THE EFFECT OF PEER INTERACTION ON STUDENTS WITH LEARNING AND

BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS

Action Research

Katherine AbelLoyola Marymount UniversityEDUC 6869Dr. Mario Perez7 May 2011

“A human being is not attaining his

full heights until he is educated.”

-Horace Mann

• EDUCATION IS A NATION’S GREATEST RESOURCE AGAINST POVERTY, CORRUPTION, AND CRIME

• EVERYONE IS ENTITLED TO A QUALITY EDUCATION

• EDUCATION SHOULD BE APPROPRIATE FOR STUDENTS OF ALL BACKGROUNDS AND ABILITY LEVELS

• EDUCATION SHOULD TAKE PLACE IN AN ENVIRONMENT THAT IS CONDUCIVE TO GROWTH AND PRODUCTIVITY

An Equal Opportunity Institution

WHAT AMOUNT OF PEER INTERACTION IS MOST CONDUCIVE TO “BOBBY’S” FOCUS

AND ABILITY TO COMPLETE TASKS IN THE CLASSROOM?

Research Question

•Saint Anne School – Santa Monica, California

• founded by the Holy Name Sisters in September 1908

• founded under the auspices of St. Monica Church to serve the largely migrant farm-workers in the community

• has maintained the policy established by the Holy Name Sisters of exercising a preferential option for the poor

Setting/Context

Saint Anne School – Santa Monica, California

Has grown as an archdiocesan K-8 school serving diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds

Majority (70-75%) of students are of Hispanic/Latino ethnicity

Almost all students qualify for free or reduced lunch

About half of students speak a language other than English at home

No current inclusion program for students with IEPs

Context/Setting (Continued)

Subject of Action Research Project: “Bobby”

Male, 7th grade, age 132nd generation Brazilian-

American (speaks Portuguese at home)

Qualifies for free lunchDiagnosed with Attention

Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Visual Processing Disorder (VPD)

IEP specifies need for one-on-one guidance and instruction repetition

Popular student – interacts well with classmates (especially on soccer field)

When working independently, student is often unengaged and can lose focus

When working with others, student is engaged but easily distracted

Context/Setting (Continued)

“A liberal education is the heart of a civil society, and

at the heart of a liberal education is the act of

teaching.” -A. Bartlett Giamatti

Lev Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

Defined by Vygotsky as “the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers.”

The difference between what a person can do completely independently and what he/she can do with guidance from someone else

When working collaboratively or with guidance from more capable others, the steps to accessing higher-level thinking skills could be scaffolded enough to get the student on the right track, enabling him or her to complete much more complicated work than if he or she were working alone.

Key Theory 1

Key Theory 1

Lev Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

(Continued)

Key Theory 2

Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Divides and ranks the different types of human needs into a pyramid of five categories: physiological, safety, belonging, esteem, and self-actualization

Needs at the base of the pyramid, physiological, are the most basic of all the categories.

Once physiological needs are met, the category of needs directly above physiological on the pyramid, safety needs, are required to be met, and so on.

All needs in the pyramid are considered “deficiency needs,” or needs that must be met in order for a person to be content, except for the self-actualization need at the top of the pyramid.

Self-actualization is a higher-level need that is only desired once deficiency needs have been sufficiently met.

A student with low self-esteem is deficient in the “esteem” category of needs, and would need to feel valued and appreciated by his or her classmates and teacher in order for this need to be met.

Key Theory 2

Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

(Continued)

1. “ B OBBY” WI LL BE OBSERVED IN HIS CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR ON NINE (9 ) SEPARAT E D AY S

2. OF T HE 9 D AYS, “B OBBY ” WILL WORK I ND EPEND ENT LY FOR 3 D AYS, WIT H MORE CAPABLE OT HER(S ) FOR 3 D AY S, AND ALT ERNAT I NG BET WEEN IND EPEND ENT AND GROUP WORK FOR 3 D AYS

3. ON T HESE OBSERVAT I ON D AYS, “B OBBY ’S” OVERALL FOCUS AND TASK COMPLET I ON WI LL BE NOT ED, AND T HE NUMBER OF T I MES T HAT HE MUST BE RED I RECT ED WI LL BE RECORDED FOR COMPARISON

Methodology/Data Collection

“Education is a better safeguard of

liberty than a standing army.”-Edward Everett

Number of Times Redirection is Needed

Day 1*: 1 timeDay 2**: 4 timesDay 3***: 2 timesDay 4*: 0 timesDay 5**: 2 times

Day 6***: 3 timesDay 7*: 2 timesDay 8**: 4 timesDay 9***: 2 times

*Independent work day**Group work day***Mixed work day

Findings

AVERAGE NUMBER OF TIMES REDIRECTION IS NEEDED:

INDEPENDENT WORK DAYS: 1 TIME

GROUP WORK DAYS: 3 .33 TIMES

MIXED WORK DAYS: 2 .33 TIMES

Findings (Continued)

IN CONCLUSION, THE BEST WAY TO ENSURE A PERIOD OF LEARNING THAT

WILL ENABLE “BOBBY” TO REMAIN FOCUSED AND COMPLETE TASKS, HE

SHOULD WORK INDEPENDENTLY, AS IT REQUIRES THE LEAST REDIRECTIONS.

WHAT IS NOT EVIDENCED IN THE NUMBERS IS “BOBBY’S” ENGAGEMENT IN

AND ENJOYMENT OF HIS EDUCATION WHEN HE HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO

WORK WITH OTHERS. FOR A COMPLETELY HOLISTIC EDUCATION, “BOBBY” SHOULD HAVE A BALANCE

BETWEEN INDEPENDENT AND GROUP WORK.

Conclusion

“Education is not preparation for life;

education is life itself.”

–John Dewey