Running Head: STUDENTS’ CONSCIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY
ENHANCING STUDENTS´ CONSCIOUSNESS TOWARDS THE SOCIAL
VALUE OF SOLIDARITY
MAIRA STEFANÍA GÓMEZ MORALES
UNIVERSIDAD DISTRITAL FRANCISCO JOSE DE CALDAS
FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS Y EDUCACIÓN
PROYECTO CURRICULAR LICENCIATURA EN EDUCACIÓN BASICA CON
ÉNFASIS EN INGLÉS COMO LENGUA EXTRANJERA
BOGOTÁ D.C.
2016
STUDENTS’ CONSCIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY
ENHANCING STUDENTS´ CONSCIOUSNESS TOWARDS THE SOCIAL
VALUE OF SOLIDARITY
MAIRA STEFANÍA GÓMEZ MORALES
UNIVERSIDAD DISTRITAL FRANCISCO JOSE DE CALDAS
FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS Y EDUCACIÓN
PROYECTO CURRICULAR LICENCIATURA EN EDUCACIÓN BASICA CON
ÉNFASIS EN INGLÉS COMO LENGUA EXTRANJERA
BOGOTÁ D.C.
2016
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 3
NOTE OF ACCEPTANCE
Research Work Advisor
Álvaro Quintero Polo
Juror
Juror
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 4
“La Universidad no se hace responsable de las ideas, ni del contenido del presente
trabajo debido a que éstas hacen parte única y exclusivamente de sus autores”.
Capítulo XV, articulo 177, Acuerdo Número 029 de 1988 del consejo superior de la
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 5
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank God for guiding me to the purpose of my life, enlightening me
through this process and strengthening me with patience and wisdom to do my best and love my
profession.
Second, thanks to my family, boyfriend and friends who have supported me to cope with
every challenge during my career and their unconditional love. Moreover, I want to express
gratitude to every person who has enriched my life and the students that made this project
possible.
Finally, I would like to give special credit to my teachers and tutor, Álvaro Quintero, for
leading me in this process and contributing with their knowledge and dedication to my
academically and personal growth.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 6
Abstract
This qualitative research addresses students’ conscientization to the social value of
solidarity as it is portrayed in the responses to short stories among fourth graders at a public
school in Bogotá. The pedagogical intervention was implemented within an inquiry based
approach and students’ exposure to short stories that led them to become aware and reflect on
their role in society through the enhancement of their ideas, opinions and thoughts. Students’
statements were identified and interpreted through, questionnaires and field notes that were
analyzed to the light of the theoretical sources consulted in this study. The findings revealed that
students’ reconstruction of the social value of solidarity has to do with the recognition of the
other’s vulnerability and the relationship of this concept to friendship and respect values. This
study demonstrated that students’ reflections give account of a reality that needs to be understood
and transformed by the participants of the society, so when students related the stories to their
lives and context they became more aware of their role in their communities and the way they
and the others act.
Key words: conscientization, solidarity, critical pedagogy, shorts stories.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 7
Resumen
Esta investigación cualitativa aborda la concientización de los estudiantes hacia la
solidaridad como valor social y su representación en las respuestas a historias cortas entre
estudiantes de cuarto grado de un colegio público de Bogotá. La intervención pedagógica fue
implementada a través de un enfoque basado en indagación y la exposición de los estudiantes a
historias cortas, que los guiaron a ser más conscientes y reflexionar a cerca de su rol en la
sociedad a través de sus ideas, opiniones y pensamientos. Los enunciados de los estudiantes
fueron identificados e interpretados a través de cuestionarios y notas de campo que fueron
analizados a la luz de las fuentes teóricas consultadas en este estudio. Los resultados revelaron
que la reconstrucción de los estudiantes hacia la solidaridad tiene que ver con el reconocimiento
de la vulnerabilidad del otro y la relación de éste concepto con los valores de amistad y respeto.
Éste estudio demostró que las reflexiones de los estudiantes dan cuenta de una realidad que
necesita ser entendida y transformada por los participantes de la sociedad, de esta manera,
cuando los estudiantes relacionaron las historias a sus vidas y contexto, ellos fueron más
conscientes de su rol en su comunidad y la manera en la que ellos y otros actúan.
Palabras clave: Concientización, solidaridad, pedagogía crítica, historias cortas.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 8
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter I Introduction 7
Problem Statement 9
Research Question 11
Research Purpose 11
Specific objectives 11
Chapter II Literature Review 12
Chapter III Research Design 29
Research approach and type of study 30
Context and Participants 30
Instruments for data collection 31
Ethical issues 33
Chapter IV Instructional Design 35
Pedagogical Intervention 35
Instructional objectives 38
Theory of learning 39
Theory of teaching 40
Theory of language 42
Methodology 42
Description of material 44
Criteria for evaluation 45
Chapter V Data Analysis 46
Chapter VI Conclusions 69
Chapter VII Implications for further research 72
Chapter VIII Limitations of the study 74
References 75
Annexes
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 9
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This study conducted in a public school in Bogotá is focused on the exploration of fourth
graders´ outcomes in their process of conscientization towards the social value of solidarity.
These outcomes were described and interpreted in terms of opinions and reflections made by
students through the data collected to gain a thorough understanding of the social phenomena
presented in this particular environment. This research is framed under a qualitative paradigm
that emerged from students’ difficulties evidenced in the needs assessment when relating short
texts to their personal experiences and context. Also, the relevance to highlight students’
awareness of the knowledge they have acquired through their experiences and their role in the
society that allow them to make part of a social justice transformation that has to do with equity
and recognition of the other through the conscientization towards the social value of solidarity.
Considering the need of creating an appropriate environment for reflection about social
aspects with fourth graders at school, the implementation of reading strategies, activities and
dialogue were included with the purpose of empowering students to deeply read short stories and
help them to make connections to their own realities taking into account students´ skills in their
mother and foreign language.
The theoretical foundations of this study are Critical Pedagogy which seeks to create
spaces in the classroom where students’ voices are brought in order to connect their knowledge
gained through their social background and experiences to the conceptions about solidarity as a
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 10
social value that allow students and teacher to reconstruct their ideas and have a better
understanding of their realities and context. Moreover, the emphasis on working on solidarity as
social value was discussed from different perspectives that helped me to describe, interpret and
understand students’ conscientization towards this social value.
Bearing in mind that reading is a complex process in which students not only learn new
vocabulary but also learn to interpret notions of time, space, characters, values, culture, history
among others; the development of this skill is necessary to enhance students in their learning
process of English as a foreign language. That is why I decided to implement inquiry based
learning that allowed students to pass from a superficial reading to a deeper comprehension of
what students read in the sessions, making connections of the short stories to their realities and
become aware of the situations around them that reflected their perceptions towards solidarity.
Finally, in order to maintain a clearer view of this qualitative research, the organization of
this document will be explained as follows; first an overview of the research study including the
introduction, the problem statement and the research question and objective. Secondly a
literature review where I discussed the main constructs which were the foundations of this
project, then the research and instructional design. Continuing, the reader will find the data
analysis in which students’ statements and field notes were described and interpreted in the light
of the theoretical sources that supported this study in order to understand students’ process of
conscientization towards the social value of solidarity, as well as the conclusions obtained at the
end of this experience, references, annexes and the appendices.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 11
PROBLEM STATEMENT
I consider students in the classroom as active people who not only acquire specific
contents through the subjects they study but also who acquire values, beliefs and construct their
role as part of a community in this case their school, their neighborhood or their city. In this
work, fourth graders are encouraged to take part in the transformation of their English language
classroom realities in which as human beings they become critical, respectful, responsible, and
independent. Such transformation has to do with alternatives to reduce a gap that is created as a
consequence of intolerance, aggression and disrespect from some social actors against other
actors in educational settings. That gap calls for the promotion of social values that students
potentially have to tackle conflicts caused by it and that students face day by day.
Bearing in mind the need of this transformation mentioned above there is an immerse
relevance also to change the perception about students´ role to make them part of this process by
highlighting their voices reflected by their ideas, opinions and thoughts about the reality they
take part of which also takes part in the classroom settings. According to Hatchman & Rolland
(2001) it is clear to us that student voice is the missing piece, so often left out, in school
transformation. Even though, "...They [students] are in a very real sense, the primary
stakeholders in their own learning process we do not necessarily listen to them" (Lincoln 1995
cited by Hatchman & Rolland, 2001, p. 2).
Freire cited by Wachob (2009) asserts when stating the problem of the traditional
education in which students voices do not take place in the classroom but also that teachers have
the potential to combine scholarly reflection and practice in the service of educating students to
be thoughtful and active citizens; in this case the need of including students' voices about their
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 12
life experiences and let them take action in their learning process constructing their own
perspectives appears as an important component in the social transformation and educational
practices.
During my pedagogical experience carried out at a public school located in Bogotá with a
group of twenty fourth graders, I initially noticed a positive and enthusiastic attitude towards the
English class which created a good environment to develop different activities that allowed
students to work on their language development. However, through the development of some of
the lessons, students revealed a struggle when relating what they were learning and their real life
experiences related to social values. Thus, a needs assessment was applied to consider students'
voices about the relationship between their life experiences and the specific social values of
respect and solidarity. After analyzing students' responses to the questions established in the
needs assessment related to the way they could apply those principles to their context, their
answers were in the majority of the cases focused on surface aspects of reading comprehension
practices in the traditional English class which misled their attention from the sensible issues
they have experienced in their lives. This can be illustrated with some excerpts resulting from the
needs assessment:
One student´s response to the question: did you find any teaching in the story Juana the
giraffe? Was: …“no tiene enseñanza”, in the next point the student had to write any life
experience related to the story and the answer was: “no aplica…”1.
Moreover through one of the reflective journals written when finishing the classes I
found:
1 “No tiene enseñanza” refers to: “It does not have any teaching”, and “no aplica…”: “it does not apply”
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 13
Students were confused when they were asked to think about situations at school
or around them that reflected any relation to the topic learned, some students’ claims
were: “no entiendo, no sé teacher…” (Teacher reflective journal, April 25th, 2012)
This information called my attention and made me wonder about the way students were
relating the topics addressed in class and if there was any space in the classroom for them to
analyze and evaluate in a critical way what they were learning, which made students to
successfully complete exercises related to the English class but not in those where they had to
analyze, compare and relate that knowledge with their social reality.
RESEARCH QUESTION
How is fourth graders’ consciousness to the social value of solidarity portrayed in their responses
to short stories?
RESEARCH PURPOSE
To characterize fourth graders´ consciousness to the social value of solidarity as it is portrayed in
their responses to short stories in order to add understanding to the way they make sense of their
being as social actors.
