A Cross-cultural Study of Mexico and the United States: Perceived Roles of Teachers

Abstract

The high school graduation rate for Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the United States is approximately 50%. This qualitative study investigated one area that may affect Mexicans' performance in American schools: cultural differences in appropriate school behaviour. Interview data were collected from 40 students and 20 teachers in Mexico in Spanish by native Spanish speakers, and from 20 native English-speaking students, 20 Mexican ESL students, 20 content area teachers, and 20 ESL teachers in the United States for a total of 140 participants. Students were in the fourth to eighth grades and teachers taught grades four to eight. Data analysis consisted of the following stages: (a) transcribing audiotapes, (b) listing all transcribed responses from each participant, (c) reconfiguring transcribed data so all responses to each item were listed together, (d) recursively reading responses to each item to identify patterns and coding categories, and (e) defining coding categories. Based on the categories, two raters coded the data. Not all data indicated differences between Mexico and the United States; however, one pattern of difference clustered around the issue of the role of the teacher. Mexican teachers were frequently perceived as relatively authoritarian but loving parents who were personally responsible for the learning of their students. American teachers, on the other hand, were perceived as less personally involved with students and as encouraging students' individual responsibility.