tiger talk an action research project by john heyenga ed.70202t

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Tiger Talk Tiger Talk An Action Research An Action Research Project Project By John Heyenga By John Heyenga Ed.70202T Ed.70202T

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Page 1: Tiger Talk An Action Research Project By John Heyenga Ed.70202T

Tiger TalkTiger Talk

An Action Research ProjectAn Action Research Project

By John HeyengaBy John Heyenga

Ed.70202TEd.70202T

Page 2: Tiger Talk An Action Research Project By John Heyenga Ed.70202T

Table of Contents

Introduction Statement of problem Review of related literature Statement of hypothesis

Method Participants (N) Instruments Experimental design Procedure

Results

Discussion

Implications

Page 3: Tiger Talk An Action Research Project By John Heyenga Ed.70202T

Literary Review 1

Articles on Tone of Voice Brown, D. F. (2005 ). Idea of “Congruent

Communication.” Meiners, E. B., & Miller, V. D. (2004). A general

tonal approach to dealing with “subordinates.” A study showing how polite and less severe tones lead to a better work environment.

Kenman, L. F. (2007). Business communication model, applicable to education.

Rogers, B. (1995). 5 Tricky Personalities and How to Handle Them. Instructor, 105 (1), 16-19,24-25. Writes about ways to communicate with difficult students.

Page 4: Tiger Talk An Action Research Project By John Heyenga Ed.70202T

Literary Review, 2Literary Review, 2 Articles on Intercultural Communication Chubbuck, S. M., & Zembylas, M. (2008). Effective

emotions and communications in an urban school.

Simpson, A. W., & Erickson, M. T. (1983). Different types of teacher communication, including non-verbal, in response to students’ cultural identities.

MacNaughton, G., Hughes, P., & Smith, K. (2007). Ways to relate to challenging students. The key is for the educator to try and start anew with the students and relate to them in a way that positively recognizes their differences.

Page 5: Tiger Talk An Action Research Project By John Heyenga Ed.70202T

Non-Violent Communication

Non-Violent CommunicationNon-Violent Communication

“This approach to communication emphasizes compassion as the motivation for action rather than fear, guilt, shame, blame, coercion, threat or justification for punishment. In other words, it is about getting what you want for reasons you will not regret later. NVC is NOT about getting people to do what we want. It is about creating a quality of connection that gets everyone’s needs met through compassionate giving.”(NVC website: http://www.cnvc.org/node/369)

Page 6: Tiger Talk An Action Research Project By John Heyenga Ed.70202T

Introduction

In my work in at an after-school program in the Bronx, I have encountered many problems in communication. Some of the students’ behavior requires disciplinary response. When these situations occur, I have observed that the students present challenges to the teachers. When the response to this challenge is a punishment, or expression of frustration, the result is that the student takes the miscommunication to the next level. Such a verbal struggle can escalate to a futile and exhausting disciplinary deadlock. On the other hand, when the teacher responds with authority, but calmly and supportively, the conflict can be defused.

My experience has led me to investigate the occurrence of this technique in other educational scenarios, and its documentation in other fields.

Page 7: Tiger Talk An Action Research Project By John Heyenga Ed.70202T

Statement of ProblemStatement of Problem

Setting: NYC public schoolsSetting: NYC public schoolsProblem 1: Profane language and Problem 1: Profane language and

transgressive behavior, avoidance of transgressive behavior, avoidance of academic work. academic work.

Problem 2: Punitive teacher tone and Problem 2: Punitive teacher tone and discipline failure.discipline failure.

Result: Breakdown of trust and Result: Breakdown of trust and communication.communication.

Page 8: Tiger Talk An Action Research Project By John Heyenga Ed.70202T

Research DesignResearch Design

Quasi-Experimental: Quasi-Experimental: One treatment groupOne treatment groupSurveys: Surveys: several surveys will be conducted; a several surveys will be conducted; a

demographic survey, a pre-survey and a post demographic survey, a pre-survey and a post surveysurvey

Design Pattern: Design Pattern: OXO= Presurvey, treatment, OXO= Presurvey, treatment, and post surveyand post survey

Non-Randomly Assigned: Non-Randomly Assigned: Researcher is Researcher is using class assigned to themusing class assigned to them

This study will examine better ways for student This study will examine better ways for student and teacher to communicate; Tiger Talk. It will be and teacher to communicate; Tiger Talk. It will be conducted at an urban school in New York City, conducted at an urban school in New York City, P.S. X. The students are grades 6-8.P.S. X. The students are grades 6-8.

Page 9: Tiger Talk An Action Research Project By John Heyenga Ed.70202T

Threats to Internal ValidityThreats to Internal Validity

Maturation: Maturation: Loss of interest by students over Loss of interest by students over timetime

History: History: students may be inhibited by peersstudents may be inhibited by peers

Mortality: Mortality: There could be a large dropout rateThere could be a large dropout rate

Instrumentation: Instrumentation: The surveys might be The surveys might be flawedflawed

Maturation Interaction:Maturation Interaction: These participants These participants have different maturation rates over timehave different maturation rates over time

Page 10: Tiger Talk An Action Research Project By John Heyenga Ed.70202T

Threats to External ValidityThreats to External Validity

Experimenter effect: Experimenter effect: Does the researcher Does the researcher have any personal biases?have any personal biases?

Selection treatment: Selection treatment: Non-random Non-random volunteerism. This project uses students from my volunteerism. This project uses students from my class i.e., nonrandomclass i.e., nonrandom

Participants Effects: Participants Effects: Novelty effect-Novelty effect- Student results maybe skewed by the newness of Student results maybe skewed by the newness of the studythe study

Ecological Validity: Ecological Validity: Will treatment work in Will treatment work in different environments ?different environments ?