Specific objectives:
To highlight students’ life experiences and thoughts through the use of short stories.
To identify and interpret students’ responses to stories in order to understand their social
awareness in relation to the social value of solidarity.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 14
CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
This study initially focused on the promotion of critical thinking taking into account the
phenomenon presented in the classroom about the struggle that students were having when
establishing relations between the topics learned and their life experiences. In order to enlighten
this phenomenon, I started a search about critical thinking considering that this would be an
appropriate way to address students and help them to go beyond the specific content of the class,
get familiarized with it to find possible application of the new knowledge to their lives.
However, I realized that critical thinking was just the frame within which the instructional part of
this study was set but was not the main concept that was at the core of the phenomenon that I
intended to explore, that is to say, students´ opinions and life experiences put them together to
work on the conscientization towards solidarity as a social value. The literature on critical
thinking seems to emphasize on the development of intellectual skills leaving aside the social
purpose of learning. As a result, Critical Pedagogy appears as the main construct to be discussed
through which students are encourage to voice their opinions and life experiences to take part of
the social transformation.
Critical pedagogy setting the path for students’ conscientization
Provided that this study has its theoretical foundation in Critical Pedagogy (CP), in this
chapter, my first point is about the relationship between students’ life experiences and one of
Freire’s postulates about Critical Pedagogy seeking to identify possibilities in the classroom by
offering schema to connect word to world and by its unyielding urgency of transformation
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 15
(Freire, 1970). This has to do with the idea that there is a remaining need to create a space in the
classroom that includes students´ knowledge gained from their world experiences and allow
them to establish connections between those experiences and what they learn to build new
knowledge and gain a better understanding of their reality. For that reason, Critical Pedagogy
serves as the bridge to empower students and bring their voices into the classroom to encourage
them to become active participants of the society.
Bearing in mind this emergency for transformation the following point that I will address
in this chapter is related to the way consciousness is portrayed towards the social value of
solidarity and the relevance of this process in the promotion of a social justice transformation in
the EFL classroom. Freire cited by Boswell (2011) states his posture about solidarity by saying
that “solidarity requires that one enter into the situation of those with whom one is solidary; it is
a radical posture" (p. 34). Moreover, in the exploration of this notion Freire argues that in order
to commit to true acts of solidarity one has to go through the liberating process known as
“conscientization”, in which people come to understand one´s notions of charity and build a new
sense of solidarity. For instance, this process of conscientization seeks to engage students in the
(re)construction of their notions about solidarity through the recognition of the other.
In order to understand the urgency for transformation claimed by Freire above, I consider
relevant to reflect about the current practices in our educational settings that will help us to make
sense of the principles that CP entails. That is why I would like to start describing a problem
debated nowadays about the education in Colombia that has been making emphasis on the
achievement of standards established in the different subjects. This issue has led us to focus on
models based on skills development where teachers are mainly concerned to help students to
accomplish international standards and language proficiency.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 16
Colombian authors like Correa and Usma (2013) discuss the actions taken by the
Colombian government in the promotion of the Program for Strengthening the Development of
Competencies in a Foreign Language that attempts to increase the level of English proficiency of
teachers and students to include the country into globalization processes. Correa and Usma in the
attempt to present an alternative proposal to the model established by these policies that consist
on a critical sociocultural model that seeks to include all stakeholders to improve the teaching
and learning of English in the State.
Likewise, Perez and Echeverri (2014) in their article “Making Sense of Critical pedagogy
in L2 Education Through a Collaborative Study Group” argue that the Colombian government
has included the use of imported standards like the Common European Framework of Reference
as guidelines to measure language proficiency in order to respond to the demands of global
markets and support the economic development. Perez and Echeverri also characterize the
current educational practices in Colombia within an instrumentalist model that persist on the
transmission and development of skills.
According to the ideas presented Perez and Echeverri about the instrumentalist model,
one characteristic of this model is “the marked focus on the teaching of language structures and
communicative functions that have little to do with students’ lives outside the classroom” (p.
173). In relation to that the authors distinguish that “within this model teachers seem to be
regarded as mere delivers of content that is not related to students´ lives, as trainers in skills that
do not necessarily help students cope with issues they face every day” (Perez and Echeverri,
2014, p. 174).
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 17
It is then evident that this reality shows us how teachers and students have to cope with
different issues inside and outside the classrooms. Here you find teachers and students struggling
with issues such as poverty, violence, intolerance among others. Taking this into account,
teachers cannot pretend to come into the classroom and teach specific contents excluding these
concerns and expecting their students to forget about their lives during class, while developing
skills that isolate their lives experiences. Perez and Echeverri (2014) asserts when they state:
In a country like Colombia, where signs of oppression and injustice are so
evident, we believe that English teachers here will be doing their students a
disservice if they limit themselves to teaching grammar structures and
communicative functions that are not related to students’ real lives. (p. 174)
In this traditional perspective students are not the only ones affected by the traditional
education; teachers also suffer the effects of an education that conceives them as channels of
information separated from their students in which teachers aim to plan the content of the
syllabus that students submissively adapt to it. Freire (1970) supports this idea when claiming
that teachers keep the legacy of banking education when they internalize the belief that their
main role is to be merely concerned with the transmission of information and distances
themselves from students´ life concerns so that the power of structure of the system is
maintained.
On the contrary, the principles of CP in opposition to the traditional education determine
the relationship between students and teachers in which they cooperatively work on the process
of learning to make sense of the knowledge and the world. Freire (1970) claims by the
expression “reading the world and reading the word” that education is produced collaboratively
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 18
and collectively through the reality of students’ lives. In connection to my initial idea, CP serves
as the channel to bring students´ thoughts, beliefs, aspirations and experiences into the classroom
and give value to them. The beginning of a transformation on educational projects must be at the
level of the people´s aspirations and dreams, their understanding of reality and their forms of
action and struggle (Freire, 1970).
Guerrero and Quintero (2013) investigated the voices of elementary school teachers about
Colombian educational policies through a study conducted in five localidades from Bogotá,
Colombia. This study reveals the oscillating identities built by teachers who have been
marginalized in the participation of the creation and reformulation of Colombian policies, but at
the same time, teachers who have found a way to fulfill the demands of the State and the needs
of their students. The findings of this study brought to light on the one hand, the contradiction
towards traditional models that see teachers as instructors since the teachers who took part of this
study claimed to know who their students are, their contexts and their needs. On the other hand,
that there is no policy that prepares teachers to face the issues they handle daily at schools and
more important that “love” is one of main motivations of teachers’ daily practice; Guerrero and
Quintero state:
“Love gives them the strength and the wisdom to take actions that result in quality
of life for their students. In this sense, their autonomy is manifested in the fact that,
different from the view of the government, they view education as a powerful tool to
transform lives in the long term. While the objective of educational policies is that
students achieve certain levels on State exams, teachers are concerned about helping
them to become good citizens, good people. (p.200)
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 19
This conception about love took me to the heart of what I internalized from reading about
CP and the studies and articles that attempted to criticize and evaluate the current educational
models. This is how I realized that education is about love and how I see myself through the
others eyes, how I recognize the others in that process and how together we make sense of this
world. Wink (2000) points out that critical pedagogy encourage people to find the magic of
discovery based on our own life experiences and its potential is all about people. “Education is
radically about love” (Freire cited by Wink 2000 p.2). I consider that there is a remaining need
for transformation but at the same time a growing hope for changing our realities.
Now, to me this is an inspiring idea that highlights the role that teachers and students
have in the adoption of a critical perspective that allow them change the perception of both of
them. For instance, I would like to exemplify this idea with an inspiring blog published by
Nickalls (2015) called: “I wish my teacher knew: the hashtag that’s changing the way teachers
see their students”, in which the author describes the story of Kyle Schwartz, a third grade
teacher at a Denver elementary school in the United States, who started a hashtag movement
with a simple assignment that reflects the needs and thoughts that her students wanted her to
know about their lives through notes they wrote and the impact that these notes had for her
understand her students’ lives and struggles. These are some of the students’ notes that Schwartz
posted on her twitter:
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 20
Through this lesson Schwartz expresses that students were inspired to help each other and
that the intent of the assignment is to build community in the classroom. The author of this
article finally concludes that “keeping an open dialogue between teachers and students is an
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 21
essential and often overlooked aspect of communication”, but also believes that this exercise is
evidence of how teachers can make a huge impact as well as it reminds us that students can teach
us as much as teachers can, “We just have to listen”.
In the same train of thought, Samacá (2012) refers on her article towards the reflection of
our classrooms through a critical pedagogy view that being a teacher implies time to listen to our
students´ problems, to make them feel loved as well as listen to them expressing their personal
points of view about situations that are not necessarily academic. This process requires a
transformation of students and teachers conception that Wink (2000) considers as the result of
the interaction between the two of them.
Looking for the spaces in our classes to bring up students´ voices must be teachers’
concern and task, which it may be challenging and sometimes we may get confused about the
most accurate way to do it. For this reason, Critical pedagogy portrays the way to start lighting
the path for teachers and students for a social change in the classroom. As the author of the
article mentioned above, dialogue between students and teachers is an indispensable aspect in
communication; even though, from a critical point of view is the base for the change of
educational practices that I will explain in detail below.
“No matter if they are students of the university or kids in primary school or
workers in a neighborhood or peasants in the countryside, my insistence on staring from
their description of their daily life experiences is based in the possibility of starting from
the concreteness, from common sense, to reach rigorous understanding of reality”.(Freire
and Shor,1987, p. 20)
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 22
This statement reflects the conception of a dialogical education conceived by Freire that
consists on the understanding of the world on a first place by understanding students’ life
experiences to gain comprehension on concrete concepts of the reality. That means when the
teacher comes to class, he/she has planned the object to study with students, despite that fact,
teachers and students must get involved in a reflection of the object to study in which students
can establish a relation with their life experiences in order to make sense of the concepts and
start a reconstruction of these ones accompanied by the teacher.
This brings up the question of what dialogue means in this alternative education and how
this dialogue enriches the purpose of this education that is a social transformation. Assuming that
humans are communicative beings who communicate to each other, dialogue seeks to extend that
natural ability and become more critical communicative beings. However, “communicating is
not mere verbalism, not mere ping pong of words and gestures. It affirms or challenges the
relationship between the people communicating, the object they are relating around and the
society they are in” (Freire and Shor, 1987, p. 14). Thus, dialogue comes to transform the
communicating process into a reflection about the reality of the society within this process take
part.
In this conception, Freire and Shor (1987) claims that dialogue raises the awareness about
the social relations and recreates the knowledge as well as the way we learn. For instance, when
students and teachers meet upon reflection in the classroom about their reality, dialogue breaks
down the traditional idea of the relation between them in which the teachers come and present
the ideas that students are supposed to adopt and later on to produce in the same way. In this
process of reflection mediated by an open dialogue students and teachers realize about what they
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 23
know and they do not know which leads them to act critically to transform their reality (Freire
and Shor, 1987).
