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Title Page:
Analysis Paper
“The Mexican Culture”
Amanda Penta
Florida Gulf Coast University
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Abstract:
My paper explores the different findings I discovered of the Mexican culture. I learned a
lot about the Mexican culture and about what it is like to be a student of such a diverse
population of people. Mexican people just like any other diverse culture that comes to America,
has a hard time adjusting and getting through their education. It is very difficult for them to read,
understand and communicate, as well as, make new friends and be able to socialize with their
peers. When it comes to dealing with diverse children it is also very hard on the teachers who are
trying their hardest to help those students as well as, the rest of their class. When teachers have
never experienced such a cultural shock in their classroom it can be very hard to accommodate
and help that child succeed in school or have support from their school or district.
Keywords: Mexican- culture, accommodating students
Literature Review:
Based on the findings I discovered throughout my research of the Mexican culture I
concluded from my first article that “most schools have a very large diverse population of
students, however, their teacher and staff are predominantly white and female (McHatton
2007).” This article discussed how difficult it was for Mexican, Latina mothers to have a child
with a disability and their fight with certain schools for accommodation and help. This article
talks about how these mothers have a difficult time trying to find the perfect school for their
children because a lot of schools are either unwilling to take them because they don’t have the
proper services, or they don’t have the right accommodations for these students. When thinking
about this situation, not only are the students disabled, but most of them are also ELL learners
and are attempting to learn English while also being impaired. These students not only had to
face trying to find accommodations for their learning and impairments but also their social life
and not having many friends or even being able to communicate with their peers.
In my second article I discovered a lot about the Mexican culture and their Latino beliefs
and customs. “According to this article for example, it states that to Mexican families it is
important to keep problems within the family all relating back to familism, so if a problem were
to be discussed outside the family it would be looked down upon (Sanchez Pg 2, 2009).” This is
very important to a family of Mexican culture and as future teachers, and I believe that we need
to understand that sometimes the students may act a certain way in the classroom based on their
culture and beliefs. Another example is, within Mexican families it is looked down upon to speak
out and give answers in class, because parents believe it is being a “know it all” etc. and it is not
demonstrated. This article also discusses how a lot of times “within a Mexican culture, families
do not seek out help and attention, therefore, as a future teacher we need to extend a helping
hand to the student in class, because they may not ask for help because of their beliefs, as well
as, to the family to help them get involved with their child’s education (Sanchez pg 1, 2009).”
One of the biggest problems as future teachers that we face is having parent relationships
when it comes to our students. According to the third article I read, although geared towards
special education teachers, stated that, “the Mexican culture does not have the same mainstream
values, traditions, and customs and Mexican parents have always left the education up to the
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teachers, with the parents and families having no involvement (Salas Pg 1, 2005).” As this article
discusses it is very hard for teachers whether it be special educators or regular teachers, it is quite
a unique challenge to get the parents involved, considering in Mexican cultures the parents
always leave it up to the teachers. As future educators we have to encourage parents to get
involved with their child’s education and assure that they are doing their homework at home etc.
This article gives great examples of how to get the parents involved and other strategies that
encourage this involvement, including parent-teacher conferences, and daily letter home in both
English and Spanish. As a future teacher we have to do whatever it takes in order to
accommodate our students as well as, get through to the parents, because our relationship with
the family is just as important. The more we know about the student and family, the easier it will
be to understand why the child behaves the way they do, as well as, help further accommodate
this student as needed.
Lastly, my fourth article is all about handling and conducting classroom management
when dealing with a widely diverse population. Throughout this article it discusses how to
organize our classrooms and conduct them in a fashion that will keep things under control and in
order but also accommodate students who are of diverse cultures. According to the article, it
states that as a teacher we need to “state the classrooms expectations, and behavior, create a
physical setting that supports academic and social goals, working with the families of students,
use appropriate interventions to assist students with behavioral problems, and communicate with
students in a consistent way (Weinstein Pg 2, 2003).”
Purpose of the Research:
The purpose of this research was to gain knowledge of the Mexican culture, and to
understand their point of view and what it is like for not only the student attending school, but
also for the teacher considering, if the teacher has never experienced dealing with such a diverse
classroom, and how the teacher can conduct classroom management and help accommodate with
this situation. I researched how a teacher can not only accommodate more for their students but
also how to get involved with the child’s life and family in order to better improve things starting
within their homes.
