Interviews with Focus Students
I interviewed each of my focus students once at the beginning of the project in late February and again at the end in early April. NOTE: Phillip's initial interview was not recorded due to technical difficulty. By her own request, neither of Jessica's interviews were recorded. These three interviews are summarized on the students' respective profile pages. The other seven interviews are below as well as on the students' profile pages. Visit these profile pages for some highlights from each specific interview. Read below for an analysis of some general trends across interviews.
Initial Interviews
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Final Interviews
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In terms of self-ratings two students (Derek and Harriet) consistently rated themselves higher at the end of the project. Jessica consistently rated herself lower. Candice and Phillip showed mixed adjustments in self-ratings. The interactions themselves all seemed more natural, comfortable, and candid in the final interviews as evidenced by tone of voice, duration of interviews, and willingness of students to criticize or question. Candice and Derek both demonstrated an improvement in both ability and willingness to verbally analyze their performance in class. Harriet and Jessica, who were pretty willing to be critical to begin with, continued to be so. Phillip, who presented initially as unwilling to criticize my teaching and as not particularly self aware, began to ask questions and make comparisons between things he didn't understand and things he did. In these ways, all students (with the possible exception of Jessica) demonstrated a perceptible growth in agency and self-advocacy in the context of teacher-student interaction.