Conscientization towards the social value of Solidarity
At this point one may be wondering about the place that takes the conception of
“conscientization” that was initially mentioned in this chapter and the relation with the social
value of solidarity. Thus, I would like to clarify the idea about the role that this concept that
some people will find unknown or bizarre as I did at the beginning of this study.
In this respect, standing on a critical perspective that seeks to enhance students´ voices
with the purpose of transforming the role of them and teachers as listeners and speakers that
recreate their relations and start reflecting about their lives. “Critical pedagogues claim that when
students and their teachers know that they know, the phenomenon of conscientization has taken
place, Abraham (2005). In this perspective, not only the teachers are the owners of the
knowledge but so are students, and putting both together we can transform learning and teaching
experiences into a meaningful practice for them.
Given that, conscientization lead students’ to understand the notions of their realities and
what they have learned from it and at the same time to recognize what others have learned. Thus
students reconstruct their ideas about social values (solidarity in this study specifically) when
they meet upon reflection with their teacher and peers to interact about their conceptions and life
experiences.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 24
Here, the relevance that dialogue has in the achievement of conscientization appears as
the first step to approach the other as an equal (Boswell, 2011). Essentially, when students and
teachers get involved in this process they become more open to listen to the other´s opinions and
perspectives of the world, beyond that, this process lights up the spark of awareness about
students’ knowledge and the importance in the (re)construction of the reality. According to
Freire cited by Boswell (2011) conscientization “is primarily a subjective feeling if new insight”
(p.14).
As result of these new insights, students get closer to the liberation process of breaking
down the barriers of class and conflicts that separate one to each other. Provided that solidarity
as a social value comes up as the notion constructed in society to bring together people in a sense
of charity, help equity and hope. As shown by Samacá (2012), classrooms are partly affected by
the real representation of society in which students express what they are and the social values
they have learnt in their families. Moreover the author claims that for those who want to
transform the school settings by working on values such as respect, tolerance, justice, and equity,
it is important to highlight the activities that empower students to explore their feelings from the
inside.
Katsarou, Picower and Stovall (2010) points out that in the development of
conscientization one has to cultivate a close knowledge about one’s teaching environment. This
involves a transformation in the classroom in which teachers promote activities that allow
students to share their opinions, concerns, dreams and experiences with the purpose of
understanding their contexts and needs. This transformation calls for social justice by working in
a sense of solidarity in which “teachers must recognize issues and concerns that affect students
and their communities” (p.150).
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 25
When carrying out this study and working with students I realize the importance of
getting to know the environment and the context in which I was working. Firstly, it helped me to
understand the dynamic of the group and the way their relationships were recreated in the
classroom, their considerations about the other and how these considerations were reconstructed
when sharing with their peers. Secondly, it helped me to approach myself to students and gain a
better understanding of their needs and issues. Hence, while reflecting with students about social
aspects my awareness about my role as teacher changed and my comprehension of the reality
was also reconstructed.
Based on this experience I strongly agree with Wink (2000) when she claims that
students and teachers are empowered to have confidence in their own knowledge, ability and
experiences though the process of conscientization. Thus, conscientization can only take place
through the interaction between teachers and students since it highlights their knowledge and
experiences gained during their lives and bring them together in order to understand their
contexts and realities.
Now, the relevance of this process of conscientization with a social transformation has to
do with the emphasis on students’ awareness of the knowledge they have acquired though their
experiences and lives and the recreation of this knowledge through the dialogue led with their
classmates and teacher that will allow them to realize about their power to act upon the realities
they reflect about. In fact, Daniel Schipani cited by Boswell (2011) argues that only when people
find the interrelation between knowledge and power at the heart of conscientization real
transformation happens. In accordance with the need of fostering social values that help students
to act in the construction of a better society the conscientization towards the social value of
solidarity emerge as vital in the idea of a social transformation.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 26
Given that, students’ conscientization lead them to reconstruct their ideas about the social
values that are initially constructed at the heart of the society students have had contact with at
the center of family and which continues at school when they socialize with their friends and
peers. In this connection, this study attempts to explore the notions that students reconstruct in
the classroom toward the social value of solidarity taking into account that students are
considered people in process of formation who come to class with knowledge they have acquired
in their families.
Then, with the purpose of exploring students’ conscientization towards the social value of
solidarity it is important to understand the conception of social value and especially about
solidarity but also the process in the development of these notions. For this reason I will go
through some conceptions I found about social values and its connection with the process of
conscientization.
Social values are defined by Dueñas (cited in Gómez and Rojas, 2012) as values acquired
by humans from society that help them to be an integral human being. In addition, Gómez and
Rojas (2012) in their study about the reflection on social values through an EFL story telling
experience characterizes social values as the ones that help to value the world, the society and its
people, moreover, allow individuals to make choices from different options based on his/her
personal interests. Similarly to this Hernandez, Parada and Sanchez (2009) state toward the
conception of social values as the human perception of what is good, better and best for the self
that have been internalized in the socialization process given in society, with family, group of
pairs at school, and the most important values for a person constitute the core of their
personality, guidance, orientates individuals’ decision making and are the base of their self-
concept and self-esteem.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 27
In this respect the exploration of students’ perceptions and ideas about the social value of
solidarity has an important role in the process of conscientization since students start being aware
of their actions and what orient them; which I consider is the first step to take action in the
reality. According to Hayes (1913) individuals’ actions are like a shield in which one side is
exposed to the world and the other pressed against the heart, for instance, he explains that when
we refer to experiences we refer to physical actions but when we refer to value, they can only
exist in “consciousness” and can never be seen or weighed.
However, according to Gómez and Rojas (2012) every person has to live a process when
acquiring and shaping values; this process has to do with moral development and its evolution is
developed along ages and the interaction with the context. From this perspective it is considered
in this study solidarity as a moral value that is acquired through socialization in group or
personal experiences. When students meet up upon reflection towards their considerations about
solidarity and the analogies they make from the stories to their lives and experience their moral
development and simultaneously their consciousness are growing up. Provided that I believe
that the process of acquiring and shaping values is a constant activity that people conscious or
unconsciously is constantly working on and developing. Also, that as these perceptions and
beliefs are socially built, it changes with the time and according to the context.
As this process is highly remarked by socialization, Gómez and Rojas (2012) affirm that
values are initially acquired at home and then move forward at school. This point is relevant
because when students go to school they come with knowledge they are not fully aware and
when they socialize with their classmates and peers, students find out other perspectives and start
shaping their ways to perceive, interact and participate in society (Hernandez, Parada and
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 28
Sanchez, 2009). This process is known according to CP as conscientization and it attempts not
only to build communicative exchanges but dialogue, through the members of a community.
Finally, as a consequence of the process of conscientization students’ are led to
reconstruct their own notions about solidarity. Solidarity as previously stated is considered in this
study as a moral value but I have decided to go through different perspectives of this term to
have a better understanding of students’ ideas and experiences in relation with the conception of
it.
To start, Freire (cited in Boswell, 2011) states that "when one sheds pious, paternalistic,
and sentimental actions, one can move one step closer to solidarity, a state in which one "risks an
act of love" (p. 35). That is to say that solidarity as a social value bring us together in sentimental
actions that allow us to step on the other´s shoes to understand how they feel and give support. I
realize that students express this sensitivity towards the other in their opinions reported in the
questionnaires and the ideas they shared about the actions presented in the story but also when
they made their analogies with their life experiences.
This sense of solidarity in which sentimental actions allow individuals to approach the
other in the understanding of his/her needs, also permit the inclusion of other people in the
relationships commonly recognized by students which promotes the idea of equity where I see
myself as an equal to the other no matter the conditions, the social status, the place of belonging
or the race. Wojtyla (cited in Boswell, 2011) states that “when one adopts an attitude of
solidarity, one interacts with an "acute sense" of understanding the needs of the other” (p.89).
This implies sensitivity in relation to the self and the other in which students are able to see
themselves though the other and understand the other’s needs and vulnerability.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 29
According to Rorty (1989) a sense of solidarity is created when humans share suffering
experiences that lead to the realization of people who are totally different can be “us” and not
and impersonal “they”. From this perspective solidarity appears again as a value that seeks to
create a sense of equity between people who do not have a direct relation through the bonds that
emerge from the understanding and partnership when one faces a vulnerable situation. Students’
life experiences are representation of the realization of the suffering experiences they share with
other people that let them to perceive themselves through the other.
Nevertheless, in contrast to these considerations about solidarity as a social value other
conceptions has been contemplated by authors like Anne Carr (cited by Boswell, 2011) who
claims that solidarity is reflected as a spirituality of friendship, interdependence and community.
In this respect, solidarity serves as the chain that consolidates the sense of friendship between
individuals even though it discriminates the other who is not part of that group of people one is
related to, in other words “friendship demands that some are excluded from the relationship and
it cannot include everyone” (Healy, 2011 p.232).
A study conducted by Mendez and Garcia (2012) on the elementary schoolers’ power and
solidarity relations in an EFL classroom reported that different forms of exercising power and
solidarity are presented in the classroom in which solidarity has a connotation when students
align with their partners regarding certain issues. This allows learners to establish more equity
among them. Additionally, the authors found that students show solidarity towards each other
when they work together in order to achieve a general benefit for the group which let the authors
concluded that solidarity is constantly developing in the classroom where learners identify
themselves with the others.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 30
I realized from my experience in the classroom that students’ notions about solidarity
vary according to their own backgrounds but also that these notions may change with the
socialization of them with their classmates and teacher. Besides, the interaction between students
is a reflection of these notions of solidarity that generates and sensitivity towards the others’
perspectives, moreover, when they were working together in the activities proposed they showed
this partnership sense towards the accomplishment of the tasks.
To conclude, I believe that CP sets up the path for students and teachers to the
transformation of education that has to do with the engagement of students’ voices and
experiences that are reflected through the dialogue that leads them to take part of the process of
conscientization. This process allow students to understand the notions about solidarity as a
social value that they have learned from their experiences and backgrounds and bring them
together to recreate and reconstruct students’ perspective of the world.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 31
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH DESIGN
This study is framed under a qualitative research carried out in a public school in Bogotá,
Colombia. The aim of this study is to characterize fourth graders´ outcomes in their process of
conscientization towards social values that will be described and interpret in terms of opinions
and experiences through the data collected to gain a thorough understanding of the social
phenomena presented in this particular environment. Given that the qualitative paradigm deals
with the explanation of social phenomena in which attitudes, opinions, experiences, and feelings
of individuals produce certain information (Hancock, 1998), it fits the purpose of this study to
highlight students’ thoughts and opinions in the classroom to understand their realities and take
part of the transformation of it.
