Tiger Talk

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

2. Introduction Statement of problem Review of related literature Statement of hypothesis Method Participants (N) Instruments Experimental design Procedure Results Discussion Implications Table of Contents

3. 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.

4. Literary 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.

5. Non-Violent Communication • Non-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)

6. 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.

7. Statement of Problem • Setting: NYC public schools • Problem 1: Profane language and transgressive behavior, avoidance of academic work. • Problem 2: Punitive teacher tone and discipline failure. • Result: Breakdown of trust and communication.

8. Research Design • Quasi-Experimental: One treatment group • Surveys: several surveys will be conducted; a demographic survey, a pre-survey and a post survey • Design Pattern: OXO= Presurvey, treatment, and post survey • Non-Randomly Assigned: Researcher is using class assigned to them • This study will examine better ways for student and teacher to communicate; Tiger Talk. It will be conducted at an urban school in New York City, P.S. X. The students are grades 6-8.

9. Threats to Internal Validity • Maturation: Loss of interest by students over time • History: students may be inhibited by peers • Mortality: There could be a large dropout rate • Instrumentation: The surveys might be flawed • Maturation Interaction: These participants have different maturation rates over time

10. Threats to External Validity • Experimenter effect: Does the researcher have any personal biases? • Selection treatment: Non-random volunteerism. This project uses students from my class i.e., nonrandom • Participants Effects: Novelty effect-Student results maybe skewed by the newness of the study • Ecological Validity: Will treatment work in different environments ?

11. 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

12. Survey Response: Pre and Post

13. 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. RESULTS

14. Discussion • Not found by this study : strong correlations • Caveat: Don’t overestimate the graphs • Several questions : no marked changes. • More significant : factors difficult to quantify • Increased sense of camaraderie when working on developing the empathy code. • This may have skewed the of the statistical analysis • Positive response of students to the Empathy Code used to phrase the post survey questions.

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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.