1. Fromthe Margins From the Margins to the Center The Faculty Inquiry Network Basic Skills in Complex Contexts

2. From the Margins to the Center Understanding Identity, Engagement and Learning FIN Presenters: Jan Connal, Cerritos College Scott Hoshida, Berkeley City College A’kilah Moore, Los Medanos College Sandy Wood, Santa Ana College

3. A Common Concern Our Thorny Issue: Identity’s Impact on Learning “How the learner defines him or herself is intimately connected to his or her learning mindset. We develop skills and acquire knowledge in service to identity…Learning changes who we are by changing our ability to participate, to belong, to negotiate meaning.” Etienne Wenger, 1998

4. Faculty Inquiry Approach Our Approach to Getting at this Issue: Faculty Inquiry “…asking questions about the teaching and learning that goes on in their own classrooms… around a problem or something that’s not going right ; …seeking answers by consulting the literature, gathering and analyzing evidence, and engaging students in the process whenever possible; …using what they find out to improve the experience of their students; and sharing this work with colleagues so that they and their students can benefit too.” Mary Huber, 2008

5. Faculty Inquiry Examples of Faculty Inquiry:  Berkeley City College  Santa Ana College  Los Medanos College  Cerritos College

6. Berkeley City Where did we start?... How do we help student persist from one class to the next? How do they become the hero/heroine of their own stories? Stumbling through research we found that… Metacognition… Motivation… Strategic use of skills and knowledge. Personal Storytelling/Writing as a crucial place for students to understand themselves and their motivations; creating reflective students.

7. Berkeley City The Hero’s Journey (J.Campbell) DEPARTURE Leaving Home, Family, Community INITIATION Entering the Classroom RETURN Returning with new knowledge and sense of self What happens when students place themselves on this continuum? What happens when they must narrate their own journey?

8. Berkeley City Writing Your Story: Two Paths INITIATION: Students Enter Classroom. Asked to Share Personal Story Fear and Shame (from past) Protect identity. Reveal little or inauthentic Feels safe and able to share. Identity is something that can change Student does not feel ready to take the risks necessary to challenge himself and become a self-motivated & persistent learner. Student practices connecting her life to her goals, develops motivation, and increases willingness to take risks.

10. Berkeley City Last Thoughts Classroom Context (the vibe, the trust) Matters o Relationships with teachers and peers; o Emotional safety helps student get over humps, helps them take personal AND intellectual risks; Sharing of self brings the whole student into the classroom Questions: What is the role of teacher in facilitating this context? Of framing their narratives? How does self-disclosure for instructors impact this context? When students share personal stories does it change their motivation? Their ability to learn from their past? Does it lead, in some ways, to persistence from class-to-class?

11. Santa Ana Santa Ana Who are Generation 1.5 Students? Typically speak 2 or more languages fluently. Aural and oral learners, learning English through listening and speaking, not reading and writing. Often sound like native speakers. Limited knowledge of academic English. Never acquired or are losing literacy in home language. Have cross-cultural identification, or confusion about cultural identification. Completed most or all of their schooling in the U.S., but often incorrectly placed and have limited experience with academic reading and writing.

12. Santa Ana Generation 1.5 students at Santa Ana  For 25 years English and ESL faculty have referred to a group of SAC students as ESLers, showing characteristics of both ESL students and native speakers.  Our FIN work is designed to find out who these students are and discover ways to help them be more successful life- long learners.

14. Santa Ana Identity Issues for Generation 1.5  Usually born here -- raised without English at home. Between language “worlds.”  Don’t see themselves as ESL due to speaking fluency and knowledge of social customs, U.S. culture and idioms. “I may be learning another language but I am not ESL.”  Identified by instructors as having weaker literacy proficiency than native speakers. Placed in low ability classes.  Identify with both U.S. culture and “home” culture. Develop language like group(s) they socialize and/or identify with.

15. Santa Ana Implications  Not a monolithic group!!  Writing samples are the most valuable assessment to identify Generation 1.5 students, not standardized placement tests.  They have very strong opinions about being labeled Generation 1.5. Results of our lesson study: Labels are bad!!!  Maintaining low expectations of these students is not the correct strategy.

16. Santa Ana New Questions?  How does language proficiency affect identity?  How do we meet learning needs WITHOUT adding new courses or additional layers to their education?  How do we utilize their language strengths as a bridge to acquiring academic literacy?  Are they between or fusing cultural worlds?  How do we make the institution aware of this population without stigmatizing them?

17. Los Medanos Umoja FIN Inquiry Passion: The retention and success of African American students particularly in mathematics. Problem: Many African American community college students enter developmental math classes with low efficacy and experience low success. Purpose: To investigate how addressing affective issues in the context of a math class may influence African American community college students’ cognitive abilities.

18. LosMedanos AddressingIdentity Los Medanos Addressing Identity Math Efficacy Measurement Tool Journal Writing Positive Affirmations

19. LosMedanos BuildingCommunity Los Medanos Building Community Brother/Sister Keeper – students are partnered with a brother or sister to hold each other accountable and encourage each other Group Projects – working together toward a common goal Everybody’s Business – atmosphere created where there are no secrets Community-based Projects – service learning project of relevance to the African American community

20. LosMedanos StudentVoice Los Medanos Student Voice

21. LosMedanos EmergingQuestions Los Medanos Emerging Questions What are other ways we can intentionally address learner identity in a mathematics classroom? How do we make an explicit connection between the affective issues (ie. math efficacy, learner identity, etc..) and students cognitive abilities? Is there a point when addressing affective issues is no longer necessary? How can we teach students to do “this” on their own in other classes and settings?

22. Cerritos Listening t o Students

24. Cerritos Insights How might this student’s identity be influencing her learning? What are the implications for our practice? Emerging thorny questions/issues?

25. Questions Questions Questions

26. Fromthe Margins From the Margins totheCenter to the Center FIN Basic Skills in Complex Contexts Thank You

27. Contacts Contacts A’ kilah Moore amoore@losmedanos.edu Sandy Wood Wood_Sandra@sac.edu Jan Connal jconnal@cerritos.edu Scott Hoshida shoshida@peralta.edu