Why Do Cultural Differences Within Urban Chicago High Schools Results In So Many Discipline Problems - Essay Example

Why Do Cultural Differences Within Urban Chicago High Schools Results In So Many Discipline Problems This is a proposal to the study on the reason why cultural differences within urban Chicago high schools results in so many discipline problems. The literature reviewed in this paper highlights the prevalence of violence incidences in high schools in urban part of Chicago that more suggest as emanating from cultural differences among high school students. These discipline problems have prompted education policy makers and authorities in urban Chicago to engage on investigations as to how this trend of behavior can be controlled. The prevalence of violence incidences has led to high schools administrators hiring security guards and policemen. The literature further suggest that unless the community engage on promoting cultural tolerance among their children the situation will get out of control. Sources of information for this study come from both secondary as well as primary sources. The study intends to use questionnaires, interview schedules, observation as well as focus- group discussion in gathering relevant data for the study. The data collected will be analyzed by use of averages and percentages, which will be presented in form of charts, tables and social analysis. Why Do Cultural Differences Within Urban Chicago High Schools Results In So Many Discipline Problems Introduction Culture is people's way of life. It denotes what a people value and abides to as normal. It is that complex whole of a people's collective experience in life. It includes religion, political, economical, ethics, social and aesthetic. Ethnicity is an inheritance where members of a particular group perceive each other as emotionally bounded by a common set of traditional, worldviews, history, and heritage. The issue of ethnic and cultural identity has been a dominant and salient issue of many minority ethnic groups for along time. America institutions of learning have been the battlefield of this identity struggle. The high schools in urban Chicago have experiencing high incidences of racial and ethnicity related indiscipline where the students fail to uphold cultural tolerance towards teachers and other students from different cultural background. This has led to physical attacks, lack of respect and general deterioration of discipline in schools. Literature review There is increase in cultural related crimes and misbehaviour among students in urban Chicago. Chicago times reported that a group of white students attacked and racially abused a senior honour student. Despite the authority down playing the incidence as not racial related, there have been incidences of violence every day and each time is a student from one race attacking another from a different race. Normally, they hail racial sentiments at each other. This has made many students to fear attending schools since a day cannot pass without a violence incidence in school. This has made school administration to hire security guards and seek police help in keeping law and order in schools in Chicago (Chicago Sun Times, November 8th, 2006). Bona in his article mentions riots, mass protests and violence as some of the poignant index of student indiscipline among college and university students in India. He also identifies incidences where students disrupt examinations, physical attacks on respected professors and administrators as pointers of indiscipline among students. He attempts to explain the causes of students' indiscipline as falling into three major categories namely; psycho-social, economic and political. For him, students in developing nations are most likely to misbehave due to political reasons when institutions raise student expectations too high and fail to deliver. However, for minority groups in a dominant culture, students' misbehaviour may be as a result of economic suppression and psycho-social reasons. A look at the highly respected cultural values of Indian community no one would ever associate students unrest with their cultural background. However, western cultural influences do not escape the blame for prevalence of indiscipline in colleges and universities in India. (Bona, 1966). High School and Beyond data for 175 rural high schools collected by Haller, suggest that creating larger institutions will increase student misbehaviour. This is more so in schools with students of multicultural heritage and minority. For her, decisions to consolidate schools should rest on criteria other than equity, efficiency, and its effects on student behaviour. She discovered that in these criteria for school consolidation, student behaviour comes in handy, which should be considered in rising cases of indiscipline among high schools students. Education policy makers, school heads and parents should come together and consolidate their schools so as to minimize indiscipline incidences in urban Chicago schools. (Haller, 1992, pp. 145-156) According to Hamoond, Ort and Ancess, small sized schools will be ideal to serve and promote better performance in urban settings such as Chicago where there is high presence of minority groups and community with diverse cultural heritage. For them, this will not only promote high performance but will improve discipline and better behaviour among students in schools as well. In their inquiry, they discovered that out of the sampled small sized schools the level of indiscipline incidence has dropped drastically compared with schools with high number of students. (Hamood, Ancess & Ort, 2002, pp. 639-673). A study carried out by Iturre in Argentina in 1998 showed that there is a relationship between school composition, institutional culture and climate on one hand and students' performance and attitude towards education on the other hand. His findings is paramount to this study since it shows that cultural compositions of student populations might be a contributing factor towards the preference of indiscipline in urban Chicago high schools. The study further identifies a referencing model for future studies evaluating other factors of learning in high schools. (Iturre, 2005). In their quest for the incorporation of complementary schools that promoted minority culture in British education system, Angela and Martin argued that the system would be embracing the reality of multicultural Britain. This in turn would promote mutual understanding among