In addition, this study attempts to describe and interpret students´ outcomes as mentioned
above considering those the starting point for the understanding of their process of consciousness
towards solidarity, providing student’s ideas and relations they make with their realities, this
process situated in the thought, language, aspirations and conditions of students and shaped by
the training of the teacher who is simultaneously a classroom researcher (Freire and Shor, 1987).
For instance, qualitative research seeks to make sense of and meaning from descriptions
often distinct of this paradigm in order to understand the educational world (Lankshear and
Knoble, 2004). Moreover, all research is interpretative since it is guided by a set of beliefs and
feelings about the world and how it should be understood and studied (Denzin and Lincoln,
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 32
2000) which is described by Lankshear and Knoble as the nature of qualitative approaches to
acknowledge that research actually (re)constructs realities.
Following this train of thought, this study is set up within a qualitative and interpretive
research taking into account that it deals with qualitative data characterized by students’
opinions, experiences and feelings towards the social value of solidarity that were interpreted
with the purpose of gaining a better understanding of a social phenomenon based on beliefs and
feelings which foundations come from the theoretical background of the study.
Context and Participants
This study was carried out in a public school located in the 10th zone of Bogotá
(Engativá). This school is divided into two facilities, the principal building focusing on fourth,
fifth, and high school and the second one housing pre-scholar grades and primary until third
grade.
The principal headquarters is two floors and contains one library, two cafeterias, one
teacher room, a computer lab which had not been currently used while equipment was being
repaired, a radio station, sport areas, one auditorium and a small room in which students can
prepare performances. The classroom in which this study took place is well distributed and had a
large space that allowed the teacher and students to move around when necessary. It had around
40 seats, one teacher desk and it has not any media material, however, teachers could book in
advance the use of mobile media equipment that was available for delivery into the classroom.
This research was carried out with 22 fourth graders of the afternoon shift, who are
between 9 and 11 years old from low and middle-income households. As fifth and forth graders
are situated in the same building of high school sometimes students of primary school have
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 33
negative influence of students from higher grades and also some problems appeared due to this
fact. Fifteen students were selected taking into account the relevance of the data content in the
instruments gathered in contribution to the understanding of the phenomenon to explore in this
study.
In this study, fourth graders are considered people who are in the process of formation in
the conscientization towards social values. According to this process of formation the school
made specific emphasis on the promotion of social values presented in the principles of the
institution such as: kindness, punctuality, auto control, quality, equality, collaboration, respect
for the commitments, honesty, sense of belonging and loyalty with the school and the classmates;
finally prudence. Moreover, the school frames the profile of its students as “balanced in his/her
individuality and his/her social being, characterized by respect for life and recognition for the
other´s rights, with ability to harmoniously live with him/herself and people surrounding”.2
Bearing this in mind, I started this research project with the attempt of exploring students´
process of construction of these social values, considering also the perceptions expressed by the
teacher towards students as sometimes conflictive and hard to manage, emphasizing the need of
promotion of values over the instruction based on the subject contents.
Instruments for data collection
In this study, students account for their perceptions and opinions in the process of
sensibilization towards social values, for this purpose two main instruments were applied in
order to gather the data to be analysed to the light of the theoretical sources consulted for the
understanding of the phenomenon of this research as it is illustrated later in (Graphic 1) that
2 This information can be found in the official web site of the school. http://www.iejas.edu.co/
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 34
explains the triangulation methodology in order to validate the information gathered from the
data collected.
Questionnaires
For the validity of the information gathered I included some questionnaires to
analyze specific information about the students’ ideas, and to identify and interpret
students´ process of conscientization towards the social value of solidarity during the
pedagogical intervention. Bell (2005) claims that: Questionnaires are a good way of
collecting certain types of information quickly and relatively cheaply and that they are
useful to analyze and interpret data. Students written statements are the main input of this
instrument as introspective data.
Field notes:
In order to record the observations about the reflections carried out during the
lessons where students´ claims and opinions towards social values took place, field notes
were taken during and complemented after the classes while students were developing the
activities and dialogue with the teacher. According to Lankshear and Knoble (2004), field
notes are descriptions of what is taking place as well as direct quotations of what is said
wherever possible. These are descriptions and accounts of events in the research context,
which are written in a relatively factual and objective style. It focuses on answering who,
what, where, when, how, why questions (Burns, 1999). This instrument is useful to see
and describe students’ opinions and thoughts in the classroom, but also their attitudes
towards the readings, the discussions and the sharing ideas moment as an observational
data that provided students’ claims as the principal input of this instrument.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 35
In terms of validity of the information, I carried out the confrontation of the
instruments that account students´ voices as the introspective data, the theory and other
studies that illuminates the study and the observational data gathered from the field notes
in order to develop the pertinent data analysis.
Graphic1. Methodological triangulation
Ethical issues
Bearing in mind the responsibility that lies on the researcher when developing a research,
some important aspects were considered to ensure the reliability, validity and credibility of this
study. First, the participants were explained about the purpose of the study and the methodology
to follow along the sessions, taking into account their rights and maintaining a respectful
treatment through the whole study.
On the other side, students were aware of the fact that the participation in the study was
optional and they could stop being part of it at any time but also considering they were under the
Students’ DECLARATIVE STATEMENTS AND ANALOGIES (Questionnaires &
drawings)
Researcher’s observation (Field notes)
Theoretical sources/other studies
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 36
age of eighteen, consent forms were summited with explanation of the intention of the research
and the responsibility in the preservation of students´ anonymity in order to be signed by fourth
graders´ parents authorizing their children participation in the research. (See consent form in
Annex 1)
Secondly, in order to approach reliability this study provides detailed description of
setting, participants, methodology, methods and process of the research. Moreover, the evidence
interpreted was gathered by excerpts from the data, guaranteeing students’ voices were the main
unit data to support the findings of the research.
Finally, methodological triangulation of the multiple data collection methods as
illustrated in graphic 1, give account of the validity and credibility of the research, in which
participants’ questionnaires were used as introspective data supported by the other sources.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 37
CHAPTER IV
INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN
This pedagogical intervention was carried out by the teacher researcher with students
from the afternoon shift in a public school located in the Northwest of Bogotá. During the
pedagogical intervention the teacher researcher was acting as participant-observer, teaching and
observing simultaneously while getting to know the participants through the activities proposed
for each lesson, but also recording the observations made in the field notes at the end of each
session to review the most relevant insights and aspects to work on previous sessions but also to
keep record of students process toward the phenomenon in study. The participants in this
intervention were twenty two students whose ages ranged from nine to eleven, who showed
management of basic vocabulary and grammar in English and a low level on their reading
development. Based on the difficulties presented and the interest expressed by students to work
on their reading skills the following pedagogical intervention was designed.
The pedagogical intervention: Using short stories within an inquiry based approach
Taking into account that the phenomenon of this research has to do with students’
conscientization about the relation between their social realities and the knowledge learnt at
school, a selection of short stories was chosen to study this phenomenon through the responses
students gave to them, but also as part of the pedagogical innovation.
These authentic stories such as: “The good Samaritan, The Sower, The Pipeline among
others” (See graphic 3) served as an effective tool to start working on students´ reading process
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 38
in English based on the fact that students expressed not having read any text in the foreign
language before. As some of the stories were known by most of students they helped them to feel
familiarized with the language and understand the main ideas of the stories, suiting students’
English proficiency and making the reading process more enjoyable.
Based on learners’ needs these stories were also picked because of their simplicity to read
and the variety of situations in which students were analyzing, interpreting and answering
questions that were stated to get students’ meaning negotiation. Collie & Slater (2002) stated that
the criteria of suitability to make a decision on the selection of texts depend on each particular
group of students, their needs, interests, cultural background and language level, giving a
particular relevance therefore in the relation of these texts to the life experiences, emotions, or
dreams of the learner. For instance, short stories in this study had an important role because
children were able to relate them with their cultural background in which they have had contact
with the stories in different places. These include church, home and religious classes which
allowed them to bring their knowledge gained through these experiences actively and in response
to them.
In addition, the short stories worked with students during the sessions are characterized
by meaningful teachings that lead students to become aware and reflect on their social role in the
society, creating a positive environment in the promotion of dialogue among students and
teacher, considering dialogue as the base for students’ consciousness and enhancement of their
ideas, opinions and thoughts.
Now, considering that short stories were the main tool to work with students in order to
portray their responses towards the social value of solidarity; the need of putting into practice an
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 39
approach that suited the purpose of promoting dialogue, reflection and bring students’
knowledge into class came up. For this reason, I decided to implement in this pedagogical
intervention the inquiry based approach taking into account the following important aspects.
First, inquiry based approach is explained as the process of inquiry that solves questions,
curiosities and doubts about complex phenomenon of life (Barell, 2007). Thus, involving
learners in a process of inquiry leads them to the reflect and gain a better understanding of their
realities, considering different perspectives and solutions to the problems and situations they
have to cope in their daily life.
Second, inquiry based approach is significant to be implemented in EFL when dealing
with literary selections. Gellis (2002) points out that it has been designed for students with
limited expertise in literary criticism. As mentioned above, students had not had experience on
reading in English before, so this approach was appropriate to motivate learners to start this
process and help them to relate the content of the class to their real lives. Hence, inquiry based
approach not only set the frame for this pedagogical intervention but also it consequently
addresses students to improve their critical skills when inferring information, contrasting and
comparing with previous knowledge students have gained through their lives.
In this way, problem situations and questions were established from the stories read
through different activities in class like questionnaires, posters, drawings and discussions to be
analyzed by students, stimulating reflection and interaction between the participants in order to
engage them in their process of conscientization, constructing and reconstructing new
perspectives of the world.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 40
Consequently, I found Inquiry based approach meaningful for this intervention because it
enriches students’ intellectual and personal process. Barell (2007) reports some of the
researched-based reasons to include inquiry based approach in which it is portrayed that it
develops critical thinking skills that lead students to deeper understanding of the information and
generates cooperative learning when motivating students to think and make choices with peers,
affecting assertively students’ accomplishment.
Maintaining the purpose of guiding students to become aware of their own knowledge to
be an active participant of the social transformation through the reconstruction of their notions
about the social value of solidarity, the implementation of inquiry based approach seeks to help
students to find those new insights when inquiring about different problems and question about
their own perspectives, bringing them up through the responses, the relations and interpretations
they make on what they read on the text and what they live and think.
Objective:
To encourage students to read short stories in English in order to reflect on
them and give meaning to their real life experiences.
