| In this study, teachers' communication acts---the exchange of explicit and implicit messages in interactions---from a cross-cultural communications and adaptation perspective were examined. Inquiry focused on teachers' awareness of how they communicate and if they attribute any changes in themselves to experience in an urban high school setting.; Research literature indicates limited success providing preservice teachers with skills for articulating beliefs to successfully respond to the needs of a diverse population (Chavez Chavez, 1998; Goodman, 1998; Irvine, 1995). Additionally, staff development for practicing teachers has shown little success in helping teachers change their curriculum and instruction to respond to the academic and social needs of students in settings that may be unlike their previous schooling experiences (Gonzalez & Darling-Hammond, 1997). Yet, texts also exist that give voice to exemplary teachers of students who experience poverty, racism, or other social trauma (Landsman, 2001; Temes, 1998; Delpit, 1995; Ladson-Billings, 2001; Kozol, 2000.) In these narratives, the teachers' values for education and belief in students' ability to learn are prominent. In addition to what we learn from these narratives, we also need ways to more explicitly show how teachers operationalize beliefs on a daily basis in the decisions they make in their teaching life. At the heart of doing this is our repertoire for communicating.; This study focused on exploring teachers' communication in an urban high school through an integrative communications and cross-cultural adaptation conceptual framework (Kim, 2001). Teachers completed an author-made survey of theory-identified dimensions: personal communication, social communication, personal predispositions, intercultural transformation, and host environment. Survey data revealed teachers' student-centered focus, openness to change, awareness of differences, and tendency towards non-stereotypical thinking. Interviews followed the survey to assess shared meaning of survey prompts and to gain teachers' first hand descriptions of their communication-related experiences in an urban school. Interviews revealed common communication attributes among teachers for values clarification and related behavior, use of humor, need for student engagement, and tendency to appreciate the complexity of contexts. |