different communities living in Britain. Urban Chicago where communities from diverse cultural and ethnic background live and attend school together should borrow this. This would help in reducing cultural related indiscipline cases. (Angela and Martin, 2006). Kottak and Kozaitis see institutions of learning as the prime centres for the promotion of cultural understanding. They should serve as centres where students from different ethnic and cultural background learn to appreciate others as different and that each one of us have an inherent right to look different (Kottak, Kozaitis, 1998). Interestingly this is not the case in most of high schools in urban part of Chicago. There is prevalence of high incidences of indiscipline, which in most cases have racial and cultural overtones. Rationale of the study This study is of paramount importance since it set to highlight the relationship between the individual cultural background and the way one behaves. This in turn will lead to the promotion of cultural diversity as a means of promoting discipline among high school students in urban Chicago. In addition, the findings of this research would made available to education policy makers so as to help them reduce indiscipline among high students in urban Chicago. Moreover, it would create awareness among Chicago urban community on the crucial role-played by ones culture in promoting good behaviour. It will also promote mutual understanding and cultural tolerance among various communities living in urban Chicago as well as high school students. Research questions This study will try to answer the following questions:- 1. Is Chicago urban a multicultural community 2. What are the incidences of indiscipline among high school students in urban Chicago 3. What are the causes of high level of indiscipline among high schools students in urban Chicago 4. Is there any relationship between cultural differences and levels of indiscipline among high school students especially in urban Chicago 5. What are the effects of indiscipline among the urban high school students in urban Chicago 6. What should be done to promote discipline among high school students in urban Chicago Methodology Population description The study targets the high schools in urban Chicago. The sampled population is made up of people from different ethnic groups, which define their cultural background. The study will specifically target high school teachers, students and parents. Sample selection technique Selection of the population sample will employ a stratified sampling technique. The identified clusters will consist of students from various high schools in urban Chicago, their teachers and parents. Ten (10) schools will be selected for the study. A sample of hundred (100) respondents will be picked; six (6) students, two (2) teachers and two (2) parents from each of ten (10) schools will be selected for the inquiry. Hundred (100) respondents is an ideal sample population since the study area is large. The stratified sampling will be used to ensure that the study area and population is thoroughly covered. This method also ensures that students from different ethnic groups and different schools are randomly selected for accurate representation of situation on the ground. Data collection instruments and procedures A number of data collection instruments will be employed, which will be tested to affirm their validity before actual use and the effective instruments will be selected and eventually used. The instruments the study intends to use include: - questionnaires, interview schedules, observation and focus-group discussions. During data collection a set of questions that will be easy to understand will be formulated about the study. These questions will be in form of questionnaires or interview schedules. There will be also a set of questions that will guide the researcher during focus-group discussions. A total number of sixty questionnaires will be dispatched to sixty high school students in urban Chicago and expected to be collected after one week. Every effort will be made to make sure that there is stratification in the distribution of questionnaires. The study will use questionnaire-interview method to guide teachers and parent respondents during interview. The researcher will also observe and record how students in selected schools behave and various indiscipline manifestations. Note will be taken in relation to their cultural and ethnic background. Finally focus-group discussion will be held and the proceedings recorded. The discretion on the criteria of group selection will be entirely on the researcher guided by the objectives of the study. Data analysis Analysis will involve both descriptive and social analysis. Data will be analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative analysis. The data collected will be organized into tables with respect to the study objectives before tallying. The tallied figures will be added before being converted to percentages using Statistical programs. Presentation The analyzed data will be presented using simple tables and charts. The tables and charts will be interpreted so as to relate the information they depict and what it means to the prevailing indiscipline situation in high schools in urban Chicago. References Haller, E, J.(1992), "High School Size and Student Indiscipline: Another Aspect of the School Consolidation Issue", Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, p 145-156. Hammond, L, D, Ancess, J and Ort, S, W, "Reinventing High School: Outcomes of the Coalition Campus Schools Project", American Education Research Journal, Fall 2002, Vol. 39, No. 3, pp. 639-673. Iturre, R, A, C, (2005) "The relationship Between School Composition, School Process and Mathematics Achievements in Secondary Education in Argentina", International review of Education, Vol 51, No.2-3, p. 173-200. Bona, J, D (1966), Indiscipline and Student Leadership in an Indian University, Comparative Education Review, Vol. 10, No.2, Special Issues on Student Politics, pp 306-319 Angela C, & Martin, P, (2006), Interaction in Complementary School Contexts: Developing Identities of Choice- An Introduction, Language and Education, Vol.20, UK. Kottak, C.P. and Kozaitis, K.A (1998) On Being Different: Diversity and Multiculturalism in the North American Mainstream, New York: McGraw-Hill. Chicago Sun Times, Chicago Kids protest School Violence, accessed on November 11th, 2006, available from; http://usconservatives.about.com/b/a/257208.htm. Read More