder (1962) “shows that the differences in socio-economic and ethnic variations in several studies suggest that middle class parents, mothers in particular, are more inclined to handle their pre-school children permissively than are lower or working class parents. According to the authors of one of these studies, working class mothers were more punitive, restrictive, less permissive with respect to sex behavior, aggression, and dependence, and lower on warmth than were mothers of middle class status. It is concluded that lower class parents are more likely to be autocratic or authoritarian than middle class counterparts and the social class differences are least in the rearing of boys and greatest in the rearing of girls. Lower class parents are reported to be much more controlling in rearing of their daughters of junior high school age than are middle class parents” (Elder, 1962).
References:
Bee, H., and Boyd, B. (2007). The Developing Child (11th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.
Echevarria, J., Vogt, M., & Short, D. J. (2004). Making content comprehensible for English
learners: The SIOP Model (2nd ed.). Needham Heights, NJ: Allyn & Bacon.
Elder Jr., G. (1962). Structural Variations in the Child Rearing Relationship. Sociometry, 25(3), 241-262. Retrieved from SocINDEX with Full Text database.
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=15383947&site=ehost-live
Tompkins, G. E. (2002). Reading and language arts. [University of Phoenix Custom Edition]. Boston: Pearson Custom Publishing.