Specific objectives:
To promote students’ reflection and expression of their ideas, thoughts and
opinions through the responses given to problems and questions based on short stories.
To lead students in the use of reading strategies to infer and identify the
main ideas and characters of a short story in English.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 41
The following graphic illustrates the main concepts taken into account along the
pedagogical intervention:
Graphic2. Pedagogical intervention
Theory of learning
Learners are involved in their own process of learning when they have the opportunity to
explore, analyze and solve different problems in which they not only learn new constructs but
they activate their cognitive skills to apply the knowledge to solve their inquiries. Elementary
scholars are usually given the questions and the solutions to facilitate the learning process for
them; however it causes a negative effect when they are exposed to different situations in which
they have to apply what they have learnt. Thus I consider that inquiry based learning is not only
appropriate but also effective way to meaningfully learn a foreign language because students
Language as mean of interaction to create
relationships and construct
new knowledge.
Inquiry BasedLearning
Human vocation is to take action which
changes the world for improvement of life
condition.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 42
learn the content, language form and function, develop the four basic skills: reading, speaking,
listening and writing moreover their cognitive and critical skills.
Morales and Landa (2004) remark inquiry-based learning stimulates learning when
students face the cognitive conflict of each situation, so knowledge is constructed by evaluating
the different individual interpretations about the same phenomenon. Thus, in this process student
has a principal role more than the teacher, because they are the source of their own knowledge.
One of the characteristics of inquiry-based learning is “that it serves as a strategy in which
students acquire interpersonal abilities, attitudes and values, knowledge, critical thinking, and
formative evaluation” Estella and Esther (2009).
Theory of teaching
For the development of this pedagogical intervention I consider that the role of the
teacher goes beyond of standing in front of students to teach some topics or give instructions
considering learners as empty recipients who need to be filled by teachers. On the contrary, in
this study students have a crucial role in their own learning process in which their ideas, their
own constructs and their perspectives are the base of the construction of the knowledge, in this
way, they learn from us as teachers but we also learn from them as students.
As a consequence of traditional practices that poses student – teacher role as depositories
and depositor teaching has had the connotation of being a memorization process (Freire, 1972).
Against this traditional idea CP appears as an alternative type of education that conceives
education as a tool to empower individuals in terms of democracy and more fair society.
According to the founder of the critical pedagogy Paulo Freire cited by Wachob (2009) he starts
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 43
with “the assumption that the human vocation is to take action which changes the world for
improvement of life condition” (p. 10). This conception of critical pedagogy fit this study and the
pedagogical intervention because the purpose of the lessons presented here go beyond of the
merely linguistic outcomes but they are designed to hear students’ outcomes towards different
situations and the relation they found of these situations inside the short analogies with their own
realities.
Based on CP the role of teacher is to be transformative intellectuals that are required to be
social – politically conscious and strive not only for educational advancement but also for
personal transformation (Kumaravadivel in Wachob 2009). In this respect I as teacher wanted to
be a stimulator of the creation of problems, inquiries and doubts that students could analyze and
evaluate to give possible solutions and interpretations of them. According to Giroux in Wachob
(2009) “Empowering students to become critical and active citizens rests on teachers who have
the potential to combine scholarly reflection and practice in the service of educating students to
be thoughtful, active citizens”. Students in this process of critical thinking development are
conceived as active citizens who has certain roles and rights but also citizens of values in the
society, values that are transmitted in the school, however what I have had the opportunity to
observe during this pedagogical experience is that students have not had the opportunity to
evaluate how these values take place in their real context. In this case, short analogies were a tool
to show students certain principles carried out in different situations stimulate students’
connection of these ideas with in their own context.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 44
Theory of language
Based on CP language learning is conceived not just as a simple matter of input and
output, dividing the individual human being attempting to learn a foreign or second language, it
is embedded in the personal as well as the social and political milieu (Wachob, 2009). He argues
that students do not only receive certain structural input in the foreign language in order to get
certain output, but language is the mean to interact and create student- teacher and student-
student relationship in order to construct their own knowledge. In this study, the participants
were developing activities that helped them to develop the entire set of skills: reading listening,
speaking, writing, but more than that, students were engaged in activities that allowed them to
participate, discuss and express their ideas in the classroom though the activities planned for
each lesson.
Methodology
With the purpose of encouraging students to read short stories in English and reflect on
them, the methodology of this pedagogical intervention was divided into four main steps that
were carried out during its development.
The first step was the literal reading of the short stories chosen for each session. In order
to do so, students were introduced to the stories with new vocabulary in English and a variety of
visual materials such as cartoons, videos, posters and pictures that helped them to follow and
identify the principal events of the stories and their characters.
The second step of the methodology was to compare information within the short stories
in which students were asked simple questions like what, who and when some facts and
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 45
characters took place in the stories. These comparisons were helpful to clarify students’ ideas on
the short stories and check their understanding of them.
The third step was led through discussions on the contrast of the main ideas of the stories
and students’ experiences and context. In this part, students were able to share their ideas and
thoughts about the way they related the stories to their life. How questions were used here in
order to stimulate students’ reasoning and portray the progress on students’ thinking skills to
process more complex ideas and empower them to relate them to a real context.
Finally, the last step has to do with students’ production of conclusions. Here, students
were given problematic situations related to their real contexts to think about possible solutions
and conclusions about the way they can apply the knowledge gained from the short stories to real
situations. These conclusions were expressed orally and written through the questionnaires
developed and dialogues held in class, which were recorded by teachers’ field notes.
In the chart below it is shown the time spent during the development of the pedagogical
intervention which was three months approx. There was one session per week of ninety minutes,
however, some of the classes were affected because of the holidays and different events that
were taking place at school in which students had to take part of. For this reason, each session
was focused on a short story and the development of the activities planned towards it as it is
illustrated in the lesson plans (See in Annex 2).
In addition, in order to keep record of students’ reading process and gather the data
needed for this study, two main questionnaires were conducted, at the beginning and the end of
the intervention as it can be found in the annexes as well. (See Annex 4)
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 46
PLANNING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PEDAGOGICAL INTERVENTION
Date Lessons
Sept 6 Helping Others (Questionnaire)
Sept 20 Jewish VS Samaritans
October 4 Chinese Farmer
October 25 The Sower
Nov 8 Treating Others
Nov 22 The Pipeline (Questionnaire)
Graphic3. Topics & Short Stories
Description of Materials:
The materials used for this pedagogical intervention were diverse and visual; taking into
account students’ proficiency all the activities were thought in order to call the attention of the
students to stimulate reflection and discussion. I used videos, colorful images, posters, cartoons,
and power point presentations to present the short stories to students, in order to engage students
in their reading process; we read together and individually. These short stories appeared as the
main material to work on with students and was relevant in students reading process since it
provided new vocabulary in English, that serve to explain not only the social aspect but also
some functions of the language such adjectives and WH questions.
Based on the inquiry approach students develop two questionnaires with open- ended and
close-ended questions that were related to the stories but also the statement of problematic
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 47
situations. They also used materials like paintings, coloring paper, color crayons, markers to
create collages and creative works to carry out the different activities guided by the teacher and
orally express the production step of the methodology.
Criteria for evaluation:
Students were evaluated taking into account their reading, writing and speaking process,
their disposition to learn, their attitude towards the development of the activities proposed, their
curiosity, and their interest. For the criteria it was also important the participation in class, all the
contributions of the students were taken into account.
Despite the fact that students’ production was mainly in their native language taking into
account their proficiency to orally express their ideas and thoughts which was the most relevant
production for this study. Students were able to read the short stories in English and understand
the main ideas of them and answer basic questions and develop simple exercises related to
English grammar, but also to put in use some vocabulary in use in short writing productions.
These productions were also evaluated and reflected the influence of inquiry based
approach and short stories used to work in the raising of awareness of social aspects but also the
function of the foreign language and increase students’ vocabulary.
Through this intervention students developed some reading comprehension activities and
also some assignments that were evaluated. These assignments and worksheets were valued
during students’ process.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 48
CHAPTER V
DATA ANALYSIS
In this chapter the reader will be able to find the procedure that was followed step by step
in order to analyze the data collected through students’ questionnaires in which students’ written
statements towards solidarity as a social value appears as the main data unit, the field notes taken
during the sessions and finally the theoretical sources and other studies that shed the light on the
understanding of students’ process of conscientization to the social value of solidarity.
Additionally, it will show the process through which the categories emerged from the data and it
will give account of the phenomenon that this study attempted to explore.
On the first hand, students’ questionnaires were taken as the first and the main instrument
that gives account of students’ opinions, ideas and life experiences in an individual way. For
instance, they provided the most relevant data that led to the answer of the research question.
Then, the field notes showed students’ statements that supported their ideas on the questionnaires
as a collective way to gather the information they felt more open to express orally and
collectively. Finally, theoretical sources were used with the purpose of supporting the findings
that came up in the first-order data and the field notes.
In order to start the data analysis, I decided to follow the process of organization and
coding of the data based on the Grounded Theory by Corbin and Strauss (2002) that is described
as the analytical process in which the data is broken down, integrated and conceptualized to
create new theory. For that purpose I used a four entrance data management chart in which I
organized the data according to the instruments and the theory that was related to the research
phenomenon. (See annex 3: Data Management chart)
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 49
The first step in this process was to identify the relevant statements that were given
account of the social value of solidarity in which students expressed their ideas and experiences
to it. Thus, I initially went through the data by participant and then instrument as a method of
validation, in which I did detailed reading of the raw data multiple times, looking for the
commonalities that would allow me to establish themes vertically and horizontally.
Some of the common expressions by the students’ statements towards the social value of
solidarity were: respetar, amigos, ayudar, personas, necesidad, todos y todas. These
commonalities started to set a path to establish the themes and make sense of the relation they
had.
The life experiences established by students were situated in the common context of
school and the community in which they expressed some conflicts such as: poverty, fights at
school, robbery, people in vulnerability and physical and verbal mistreatment.
Once these ideas were identified I proceeded to group the ideas that had commonalities
into themes. Then I assigned names to these themes in order to find a connection between them.
After this step, I had to go over again into the process of reading the data, analyzing multiple
times and contrasting these repeating ideas with the theoretical sources to make sense of them
The following step of this process was to group the themes found in the data into patterns
that came up as more abstract ideas between students’ considerations and experiences towards
the social value of solidarity that were supported by the field notes taken during this process.
Some examples of these are: Recognition of the other and myself, solidarity as a response to
needs and people in vulnerable conditions, solidarity as a value of unity, friendship and respect,
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 50
cooperation between my friends and classmates situations presented at school and community,
situations about others in vulnerable conditions.