Participants and Data Collection:
During the course of our research, we interviewed a mother named Mrs. Plata who is
forty eight years old and of the Mexican culture. She also has a son named Jonathan Plata
Maldonado, also known as Johnny who is in sixth grade. He attends school at Eden Park Middle
School and changes classes every 55 minutes. The teacher interview was conducted at Johnny’s
school once having observed him in his classes. The student/parent interview was conducted
over the phone, and translated by one of our group members who spoke Spanish, so the rest of us
who didn’t, could understand what she was saying during the interview.
Analysis:
During our period of research I learned a lot about the Mexican culture and what it is like
to sit in a classroom being amongst people who may not understand you or understand why you
are different from them and stand out verse everyone else. When a student is of a different
diverse culture every other child in that class may be looking at them, making fun of them, and it
can be really hard to make friends and fit in just like everybody else as well as, understand the
material being discussed in class. In our research that was conducted with Johnny, his teacher
told us his best subject was History, but his worst subject is Reading, and he has a Puerto Rican
best friend in the class who which he is very social with however, is also is otherwise really
quiet, with an occasional outburst once in awhile. The teacher explained that sometimes his
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friends make fun of him for being Mexican, however, he doesn’t take it seriously and jokes
around too, but, he only speaks English in school and doesn’t really like to speak Spanish or help
translate unless he really has to.
The student we interviewed was Johnny, who has a lot of friends and is social in school;
however, he always gets made fun of and avoids speaking his own native language of Spanish,
because he is embarrassed and just wants to be “normal” and like everybody else in his class. As
far as Johnny’s home life was concerned, his parents fully expected him to do well in school, and
his mother is very involved with his education and in contact with his teacher. We have
uncovered a lot of information about the Mexican culture over the period of our research;
however, this family is different simply based on the fact that his mother is so involved with his
life and school work, and his teacher said that it helps a lot with Johnny’s accommodations in the
classroom to him understand and learn English more. Johnny’s background plays a role on his
learning experiences because from the teacher interview as explained before, his teacher told us
that he is only social with his one best friend and is otherwise, often quiet, and he sometimes has
outbursts, as well as, he gets made fun of, but takes it as a joke himself. Another example of how
his background affects his learning experiences is the fact that he is embarrassed to speak his
own native language around his peers even though a student should never feel that way about
their own culture and should rather be proud. As future teachers we need to express how
different cultures are exciting and that we must learn about each one, demonstrated in our class.
Johnny’s mother is very involved with his education and sets high expectations that he
will do well and graduate. His mother also expects that he will attend college just like everyone
else and she encourages him to work as hard as he can in order to do so. His mother also told us
how well the school accommodated their family by sending home newsletter in Spanish as well
as, she could keep track of his reading by having to sign off on the assigned homework. Mrs.
Plata also told us that she is happy Johnny’s school celebrates Mexican holidays such as, Cinco
de Mayo because she felt it was an important part of their culture that needed to be taught and
made aware in schools for students and families. Mrs. Plata also told us how she has very good
relationships with all of Johnny’s teachers even if they cannot speak good Spanish or
communicate because her biggest thing is the fact that the teachers are trying to reach out to her.
Johnny’s school has a lot of different cultural accommodations for diverse cultured
families such as, having a translator at PTA meetings, sending home newsletters in
accommodating languages for each different culturally diverse family, and phone calls were even
made home in Spanish by a translator so Mrs. Plata could understand. Overall, Mrs. Plata’s said
the school Johnny attends is very accommodating to them and she really appreciates the help the
school is giving her in order for her to stay involved, despite the fact, that she doesn’t really
know much English.
Conclusions with Implications:
After conducting this research, I gained a lot of knowledge about the struggles students
face and how they try to adjust in school, learn the language and do well. As well as, the teachers
who try and help accommodate them in the classroom, especially if the teacher doesn’t know the
language or has ever had this experience with a predominant diverse classroom before. My
recommendation for students would be, to not be embarrassed of their culture because it is who
they are and what will make them the person they are set out to be in the future. My teacher
recommendations would be, for teachers to get as involved as possible with these diverse
students, and get a translator as needed, as well, as talk with the family and parents to find out
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References:
Mchatton, Fall 2007 "Learning and listening from Mexican and Puerto Rican mothers of children with
disabilities." Listening and learning from Mexican and Puerto Rican single mothers; Volume 30,
Issue 4, Pg 237-248 http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.fgcu.edu/ehost/detail?sid=f38656b2f584-4c01-bab0bba69b90670e%40sessionmgr13&vid=1&hid=19&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#
db=eft&AN=508006995
Ramos-Sanchez, Lucila, and Donald Atkinson. Winter 2009 "The Relationships Between Mexican
American Acculturation, Cultural Values, Gender, and Help-Seeking Intentions." Volume 87,
Issue 1, Pg 62-71
http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.fgcu.edu/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=19&sid=0d25068c-870e45b0-941f50377aba9bb6%40sessionmgr15&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=eft&AN=508
118750
Salas, Loretta, Eric J. Lopez, and Kathleen Chinn. Winter 2005 "Can Special Education Teachers Create
Parent Partnerships with Mexican American Families." Volume 13, Issue 2, Pg 52-55
http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.fgcu.edu/ehost/detail?sid=fe6da01a-39b1-4b25-838c8de969ada311%40sessionmgr4&vid=1&hid=19&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#d
b=eft&AN=507850849
Weinstein, Carol. Fall 2003 "Classroom Management in a Diverse Society." Volume 42, Issue 4, Pg 269350 http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.fgcu.edu/ehost/detail?vid=10&hid=17&sid=51f337d167a1-42d3-914def9ab562f6f4%40sessionmgr11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=eft&AN=5078
57190
Word Count: 2,220
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Appendix:
Teacher Interview:
