INFLUENTIAL BORDER-EDUCATED MEXICAN-AMERICANS AND THEIR PERCEPTIONS REGARDING TEACHER-STUDENT RELATIONSHIPS.

Abstract

The purpose of this descriptive study in Nogales, Arizona, was to replicate an investigation conducted by Avelina Trujillo (1982) in Tucson, Arizona. This investigation sought the perceptions of selected groups of Mexican-American leaders in Nogales concerning their recollected classroom relationships with their teachers. The investigation was based on a three-part theoretical framework drawn from the literature of psychology, anthropology, and education as established by Trujillo (1982). The theory included the following: (1) Perceptual Processes; (2) Cultural Processes; and (3) Interpersonal Processes. The interview schedule utilized in the Nogales study consisted of 29 statements and associated Likert type scales. Provision was made for comments for each statement. Twenty Mexican-American community leaders in Nogales, Arizona, were identified and interviewed, utilizing the interview schedule. This schedule dealt with the perceived relationships which the participants had with their various teachers. Findings indicate: (1) The participants agreed that their teachers were aware of them and their backgrounds. (2) The participants agreed that their teachers accepted them and their backgrounds. (3) The participants did not feel that their teachers neither encouraged bilingualism nor accepted the participants' native language. (4) The participants noted that their teachers appeared to be sincerely concerned about the academic health and welfare needs of the students. (5) The participants reported that their teachers aspired for them to acquire good educations. (6) The participants reported that their teachers shared with them in their educational and personal problems. The findings from this investigation were compared and contrasted with the findings of the Trujillo (1982) study. The comparison of the data in the two studies was accomplished by computing the differentials (chi square) in perception of each of the 29 items of the interview schedule. Items that were considered to be most significantly different in the two studies were discussed.