As I kept reading and analyzing the patterns found in the data and at the same time
confronting them with the theoretical sources to make sense of this information gathered and the
way the data talked about the phenomenon presented; the last step of this process was setting up
these patterns into two main categories which are: Solidarity as an approach to the other’s
vulnerability and Solidarity as builder of Friendship and Respect value that give account of the
process of students’ consciousness as posted in the research question: How fourth graders’
consciousness to the social value of solidarity is portrayed in their responses to stories?. These
categories emerged from the connection between the data, the theoretical sources and the
interpretations made of them.
Graphic 4. Emerging categories
Categories
Research Question:
How is fourth graders’ consciousness to the social value of solidarity portrayed in their
responses to short stories?
Solidarity as builder of Friendship and Respect value
Solidarity as an approach to the other’s vulnerability
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 51
SOLIDARITY AS AN APPROACH TO THE OTHER´S VULNERABILITY
This name was given based on students (re)construction of the social value of solidarity
that has to do with the recognition of the other but also the relation between the other and
themselves when there is a need or a situation of vulnerability. Regarding to this Wojtyla (cited
in Boswell, 2011) states that “when one adopts an attitude of solidarity, one interacts with an
"acute sense" of understanding the needs of the other” (p.89). This implies sensitivity in relation
to the self and the other in which students are able to see themselves through the other and
understand the other’s needs and vulnerability.
In order to explore the first category I will show students excerpts, field notes and the
analysis of each of them supported by the theoretical sources.
(Participant 13, September 6th, 2012)
In this first excerpt the participant´s response to the question “Why should we be in
solidarity with people?” shows the recognition of the other as someone who needs help because
of a vulnerable condition the person is, however in this response there is no discrimination
towards the direct relationship to the other. There is also a denotation about the people who we
should be in solidarity with, in this sense when it is said that people need help so they can feel
better about their condition; it shows that people need from each other; we need to understand
their situation of vulnerability and stand by to support and share.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 52
This recognition of the other leads them to relate this concept of solidarity as the
understanding of people´s feelings when they are in a vulnerable situation. Freire (cited in
Boswell, 2011) states that "when one sheds pious, paternalistic, and sentimental actions, one can
move one step closer to solidarity, a state in which one "risks an act of love" (p. 35). That is to
say that solidarity as a social value bring us together in sentimental actions that allow us to step
on the other´s shoes to understand how they feel and give support.
(Participant 18, September 6th, 2012)
In this second excerpt, it is evidenced a sensitivity towards the social concept of solidarity
in which it is directly related to the action of supporting and understanding of the other´s
vulnerability. This sensitivity is reflected as an attitude that people adopt when interacting with
the understanding of the needs of the other. This attitude of sensitivity towards the needs people
have when they suffer situations that have affected their human conditions is the first step into
the approach of the other.
It also shows the way students become more aware of the other and the needs and
vulnerable situations that someone can face in different sets.
The sensitivity expressed in this statement is also at the core of the process of
conscientization, where students become more aware of their surroundings and the other through
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 53
the ideas that attempt to give a reason and make sense of the knowledge they have already
acquired by their social context. In this way students reconstruct their knowledge when
questioning what they have learned and realize of this new ideas, what Freire (1970)
acknowledge as a subjective feeling of new insight that enclose the notion of conscientization.
(Participant 1, September 6th, 2012)
In this third statement it is exemplified the way students are approached to the other
through the social value of solidarity when the participant clamored for the status of equity when
using the words “somos iguales y somos hermanos”, which breaks down the social and economic
barriers established by society. Equity is a concept relevant in the thinking of the transformation
of an education that calls for social justice that seeks the liberation and empowerment of people
who has been oppressed.
According to Rorty (1989) a sense of solidarity is created when humans share suffering
experiences that lead to the realization of that people who are totally different can be “us” and
not and impersonal “they”. Notice that the use of the words “todos” y “somos” is an important
aspect from a critical perspective since students start recognizing themselves through the other;
beyond the understanding of the other´s needs, they understand that they also need from the other
and their needs could be theirs.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 54
Now that we took a look at students’ statements towards the social value of solidarity,
students were encouraged to express their experiences towards the conceptions about solidarity
and the story developed in the lesson. I consider this step key in the process of enhancing
students´ consciousness based on a critical perspective taking into account that “critical
pedagogy encourages us to find the magic of personal discovery based on our own personal
experiences” (Wink, 2000, p. 26). In that sense students wrote about their experiences similar to
the situation showed in the story “the good Samaritan” to gain a better understanding of the way
social values are represented in their own context.
(Participant 3, September 6th, 2012)
In this excerpt taken illustrates the way students make analogies based on their
experiences and context in which a social problematic is shown related to the insecurity in their
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 55
community and the way they see these actions as a lack of solidarity. This analogy also shows
the realization about the other´s vulnerability in situations in which their rights and conditions
have been violated.
When students have the opportunity to compare and make analogies between what they
read and what they live the literacy process becomes critical and helps them to make sense of the
word and the world (Wink, 2000). Moreover, when students are involved in this process of
reflection they are able to see and understand the world in different perspectives, whereas they
are within the situations they make the relations of or they are spectators of them.
(Participant 13, September 6th, 2012)
This analogy made by one of the participants is a reflection of another situation students
related in their own context similar to the situation analyzed in the story of the “Good
Samaritan”. In this situation they recognize homeless people they see on the streets as people
who are in vulnerable conditions and in need of help. This exercise of making analogies based on
the text analyzed helps students to understand that “true learning occurs only when the
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 56
information received is analyzed by the light of one´s own experiences and emotions” (Ada cited
by Umbarilia 2010, p. 63).
These analogies also helped students to become more aware of the indifference people
have towards the other and the way this indifference can affect them. This sensitivity helps
students to approach to the other´s vulnerability and the generation of relationships between
people who are not close to them as Torton (cited in Boswell, 2011) points out that solidarity
involves fostering "relationships with strangers and power brokers” (p.35).
(Participant 5, September 6th, 2012)
In the understanding of the social value of solidarity as the approach to the other, the
participant in this excerpt identifies two different people in this scenario. The first one is the
person who is committed in the act of solidary to the other who is in a vulnerable condition.
Notice that some people in the communities are considered closer to get involved in acts of
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 57
solidarity such as police officers, firemen, doctors, teachers to name a few. This conception is
born in the idea that people in these careers have the virtue to help others by the nature of their
professions.
In this perspective the value of solidarity appears as a virtue that characterizes certain
people, as Bilgrien (cited in Boswell 2011) states “virtuous actions make virtuous people” (p.88).
However, Bilgrien discusses that if these actions are cultivated as habits that all people adopt,
another way of being is built up; that led us to the idea of generating an individual nature based
on solidary actions which is the first step for the transformation of the society. Raising the
consciousness about our individual role in society though the recognition of ourselves in relation
to the other joined by solidary actions can led us to the path of a social justice transformation.
Continuing with the exploration of students´ ideas and analogies made based on the text
“the Good Samaritan”, a dialogue with the group was led in order to share some of their thoughts
and discuss them with the rest of the students. The generation of dialogue is relevant in the
process of students´ consciousness as communication that creates and recreates multiples
understandings (Wink, 2010). It allows students to share their knowledge but at the same time to
listen and understand other perspectives and thoughts.
The following excerpts were identified in the field notes taken during the lesson as
illustrations of some of the responses that students expressed in the dialogue about the text
worked in class in which some of them felt more open than others to speak aloud about their
ideas.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 58
(Field notes, September 6th, 2012)
Through the socialization of students’ conceptions about solidarity in the classroom,
students become more aware of the knowledge they have gained through their lives but also it
allows them to reconstruct their perspectives when listening to the other. The responses in this
excerpt exemplifies the way students reconstruct their meaning of solidarity by “ayudar a los
demás” (helping the other) but also the way they go beyond about the idea of the other by saying
“los que necesitan de nosotros” (the ones who need of us). This relationship created about the
other and the self is defined by Umbirilia (2010) as the need of the other to support our existence
and the other´s requirement of the self to make sense.
This point is relevant because when students go to school they come with knowledge they
are not fully aware and when they socialize with their classmates and peers, students find out
other perspectives and start shaping their ways to perceive, interact and participate in society
(Hernandez et al., 2009). This process is also known according to CP such conscientization and
it attempts not only to build communicative exchanges but a dialogue through the members of a
community.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 59
(Field notes, September 6th, 2012)
Following this path of reconstructing the ideas about solidarity and what this conception
entails, students were questioned about the people they are supposed to help. One of their
common responses were “a todos” (everyone), this response contrast with the other ones, entails
an inclusion and discrimination breaker between the relationship students establish with the
other.
The recognition of the other as an equal lead us to understand that no matter our
differences or similarities, our distances or closeness when there is a need or a person in a
vulnerable condition we should be open to offer support and help. According to Pope John Paul
II cited by the United Nations in a brochure about International Human Solidarity Day, “we are
called to recognize the basic solidarity of the human family as the fundamental condition of our
life together on this earth.” 3
3 Brochure retrieved from: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/social/documents/IHSD_PAMPHLET.pdf
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 60
(Field notes, September 6th, 2012)
After socializing some ideas about solidarity I decided to ask some questions about the
text and the situation presented in the story in which students were able to make some moral
judgements about the characters who did not help the Samaritan, who were conceive as bad
people “ellos no fueron buenas personas porque no ayudaron al señor que fue atracado”. This
moral development conceived as the education process that stimulates the act of thinking about
moral situations (Hernandez et al., 2009) takes place as well in the process of students’
conscientization when they are able to make their own moral judgements based on their own
social background.
Moreover when students relate and contrast that situation with the ones presented at
school as when somebody falls down or the fights where there is not response of help or
consideration by the other, they develop their moral judgment about the way they act and reflect
upon those actions. These reflections that are based on the rights, duties and justice (Candee
cited by Hernandez et al,.2009) let students to become aware of their role and responsibility in
the social justice transformation of their own context.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 61
SOLIDARITY AS BUILDER OF FRIENDSHIP AND RESPECT VALUES
Regarding to this second category the name given has connotation based on students’
responses about the concept of solidarity and the analogies made in which they had a tendency to
relate these concept to their relationship with friends and situations where they took place as
well.
Anne Carr (cited by Boswell, 2011) states that solidarity is reflected as a spirituality of
friendship, interdepence and community. In this respect students express their consciousness
towards the social value of solidarity as a way to strengthen their relationships with friends
showing a sense of respect, consideration and support. This sense of respect is associated to
solidarity by Boswell’s student as an understanding of common humanity and respect for
differences among others which are reflected by students as the base of their friendship
relationships but also as the environment required in the development of dialogue and
socialization between one another. The sensitivity enhanced in students’ responses, analogies
and notes taken led us to understand how they reconstruct their meaning of solidarity based on
the direct relationships they have established at school as the second place of socialization and
interaction with the other.