Page 11: Tiger Talk An Action Research Project By John Heyenga Ed.70202T

Demographic Survey of 12 Participants

Seventy-five percent had Latin heritage, sixteen percent Afro-American, and nine percent "Other."

Eighty-five percent of these students lived in the United States for four to eight years.

Nine were male, three female. Six were sixth graders, four were seventh

graders, and two eighth graders. Six out of twelve had more than two

siblings. Of the six with many siblings four thought

it ok to yell at teacher

Page 12: Tiger Talk An Action Research Project By John Heyenga Ed.70202T

Survey Response: Pre and Survey Response: Pre and PostPost

PRE AND POST SURVEY AVERAGES

1.772.15 2

2.23 2.15 2.232.46 2.46 2.62

2.15 2.23 2.23

2.773.23 3.23 3.38

2.693.15 3.08

3.383.1 3

3.23 3.15

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

a b c d e f g h i j k l

STUDENT SCORES

LIKE

RT S

CORE

S

PRE-SURVEY

POST-SURVEY

Page 13: Tiger Talk An Action Research Project By John Heyenga Ed.70202T

RESULTS

SCATTER PLOT The scores were

higher on the Post Survey.

The standard deviation for both sets of data was small,.045 for the pre-survey and .041for the post survey.

COMPARING PRE AND POST SURVEY AVERAGE SCORES

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

STUDENTS

LIKE

RT S

CORE

S

Pre-Survey Likert Avg.

Post-SurveyLikert Avg.

Page 14: Tiger Talk An Action Research Project By John Heyenga Ed.70202T

DiscussionDiscussion

Not found by this study : strong correlationsNot found by this study : strong correlations Caveat: Don’t overestimate the graphs Caveat: Don’t overestimate the graphs Several questions : no marked changes. Several questions : no marked changes. More significant : factors difficult to quantifyMore significant : factors difficult to quantify Increased sense of camaraderie when Increased sense of camaraderie when

working on developing the empathy code. working on developing the empathy code. This may have skewed the of the statistical This may have skewed the of the statistical

analysis analysis Positive response of students to the Positive response of students to the

Empathy Code used to phrase the post Empathy Code used to phrase the post survey questionssurvey questions..

Page 15: Tiger Talk An Action Research Project By John Heyenga Ed.70202T

Implications Tiger Talk is the combination of two factors: a cross-cultural

vocabulary to use in difficult situations and the use of tone of voice that is not reactive.

The findings do suggest that Tiger Talk could be making a difference, after the focus groups that employed the empathy code.

Would the same result have been achieved, however, with a fresh group of students who had not developed the vocabulary, worked in focus groups, and known the researcher personally?

There is an element of this study that is not quantitative, but qualitative, in that it hinges on the growth of interpersonal relations, and the development of respectful practices over time.

Given time, more therapy sessions and role playing might make a much more significant difference in the data seen here.

Page 16: Tiger Talk An Action Research Project By John Heyenga Ed.70202T

BIBLIOGRAPHY Berry, R. A. W. (2006). Inclusion, Power, and Community: Teachers and

Students Interpret the Language of Community in an Inclusion Classroom. American Educational Research Journal, 43(3), 489–529.

Brown, D. F. (2005 ). The Significance of Congruent Communication in Effective Classroom Management. The Clearing House, 12-18.

Chubbuck, S. M., & Zembylas, M. (2008). The Emotional Ambivalence of Socially Just Teaching: A Case Study of a Novice Urban Schoolteacher. American Educational Research Journal, 45

(2), 274-318. Juzwik, M. M., Nystrand, M., Kelly, S., & Sherry, M. B. (2008). Oral Narrative

Genres as Dialogic Resources for Classroom Literature Study: A Contextualized Case Study of Conversational Narrative Discussion. American Educational Research Journal, 45(4), 1111-1154.

Kenman, L. F. (2007). Tone And Style: Developing A Neglected Segment Of Business Communication. Business Communication Quarterly, 305-309. MacNaughton, G., Hughes, P., & Smith, K. (2007). Rethinking Approaches to

Working With Children Who Challenge: Action Learning for Emancipatory Practice. International Journal of Early Childhood, 39(1), 39-59.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY PART 2 Meiners, E. B., & Miller, V. D. (2004). The Effect of Formality and Relational Tone on

Supervisor/Subordinate Negotiation Episodes Western Journal of Communication, 68(8), 302-321.

Monroe, C. R., & Obidah, J. E. (2004). The Influence Of Cultural Synchronization On A Teacher’s Perceptions Of Disruption: A Case Study Of An African American Middle-School Classroom. Journal of Teacher Education, 55(3), 256-286.

Non-Violent Communication Statement : NVC website: http://www.cnvc.org/node/369) Rogers, B. (1995). 5 Tricky Personalities and How to Handle Them. Instructor, 105 (1), 16-

19,24-25. Rosen, L. A. (1990). A Survey of Classroom Management Practices. Journal of School

Psychology, 28 (3), 257-269. Simpson, A. W., & Erickson, M. T. (1983). Teachers’ Verbal and Nonverbal

Communication Patterns as a Function of Teacher Race, Student Gender, and Student Race. American Educational

Research Journal, 20(2), 183-198. Meyers, E.M., Fisher, K.E., & Marcoux, E. (2008). Studying the everyday information

behaviors of tweens: Notes from the field. Library and Information Science Research, 29(3), 2007, 310-331.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press.

Walsh, D. (2004). Why do they act that way: A survival guide to the adolescent brain for you and your teen. New York: Free Press.