1. How does Johnny Plata act in class?
-quiet, will only have an outburst every once in a while like most student’s.
-He is quiet but friendly to all of his peers.
2. Have you seen an improvement in Johnny?
-I haven’t seen a large improvement in him but he is average in the class.
3. What is the subject he excels in the most?
-History
4. What is the class he is having the most trouble with?
-Reading
5. How do you plan on helping him excel in that class?
-I have tried multiple different teaching strategies and he hasn’t done as well as the rest of the
class but -I have a few more things to try with him
6. Do you think this school has a good program for lower level students?
-I believe the teachers try their hardest I just wish the district could help us out a little more with
providing for the students.
Parent Interview:
1. How do you feel schools have accommodated for culturally diverse students?
-The schools send newsletters in alternate languages for those who do not speak English.
-At the beginning of school administration sends home a survey to see what language the
newsletters need to be translated into before they send them home with the students.
-At PTA meetings there is a translator present so all parents are able to help out at the school.
2. How does the school involve you in Johnny’s education?
-Teachers have parents sign off on assigned readings so they know what is expected of their
children for homework.
-Teacher meetings where there is a translator present if needed.
-When Johnny was younger they sent home weekly news letters home so parents would know
the progress being made.
-Semester report cards.
3. Does the school hold any cultural celebrations or activities based on diverse cultures?
-The school does do a little celebration for Cinco De Mayo. They serve tacos for lunch and have
activities for the children to do; mostly teachers decide whether to incorporate culturally diverse
activities in the classroom.
4. Do you feel comfortable around Johnny’s teachers?
-Mrs. Plata says that she has always had a very good relationship with all of Johnny’s teachers
even if they did not speak Spanish and could not directly communicate with her.
-Phone calls home were made in Spanish so that Mrs. Plata could understand. Also Johnny
would help translate for his mother and teacher.
5. What are some special holidays that the Mexican culture celebrates?
Analysis Paper
-Are very catholic
-Every year around Christmas they reenact the Christmas story.
-Last day of the reenactments they cloth baby Jesus.
-Do not celebrate Mother’s day the same time as Americans, it is a week before.
-Father’s day is not as significant as Mother’s day in the Mexican culture. They believe that the
mother is more important and loving.
-Also Mexican’s do not really celebrate Cinco De Mayo as much as the more Americanized
Mexicans.
-They celebrate the Three Kings.
Johnny Interview:
1. Do you find it easier to understand instructions in Spanish or English?
 English or both
2. Have you ever had a teacher who spoke Spanish to you? And did you like it
better when your teacher could talk to you in Spanish?
 Yes, He liked it a little bit when they talked to him in Spanish but only because
they were not fluent and he found it funny.
3. Do any of your friends speak Spanish and do you speak Spanish with them?
 Sometimes, prefers English, because he finds it embarrassing talking in Spanish.
Some people speak Spanish to him; he doesn’t like people to know he speaks
Spanish because they might make him a translator.
4. Have you ever been bullied due to your heritage?
 Joking around any race who is his friends makes Mexican jokes.
5. Have you ever been put in a special class because of your heritage?
 ESOL in kindergarten even though he fluently spoke English and was kicked out
of the program early
6. Was school hard for you at any point because of language?
 No he found it easy to understand
7. He takes the FCAT like everyone else and gets good FCAT scores
8. Majority of his school is Spanish
9. Teachers have all been supportive for the most part teachers have not been
racist
10. Because his friend is Puerto Rican they all make fun of him
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