Taming the monsters: practical intimacies in a third grade costa rican classroom

Abstract

This article documents a school-based action research study conducted during the 1997 Costa Rican academic year in a third grade classroom. It contributes to international educational research as related to the intrinsic implications of relying on foreign published textbooks as the primary foundation of curriculum. Examination of the role of teachers as curriculum developers, as framed through the lens of a World Englishes Perspective is also a key consideration of the study. As well, the timeliness of the research contributes to the worth of findings, given the growth and importance of English as an international language. A classroom problem area pertained to the use of USA published textbooks for the study of language arts, science and reading.These texts did not follow the prior knowledge of students and the history of Costa Rica, nor support the cultural autonomy of students as individuals and as citizens of their communities. Implementation of changes included the recruitment of two bilingual, Spanish/English, Costa Rican college students to work in the classroom. They endorsed a model of English that served as a framework suitable for classroom use and for international communication. Art production projects were also infused in the curriculum and used as a springboard for complex tasks of language learning. The art provided an avenue for students to be successful with their work and activities associated with the English language. Textbooks became resources, rather than the central form of curricular material. At the end of the school year, student changes in motivation for working with language education, and the increased quality and number of their products were viewed as signposts, which were used to rethink how, as a class, students had begun to negotiate ownership of the English language.Classroom teachers responsibilities for curriculum, and for the creative possibilities of curriculum beyond the expectations of administration and other stakeholders, have generated contentious issues for many years. These issues transcend national borders and are confrontational in countries where stakeholders push to participate in the global community, yet struggle Amy Roberts 346 to maintain cultural and national identity and autonomy. Given this, the following article documents a school-based action research study conducted during one academic year in a Costa Rican classroom. In Costa Rica, the emphasis on English language education exemplifies the problematic associated with using educational content and materials that transcend national borders. The study contributes to international educational research as related to the intrinsic implications of relying on foreignpublished textbooks as the primary foundation of curriculum. From this respect, examination of the role of teachers as curriculum developers, as framed through the lens of a World Englishes Perspective is also a key consideration. On a more micro-level, involving my role as the classroom researcher and teacher, the study served as a pract...

Effects of scaffolded intensive reading on students’ reading comprehension performance

“…Findings yield implications for both theory and practice at three different levels. First, they enlarge the body of empirical studies on intensive reading and test performance; second, they assist our understanding of how reading comprehension can be enhanced through small-scale action plans; and third, they add up to the list of action research conducted in Costa Rica that help break away from the traditional teacher-researcher dichotomy (e.g., Acuña and Campos, 2015;Bula, 2010;Bula, 2015;Díaz-Ducca, 2015;Roberts, 1999;and Sevilla and Gamboa, 2015). Broadly speaking, while each of these studies deal with issues different from the one being addressed in the current paper, they share a common trait: They are investigations conducted by actual teachers in their own teaching contexts.…”