CULTURALLY ATTRIBUTABLE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN A STATESIDE SCIENCE TEACHER AND CHAMORRO STUDENTS ON GUAM

The following research is designed to illuminate certain major educational issues on Guam specifically those involving science classroom interactions between secondary students and teachers by providing a rationale for these interactions. At the onset it is important to recognize that Guam's public science education program is unique in that nearly all of our secondary science teachers are non-Chamorro, while most of the secondary students are Chamorro and have been raised on Guam. The significance of this difference in cultural perspective has is great in terms of the quality of science instruction and education in general. However, it's implications for science curriculum development and improvement is of major interest to this researcher.;Guam, as the rest of Micronesia, is in an area of the world which has been rapidly undegoing cultural change under the influence of the American educational institution. However, in order to comprehend the nature of the change and the inevitable areas of "conflict" and "resistance" that arises in change, one must become familiar with the background of both the Chamorro student and the Stateside science teacher each of whom exhibit their own values and attitudes.;The primary question addressed is, then: What are the culturally attributable interactions between the stateside teacher and Chamorro students? Utilizing a free flowing literary style, classroom dialogues and personal interviews are analyzed in the naturalistic tradition. There is no "testing" of hypothesis, as such, but rather the attempt is made here to provide a basis for providing discussions, raising questions and formulating hypotheses. Such hypotheses may, indeed, be subsequently tested using other more appropriate research methodologies by this or any other researcher.;Chapters I and II set the stage and provide a framework for understanding the history of the Chamorro vis a vis science education. Chapter III describes how scientific thought and science education has served as instruments of past cultural change in the West and discusses their effects on Guam. The nature of the present conflict between modern science teaching and traditional values and attitudes is delineated in Chapter IV. Chapters V and VI respectively deal with a description and discussion of a research paradigm which may be utilized to analyze and conceptualize such interaction and conflict in the classroom. Methodology and limitations of the research are elaborated upon in Chapter VI. Chapters VII and VIII respectively deal with presenting the classroom data in such a manner to best illustrate the American and Chamorro frames of reference. Finally, in Chapter IX these differing frames of reference are considered in light of research in cognitive styles. Also broad educational implications of the research are discussed.;Hence, there are fundamentally two sets of cultural perspectives to be explored in this study of a science classroom. One set involves the teaching-learning operation from the perspective of the Chamorro student. This student enters the school with a particular world view and set of phenomenological experiences, while operating within his own logical cultural framework. Similarly, the stateside or off-island teacher, often enters the school with a second set of experiences and cultural perspectives. This often exists in conjunction with a teacher mission utilizing a teaching methodology and philosophy developed in the States that by nature demands student and teacher play radically new roles in the classroom.