Catherine - Grade Seven

Catherine and Karen work at the same elementary school in Vancouver . The school has approximately 580 students divided into 24 divisions ranging from Kindergarten to Grade Seven. The school is situated in the southeastern area of Vancouver, which is composed of various ethnic backgrounds, such as Canadian, East Indian, Pakistani, Malaysian, Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, Cambodian, Sri Lankan, Filipino, and Vietnamese etc. Approximately 80% of the students at the school are English as a Second Language learners (E.S.L.) Catherine’s Grade Seven class consisted of seventeen boys and thirteen girls. Nine of the boys and three of the girls are E.S.L.

As the computer teacher in the school, I taught this class for two periods a week all year. For the research, I increased my time with this class by two to three blocks a week for a period of five weeks. The initial stage of the research involved the whole class in discussion. During this time, we developed the concept of a role model and explored the characteristics the students felt were valuable to them. The students were encouraged to elaborate upon the qualities they looked for in role models. These characteristics were listed on chart paper. I used books and pictures as examples of potential role models and the students compiled a list of people who could be role models. For the final sessions, the children were then divided into random groups of five. I presented the groups with a worksheet to complete (Figure 2). The student’s chose a role model of their own and listed characteristics to describe this person. After, they were encouraged to write a paragraph explaining why they chose this person to be a role model. While still in the small group, the children were asked a series of questions (Figure 3). I scripted their answers for further analysis.

The collected data of three girls and three boys was randomly sampled from the thirty Grade Seven students in the study.

The three boys in the study all chose professional athletes. Ajay selected Todd Bertuzzi and Jeevan chose Trevor Linden, both of the Vancouver Canucks. Kyle preferred the basketball star Michael Jordan. All three of the students listed athletic ability and being respectful as the characteristics that they valued in a role model. At least two of the students also chose the following qualities: good leader, gifted, honest, and hard worker.

Two girls in the study chose family members as their role models. Alysha chose her mom and Navpreet, her female cousins (who are in their early twenties). Shivani chose Kara Lang, a Canadian national team soccer player. Two or more of the girls listed the characteristics of good leader as; intelligent, respectful, and honest, as the characteristics they valued the most about their role model.