SECONDARY SCHOOL CURRICULUM PREFERENCES OF MEXICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY LEADERS.

Abstract

This investigation sought the perceptions of a selected group of border-educated Mexican American community leaders regarding their curriculum preferences for Mexican American students of the community. The investigation was structured on the basis of a three-part theoretical framework drawn from the literature of psychology and education. The theory included the following: (1) Perceptual Psychology, (2) Philosophies of Education, and (3) Curriculum Considerations. An interview schedule organized on the basis of the theoretical framework was developed based on the Experimentalist, Conservative and Reconstructionist philosophies of education. These twenty Mexican American community leaders were interviewed in depth by the present investigator regarding their curriculum preferences for Mexican American students in their community. Among the findings, the following curriculum preferences indicated by the Mexican American community leaders appeared particularly significant: (1) Mexican American students should have the opportunity to have instruction in their native language throughout their educational careers; (2) Mexican American students should have the opportunity to experience a wide variety of positive personal relationships in the classroom and the school to strengthen their self-regard and confidence throughout their educational careers; (3) Mexican American students should have the opportunity to learn in a classroom environment where harmony between the intellectual and the emotional is continuously sought throughout their educational careers; (4) Mexican American students should have the opportunity to use their personal interests as points of departure for their learning throughout their educational careers; (5) Mexican American students, in order to be active and effective participants in society, should have the opportunity to acquire the leadership-cooperation skills of planning, thinking and deciding throughout their educational careers.