Chinese and Latino Parents' Views of How Children Learn Math

Access to this work was provided by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) ScholarWorks@UMBC digital repository on the Maryland Shared Open Access (MD-SOAR) platform. Please provide feedback Please support the ScholarWorks@UMBC repository by emailing [email protected] and telling us what having access to this work means to you and why it’s important to you. Thank you. Chinese and Latino Parents’ Views of How Children Learn Math Claudia Galindo, Susan Sonnenschein, Cassandra L. Simons, Joy A. Thompson, Shari R. Metzger Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County Introduction Method Continued • Latino and Asian children, especially those from immigrant families, are an increasingly large proportion of the U.S. school age population (Hernandez & Napierala, 2012). • Some children from Latino families experience significant educational disadvantages as early as kindergarten (Hill & Torres, 2010; Reardon & Galindo, 2009). In contrast, children from Asian families, on average, often do well academically (Galindo & Pong, 2011; Hernandez, 2004). • Understanding children’s home math learning environment is important because children’s math skills at the start of school predict subsequent math skills and school success (Duncan et al., 2007). • However, we do not yet know much about the home-based math experiences of children from different racial/ethnic demographic groups (Burchinal et al., 2011; Wang et al., 2013). Such experiences include both parental beliefs and practices. • Parents’ beliefs predict the experiences they make available to their children (Bornstein & Cote, 2004; Sonnenschein, Galindo et al., 2012), which, in turn, predict children’s development (Sy & Shulenberg, 2005). • Parents’ beliefs and practices reflect their cultural backgrounds (Super & Harkness, 1986). Chinese parents engage in more formal instruction at home with their young children than do White parents (Hunstinger & Jose, 2009). White parents use less directive, more informal approaches. We know far less, however, about what academic-relevant opportunities Latino parents offer their young children. This Study • Used a mixed-methods approach to document immigrant Chinese and Latino parents’ beliefs about how to foster young children’s math development, their role in their children’s learning, and their children’s math activities. U.S.-born White parents were included as the reference group. •“Parents have different ideas about how children learn math. We are interested in what you think. Here are 4 different ways that children can learn math.. Which way do you think is the most important?” (Most important =1, next most =2, ….).     When children are ready, they are able to do math Children discover through daily experiences how to do math Parents teach math Teachers teach them math Latino (n=37) White (n=35) 39.04 (4.00) 9.37 (5.29) 33.79 (5.31) 10.97 (4.93) 34.58 (5.26) N/A 40.5% 27.0% 21.6% 5.4% 5.4% N/A NA NA 2.9% 17% 25.7% 54.3% Note. All quantitative analyses controlled for mother’s educational level • White: 92.1% Overall Math Activity: How Often Does Child Do Math at Home? (Percentages of Parents Reporting Almost Everyday/Everyday Engagement) • Chinese: 41% • Latino: 35% • Latino: 1.58 3.49 3.41 ns 2.11 1.66 1.54 .032 (W<C) Parents teach math 2.43 2.26 2.44 ns Teachers teach them math 2.05 2.59 2.60 .065 (W>C) Parents’ Views of How Children Learn: Chinese Latino White Measures: Through Play 59% 46% 94% Parents’ Beliefs About Children’s Math Activities Questionnaire: Questions addressed parents’ conceptions of math, their role in children’s learning math, and frequency with which children engaged in math activities. Daily Living Activities 44% 24% 71% Interest 44% 19% 29% Sample questions: •“How important is it that your child does math activities at home?” (1 Not Very – 5 Very Important) •“How important is it that you help your children with math?” (1 Not Very – 5 Very Important) •“How often does your child see you doing math?” (1 Never/Almost Never – 4 Everyday/Almost Everyday) Watching Math TV Programs 49% 49% 49% Using Math Books 41% 24% 43% Practicing Skills 54% 32% 40% Contact: [email protected] or [email protected]; SRCD 2015, Philadelphia, PA • Latino: 85.7% • White: 94.6% Chinese Latino White Active Participants 33% 43% 46% Facilitators 75% 51% 77% Using Daily Living Activities 41% 30% 71% Setting Plans/Expectations 38% 14% 20% Role Model 26% 22% 31% • Chinese parents emphasized children being interested in their learning and practicing math skills. They also saw their role as including planning and setting expectations for what/when their children would learn math skills. • Latino parents highly endorsed the importance of their children doing math at home and their involvement with such learning. However, they appeared to have a less well-articulated view of how their children learn math. • White parents, more than the other two groups, emphasized the importance of play and daily living experiences to foster their children’s learning (Parmar, Harkness, & Super 2008; Serpell, Baker, & Sonnenschein, 2005). • p = .002; L=W>C • Parents differed in their views on how children learned. Procedure: Mothers completed oral interviews in Chinese (Mandarin/Taiwanese), Spanish, or English. 3.41 • Chinese, Latino, and White parents expressed a broad view of how children learn math and their role in such learning. The majority of parents endorsed the importance of children doing math at home and assisting with their learning. Nevertheless, there appear to be some important differences in how these parents conceptualize their children’s learning, and their role in such learning. • White: 63% • White: 1.53 When children are ready, they are able to do math Children discover through daily experiences how to do math Discussion Specific Math Activities: Mean of Sum of 27 Math Activities (Range from 0-3) • Chinese: 1.19 p Parents’ Views of Their Role in Their Children’s Math Learning Results How Important is it That Your Child Does Math Activities at Home? (Ratings of 4 or 5, high) Chinese (n=39) White • Chinese: 76.9% Qualitative Coding •Reviewed written transcripts to identify themes emerging from the parents’ responses. • Latino: 91.5% Latino How Important is it That You Help Your Child with Math? (Ratings of 4 or 5, high) Analyses: • Chinese: 79.5% Chinese •Although the majority of parents viewed themselves as playing a role in their children’s math learning, there were differences across groups. Frequency of Children’s Activities: •Overall math activity: “How often does your child do any math activities at home?” (0 Never/Almost Never - 3 Everyday/Almost Everyday) •Specific math activities: Frequency (0-3) of children’s participation in 27 math-relevant activities (e.g., counting, playing board games, playing jigsaw puzzles) Participants: 111 mothers of children in Pre-K, K, or 1st grade NA NA NA 2.6% 12.8% 84.6% How Children Learn Math (parent rankings, 1=most important; 4=least important) How Children Learn Math: •“What is the best way to help your child learn math?”:  Coded 0/1. Entertaining or engaging child (“play math games with him”), developing skills (“count numbers with him”), or using daily living activities (“taking advantage of everyday activities that incorporate math”). • Although most parents considered it important that their children do math at home, not all children had daily math experiences. Method Mean Age, M (SD) Mean Years in U.S., M (SD) Highest Level of Education Less than HS HS Diploma Vocational/Technical AA/Pursuing BA or BS BA/BS Graduate Degree Results • Many children did not have frequent participation in math activities. • Although observational learning is considered an important aspect of children’s learning, many parents did not view this as a component of how their children could learn math. • Limitations: • We controlled mothers’ educational level in the quantitative data; future research should consider the educational level as a selection variable. • Conclusion: • There are important similarities and differences in Chinese, Latino and White parents’ math beliefs and practices. • Understanding the opportunities available at home for children to learn math is a first step to improving their math skills. • Future research should consider how parents’ beliefs and children’s participation in math activities are associated with children’s math development.