(Participant 17, September 6th, 2012)
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 62
This excerpt is an example of students’ responses to the question about why we should be
in solidarity with others in which the participant relates the social value of solidarity as a social
duty of caring about each other in the first clause of the sentence. This conception about
solidarity as duty when using the word “debemos” let us to understand how students express the
moral obligation towards the other and the way they commit to them by caring of each other.
Now, in the second clause the student added another commitment towards the other that
is related to another social value which is respect our friends. This shows the relevance for
students to build up relationships based on the virtue of respect to achieve a sense of solidarity.
Moreover this statement shows the discrimination towards the other when referring to their
friends as the ones who you should be respectful to in order to accomplish this sense of
solidarity, Healy (2011) states that “friendship demands that some are excluded from the
relationship and it cannot include everyone” (p.232).
(Participant 9, September 6th, 2012)
Regarding to the ideas written by students towards the social value of solidarity, this
second excerpt comes up to show the way students consider that helping others as solidary action
led them to build friendship relations with them. Thus, we can see a variable in the awareness of
this sense of solidarity as a builder of friendship and respect values between the first statement
and this one; considering that in the first excerpt the participant believes that respecting our
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 63
friends is the base of the social value of solidarity whereas the second one is on the contrary the
belief of the being in solidarity with other is the base for construction of friendship relationships.
However, no matter one way or the other both opinions demonstrate the relevance of the
social value of friendship and respect for students in the reconstruction of solidarity and the way
they associate these conceptions. Additionally, the association of solidarity with the value of
friendship establishes a feeling of closeness to the other united by the actions of solidary
commonly identified for students as helping others.
(Participant 14, September 6th, 2012)
The statement above is another illustration of students’ association of the term of
solidarity with the social value of friendship and respect when expressing their ideas about the
reasons why we should be in solidarity with others. Similarly to the response shown in the
excerpt before, the participant 14 affirms that solidarity is the base when building friendship
relationships but also that it helps to foster respect in these relationships and decrease the
tensions presented such as arguments and fights.
Mendez and Garcia (2012) report in their study about the exploration of students’ power
and solidarity relations in the EFL classroom that: “when there is solidarity, learners establish
more equity among themselves and this permits them to achieve working relationships” (p.181).
For instance, the relation established between friendship, respect and solidarity may appear as an
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 64
expression of students’ need of improving the relations between them and fostering a more
respectful environment in the classroom.
(Participant 18, September 6th, 2012)
This excerpt is another illustration of students’ experiences written in the questionnaires
where they made the analogies of the story “Good Samaritan” with situations from their context.
Here, the student describes the scenario of one situation when she was hurt and the help she got
came from her friends. This situation described supports the relation students find between
solidarity and friendship as the action of helping others that strengthen their relationships of
friendship.
From this perspective one can say that solidary actions are the chains that help students to
connect to the other but also it generates a sense of partnership between them. Sequeiros (cited
by Mendez and Garcia, 2012) encountered that closeness with the others is entailed by students’
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 65
consideration of solidarity as a romantic and sporadic value. In this study, students expressed this
notion of solidarity towards the other when helping their classmates in the development of the
activities in the class; even though, this demonstration was not always maintained in the
classroom.
(Participant 1, September 6th, 2012)
The experiences expressed by students in the questionnaires report the analogies they
made after reading and sharing their ideas with their classmates about the text. Provided that, the
analogy made for this participant shows the connection he found with the conflict presented in
the story when the Samaritan was beaten by the robbers with a situation occurred with one of his
classmates. The analogies students made between the text and their life experiences allow
students to reflect about the knowledge and the way this knowledge is represented in the society
they are part of.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 66
As a result of these reflections students encounter conflicts and problems they see in their
school as a way to understand the application of the social values they have already acquired in
their social context. According to Scholz (cited in Boswell, 2011) a sense of solidarity can only
be conceived when there are “real people, real problems, and real relationships."(p.34)
(Participant 2, September 6th, 2012)
Similarly to the analogy made by participant 1, it is exemplified in this excerpt the
articulation expressed by participant 2 towards the conflicts they deal with at school and the
conflict pictured in the story. This may have a connotation in the call to foster solidarity as the
path to the achievement of better relationships between students that helps them cope with the
conflicts presented in their context.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 67
In this perspective, the promotion of students’ awareness towards the social value of
solidarity though the analogies made by the participants comes up as a key for us as teachers as
well to the understand students’ problems, context and needs. Wink (2000) agree with this
perspective when stating that conscientization empower students and teacher to have confidence
in their own knowledge, abilities and experiences.
(Field notes, September 6th, 2012)
As it was mentioned before, field notes were filled out with the purpose of reporting
students’ did and said in the discussions that took place during the lessons. Bearing that in mind
students’ were encouraged to speak aloud about their ideas and thoughts about the different
topics. This excerpt shows students considerations’ about the people they should help and some
of the common answers were “a mis amigos, a mi familia”. In this respect, we may consider that
students get involved in the process of conscientization when they are able to give account of the
considerations they have gained by their experiences and social interaction.
Students’ considerations towards the social value of solidarity take part of the moral
development they have also gained in their social backgrounds, starting from the interaction at
home and secondly with friends at school. According to this Leahy (cited by Hernandez et al.
2009) “children would be best understood through a differentiation between two types of
relationships: with parents and with friends” (p.19). Thus, this can help us to understand one
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 68
probable reason of students’ tendency to make this kind of associations when developing their
moral judgements and beliefs toward the social value of solidarity.
(Field notes, September 20th, 2012)
In these field notes we can observe a different way to perceive students’ representation of
the social value of solidarity in the classroom. This excerpt particularly shows the materialization
of the conceptions they students and teacher had discussed and worked during the lessons though
the establishment of relationships of solidarity with their peers in the development of the posters
in class. In this connection the study carried out by Mendez and Garcia (2012) reports the
characteristics in students’ relations of power and solidarity in which they found that learners
show solidarity to the others when participating in different activities with the purpose of
obtaining a benefit for the group.
The dynamic of students’ relations when working together led us to understand the way
solidary actions take place in the classroom and the effects that this has in the reconstruction of
their beliefs toward social values like solidarity, friendship and respect. Solidarity when students
find the way to help their classmates, friendship when they see these actions as beneficial for
themselves and the other and respect when their attitude towards the other is positive, reciprocal
and with sense of equality.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 69
(Field notes, September 6th, 2012)
Finally it is relevant to highlight at this point and make emphasis on the dialogue in
which students were engaged when they listened and heard by the teacher and their peers. Based
on a critical perspective Freire and Shor (1987) claim that dialogue raises the awareness about
the social relations and recreates the knowledge as the way we learn. In this last excerpt students
whispering illustrates students’ resistance to say something they are not sure to be correct about
and the contrast between the responses given by some and the others which led them to have a
moment of silence to think about the questions made.
This silence presented during the discussion does not mean the dialogue was broken
down because students did not have anything more to say but it actually confirms what Freire
and Shor (1987) discussed in their article about the Dialogical Method of Teaching with respect
to the dialogical education in which all students are not required to speak when they do not have
anything to say but one has the right to stay in silence. Furthermore, the immersion of leaners in
the socialization of their perceptions permits them to start constructing new versions of reality
without dropping their previous moral development (Hernandez et al. 2009).
To summarize, the procedure followed in this study to analyze the data collected through
students’ questionnaires, field notes and theoretical sources that supported this research helped
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 70
me to understand students’ process of conscientization towards the social value of solidarity as
posted in the research question: How fourth graders’ consciousness to the social value of
solidarity is portrayed in their responses to stories?. This analysis also led me to establish the
two categories: Solidarity as an approach to the other’s vulnerability and Solidarity as builder of
Friendship and Respect value in order give account of students’ responses to short stories and
the way their (re)constructions of the concept of solidarity were portrayed.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 71
CHAPTER VI
CONCLUSIONS
In this chapter, the reader will find the conclusions after the completion of this research
study, in relation to the research question and the research objectives presented at the beginning.
Bearing in mind the research question that was stated at the beginning of this study about:
how are fourth graders’ consciousness to the social value of solidarity portrayed in their
responses to short stories? The findings of the data analysis lead us to understand that students’
consciousness to the social value of solidarity is portrayed in their to the responses to short
stories by their notions about solidarity and the way they relate this value to their social contexts.
The objective with this study was to explore the phenomenon of students’ consciousness
towards the social value of solidarity, describe and interpret their responses to stories towards it.
To achieve this goal, the research question of this study was formulated in order to guide me in
the understanding of the way students (re)construct the concept of solidarity as a social value that
helps them to approach the other’s vulnerability and as a builder of friendship and respect value.
After studying the participants’ statements, I found that students’ responses to stories
evidenced different conceptions towards the social value of solidarity which are initially
constructed in family as the center of the society. This knowledge that students have previously
acquired is highlighted and reconstructed at school through the dialogue and interaction between
their peers. Within the responses students revealed their consciousness towards the social value
of solidarity as the value that allows them to recognize themselves through the other, but also the
sensitivity they showed about stepping on the other’s shoes creating a sense of equity in which
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 72
they are aware that the other could be them, and the help that is given when somebody is in need
could be the help received in case they are the ones in need.
Moreover, students’ consciousness was related to the way they build their friendship
relations with the others in the base of solidary actions and a sense of respect to the difference of
opinion, socio economic conditions and the other’s rights that allow them to get close and deal
with the conflicts they face in their context.
In addition, students’ analogies made based on the stories worked in class was a key
aspect on the process of consciousness towards the social value of solidarity since students were
able to make connections to what they read and learned with their real context and life
experiences which helped them to gain confidence with the knowledge they have acquired
through their experiences and share with their peers. For this study, students’ analogies also gave
account of a reality that needs to be understood and transformed by the participants of the
society, when students related the stories to their lives and context they became more aware of
their role in their communities and the way they and the others act, and how those actions affect
or benefit one another. For instance, when individuals gain a better understanding of their
realities and their roles in them they are empowered to act upon those realities in order to
transform them.
As it was discussed, students are in a constant process of formation in which their
knowledge gained from their personal experiences and social backgrounds influence the way
they perceive their world and were enhanced through the dialogue with others with the purpose
of reflecting and reconstructing their ideas and conceptions towards the social value of solidarity.
I observed that these reflections towards solidarity as a social value had an impact in the way
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 73
students related to each other and worked during the different activities. They showed solidarity
when listening to each other and helping their peers to achieve in a proper way the activities to
develop in the sessions.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 74
CHAPTER VII
IMPLICATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
Through this study, students were enhanced in their process of conscientization towards
the social value of solidarity by reading short stories and connecting this knowledge to their real
lives as a way to portray their ideas, opinions and experiences within the English classroom. In
this process they started becoming aware of the knowledge they have gained through their social
backgrounds and interaction at home and the importance of bringing up that knowledge into
reflection and dialogue with others to get confidence and have a better understanding of their
realities.
In addition, the reflection established with students towards the social value of solidarity
helped me to understand the way students perceived their world and how they are constantly
reconstructing their perceptions of it. This was particularly meaningful because I realized about
the importance of getting to know my students’ context, their problems, their ideas and
experiences in order to understand the way they think and act and the way I could get close to
them to take part of a social justice transformation that this study calls for.
Furthermore, students expressed their excitement about including short stories as a part of
their learning process of a foreign language, even though they found it at first difficult and
demanding. However, students’ positive attitude towards the class and activities was an
important aspect that helped them to successfully complete the tasks proposed and be immersed
in the dialogue and discussions that lead them to analyze, reflect, inquire and shared their notions
about the topics included in the stories and specially towards the social value of solidarity.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 75
As a result of including short stories that were familiar to students the reading process
become easier to work on and let students to make sense of the foreign language and use of it,
although as this was not the main emphasis of the study it highlighted the importance of
including other content in the curriculum that allow teachers and students to work on social
aspects that help students to deal with the conflicts and problems they face every day and grow
intellectually and personally. For this reason, inquiry based learning was an approach useful to
work on students’ thinking skills and including the social aspect that was to address students’
conscientization towards the social value of solidarity.
This experience was especially significant as well since it opened my eyes and mind
about the teacher I wanted to be and the principles that I wanted to follow from now on. It
included me in the reflection about my reality and the society I am part of, my role in the
transformation of an education that seeks for the benefit and equity of all the stakeholders in the
field. In this process I found myself confused many times, and wondering about what to teach
and how to teach, how all the information I read about the phenomenon I was attempting to
explore made sense, connecting it with my own experience. Thus, I recognized myself through
my students by doing the same exercise they were doing: reflecting, analyzing inquiring and
reconstructing my notions through the lens of my experience, as stated by Wink (2000) we learn,
relearn and unlearn in the cycle of critical pedagogy.
For this reason, I consider that critical pedagogy sets the path for ELT field to go beyond
the skills achievements stablished to make students’ proficient in the foreign language but it
should also be focused on making students proficient to socially act and in their communities,
critically think on local problematics and culturally aware of the way we interact with each other
and the bonds that bring us together as a country.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 76
Bearing this in mind, I consider that further researchers should take into consideration the
study of the reconstruction of some of the education principles that have been passing on during
the last decades and the promotion of values in the different settings, including the last social
events that we have been facing in our country and empower students to reflect on them.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 77
CHAPTER VIII
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
The limitations faced while carrying out this study were principally the lack of time,
resources and students’ absences. First, time was an important aspect that affected the process
since only two hours per week were assigned for the pedagogical intervention and some days
students had special celebrations or activities that took away the time to work with them. Due to
this, it was not possible to gathered more information that complemented the artifacts made by
students like interviews of or video recordings that could give us wider data for the research.
Regarding resources, it was difficult to have access to the devices that belonged to the
school, since when they were reserved in advance they were not available for the dates required
and so it was hard to show to students’ videos or presentations of the short stories worked in
class. Although, technological devices are useful and attract students’ attention which would
have helped them in the starting process of reading, the material designed for the class worked in
a successful way.
Students’ absences was another factor that influenced the process that students’ were
taking part of since in most of the sessions, more than three students were not present in class
and so when a discussion related to the topic worked in the class before was carrying out these
students were confused and decrease their participation.
Finally, another limitation presented was related to the syllabus established by the school
that made a little complicated to suit the objectives of the study and the pedagogical intervention,
for this reason, some of the time was dedicated to work specifically on the grammar set up in the
syllabus.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 78
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STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 82
ANEXXES
1. Consent Form
Bogotá, noviembre 14 de 2012
Señor Padre de Familia,
Reciba un cordial saludo de parte del profesor- practicante Maira Stefanía Gómez de la Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas quien está desarrollando un proyecto de investigación llamado “Realzando de la conciencia de los estudiantes hacia la solidaridad como valor social ” que busca explorar y desarrollar la conciencia social hacia el valor de la solidaridad, con los estudiantes del grado 402 en el colegio José Asunción Silva, los cuales serán participantes activos del proyecto y de quiénes se recogerá información valiosa para el mismo.
Por lo tanto es importante que autorice la participación de su hijo(a) en el proyecto y de usar su información como prueba fehaciente de lo que se está trabajando con ellos. En este caso se recolectará información de las clases en video, trabajos y escritos de las opiniones de los estudiantes participantes. La información de los participantes será plenamente confidencial.
La participación en este proyecto es voluntaria y no habrá penas por no participar y tampoco pérdidas de clases o trabajos extra clase. Todos los estudiantes cuyos padres hayan autorizado, podrán ser parte del proyecto. Sin embrago, los participantes serán libres de abandonar el proyecto en el momento que los consideren necesario.
Yo_______________________________ acudiente del estudiante__________________________ del grado__________ del colegio________________________ jornada___________ le autorizo a participar en el proyecto de investigación para que se recojan los datos de información necesarios.
Firma Acudiente
______________________________
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 83
2. Lesson Plans
HELPING OTHERS
Objectives: Students will read and listen to the short story of “The Good Samaritan”.
They will identify the main ideas and discuss the principles inside the short story
Date: 6th/September/12 Course: Fourth Grade Lesson Length: 90 min
Procedure Materials and Resources
1. The teacher is going to write the title on the board
“HELPING OTHERS” in order to ask students
some questions about what people need our help,
when and why they need us, to start discussing
some ideas.
2. The teacher and students will read the short story of
“The Good Samaritan”, underlining the principal
characters and sharing the principal ideas paragraph
by paragraph.
3. Students are going to follow a road who carry them
to find out the answer to the question “Who is my
neighbor”
4. Finally students will answer certain questions about
the relation they find with the story and situations of
the real life. They will write and draw situations
they have seen in their real contexts similar to the
Samaritan one.
Colorful Pictures
Worksheet
Pencil and colors
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 84
Teacher´s Role:
Teacher will be a guide for reading the short
stories, giving certain instructions for
students to follow and develop correctly all
the activities.
Teacher also is going to stimulate students´
wonderings and inquiries trough some
questions and the discussion of the answer
of those questions.
Students´ Role:
Students will be active participants in the
classroom; they will be sharing their ideas,
opinions and thoughts about the questions,
the situations presented in the short story.
They will analyze and interpret the story in
order to participate and make contrast with
their own realties.
JEWISH VS SAMARITANS
Objectives: Students will identify the main differences between two communities.
They will discuss about problematic situations and their solutions
Date: 20th/September/12 Course: Fourth Grade Lesson Length: 90 min
Procedure Materials and Resources
1. The teacher will explain the historical background
of the short story “The good Samaritan” and the
conflict presented between the two of them.
2. Teacher will ask students about the conflicts they
know still remain nowadays.
3. Students will think about the reasons for those
problematic situations they mentioned before.
4. Students will make a collage in which they have to
illustrate a conflict(s), write the explanation of what
they think could be the best solution for that
problematic situation. They must ask why, how and
when.
Colorful Pictures
Newspaper,
magazines, drawings
Pencil and colors
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 85
CHINESSE FARMER
Objectives: Student will write and read the short story “Chinese Farmer”. They will
describe the characters of the story.
Date: 4th/October/12 Course: Fourth Grade Lesson Length: 90 min
Procedure Materials and Resources
1. Students will write the short story of “The
Chinese Farmer” in their notebooks, and then
they will underline the words that they know.
2. Teacher and students will read the short story.
Teacher will ask some questions during the
reading.
3. Students will look at some posters located in
the classroom with some images about the
short story. They will organize the posters in
the right way according to the story.
4. Teacher will explain the historical
background of the short story.
5. Students will make a comparison between the
ideas in the Good Samaritan and the Chinese
Farmer. The cultural perspectives of both of
them
Colorful Pictures
Worksheet
Pencil and colors
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 86
THE PIPELINE
Objectives: Students will see a video about the short story of “The Pipeline”,
identify the main ideas and make a comparison between the characters of the story.
Date: 22nd/November/12 Course: Fourth Grade Lesson Length: 90 min
Procedure Materials and Resources
1. Teacher will show students a presentation with
some vocabulary related to the short story, Students
will listen and repeat the words and then they will
write the vocabulary in their notebooks.
2. Students will see the video about the short story of
“Pipeline”.
3. Students will make a comparison between the two
main characters of the story.
4. Students will define some terms taking into account
their own perspective and the perspective presented
in the short story.
5. Students will discuss some ideas about success,
dreams, and goals. They will develop a worksheet.
Video
Color Papers
Power point
Presentation
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 87
THE SOWER
Objectives: Students will read the short story of “The Sower”. They will identify
some processes of the natural environment.
Date: 25th/October/12 Course: Fourth Grade Lesson Length: 90 min
Procedure Materials and Resources
1. Students will see some images about the process of
sowing and harvesting.
2. Students will read the short story of “The Sower”,
they will identify the main aspects of the story and
illustrate through a drawing the process of sowing
and harvesting.
3. The teacher will show some pictures about the
problematic situation of the natural environment. In
a round table students will discuss their ideas about
this problematic.
4. Students will make origami figures to make
personal work about what they think is the reaction
to good natural civil actions.
A Plant
Video
Origami paper
Markers
Color and pencils.
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 88
TREATING OTHERS
Objectives: Students will read the short story of “Good Servant”. They will make a
performance about the short story.
Date: 8thd/November/12 Course: Fourth Grade Lesson Length: 90 min
Procedure Materials and Resources
1. Students will read the short story
2. of the “Good Servant”, they will share the main
ideas and then they will prepare by groups some
performances about the main aspects of the reading.
3. Teacher will state some situations in which students
have to write the way they would react in the case.
Student will analyze the situation and then share
their ideas with the class.
4. Students will make a comparison between the ideas
of three of the short stories seen in class. They will
remember and identify the main principles and
finally connect their ideas with their daily life.
5. In the last step they will play a match game about
the short stories and characters of the stories read in
class.
Colorful Pictures
Worksheet
Pencil and colors
STUDENTS’ CONSIOUSNESS TOWARDS SOLIDARITY 89
3. Data Management Chart
DECLARATIVE
STATEMENTS IN
QUESTIONNAIRES
DECLARATIVE
STATEMENTS IN
QUESTIONNAIRES
FIELD
NOTES
PATTERNS THEORY
AND
STUDIES
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