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Haley Kost
Joanna Simos
Work in Thought and Action: INPR 310
The Acquisition of English as a Second Language at the 4th Junior School of Vyronas in
grades 4th, 5th and 6th, and its Interaction with the Formation of Student Cultural Identity

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Table of Contents
1. Title Page………………………………………………………………………………...1
2. Abstract………………………………………………………………………………...3-4
3. Key Words……………………………………………………………...........................4
4. Introduction………….…………………………………………………………………5-6
5. Research Methods……….…………………………………………………………...6-8
6. Research Approach Rationale……….……………………………………….……….9
7. Research Topic Rationale……….…………………………………………………9-10
8. Research Ethics……………………………………………………………………10-12
9. Findings……………………………………………………………………………..12-25
a. Presentation of National Culture in Classroom…………………………12-16
b. Interaction of Cultural Identity and English-Language Acquisition……16-23
c. Student Presentation of Cultural Identity…………………...…………...23-26
10.Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….……26-29
11.Summary………………………………………………………………………………..29
12.Reflection on Research and Internship Class………………………………..…29-31
13.Reflection on Internship Experience………………………………………..……31-33
14.Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………34

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Abstract
Understanding that culture is a systems of beliefs and values in a society
cultivated within a school environment, as well as from family, the church, and the
media, this study will investigate what influence an English language classroom has on
Greek cultural cultivation (Browne, 2008). The study will also examine how the
acquisition of English as a second language interacts with the Greek students’ creation,
questioning, and formation of their cultural identity. The 4th, 5th, and 6th grade English
classes at the 4th Junior School of Vyronas in Vyronas, Greece will be used as a case
study.
Bi-weekly visits to the 4th Junior School of Vyronas, as well as active participation
in the classroom activities and culture, will inform the research. Past literary discussions
of culture, identity, and their place in a global culture will relate overarching ideas in the
field of Sociology and Education to these students’ specific interaction with their cultural
identity. The aspects of the English language class studied are the cultural items found
in the classroom space, the activities that relate to forming a cultural identity, as well as
the attitudes of the teachers and students to their cultural identity. The researcher will
collect field notes and photographs to inform her research.
This research will result in a clearer understanding of education’s role in
transmitting culture, as well as a student’s formation of a cultural identity within a space
that teaches a subject outside of the students’ culture. Understanding of a student’s
cultural identity will lend information to the ongoing discussion of a student’s identity, as
well as produce lesson plans and activities that allow 4th, 5th and 6th graders to examine,

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question, and form their cultural identity, with the intent to be used in future junior school
classrooms.
Key Words
Culture
A system of beliefs and values in a society cultivated within a school environment, as
well as from family, the church, and the media (Browne, 2008).
Cultural Identity
The identity of a group, culture or an individual, influenced by one’s belonging to a
group or culture (Miladinovic, 2013).
Identity
How individuals or groups see and define themselves, and how other individuals or
groups see and define them (Browne, 2008).
Unexamined cultural identity
The first stage of Phinney’s Cultural identity model, which involves a lack of exploration
of culture and cultural differences (Miladinovic, 2013).
Cultural identity search
The second stage of Phinney’s cultural identity model, which involves the exploration
and questioning of your culture, often stemming from a turning point in their life or from
a growing awareness of other cultures (Miladinovic, 2013).

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Introduction
What is the relation of culture, acquiring English as a second language, and the
formation of a cultural identity? Culture, the “system of beliefs, and values within a
society” is something passed down from generation to generation (Kent University,
2012). This distribution of cultural practices can come from many different areas of
one’s life: the family, the church, and the media. As a Secondary Education major
focused specifically in teaching early adolescents, the researcher is interested in
understanding the role of education in the transmission of a national culture. This study
investigates how within a school- whether in the classroom, on the playground, or on a
fieldtrip- the national culture is being transmitted, and forms the students’ cultural
identity.
This research will grant further understanding of how a students’ cultural identity
is being created and examined within schools, specifically in a Junior School English-
language classroom. The researcher, an intern at the 4th Junior school of Vyronas, has
the opportunity to co-teach in three English-language classrooms. These classrooms
range from grades 4th-6th, with varying level of English language proficiency. All classes,
however, are at proficiency levels where they encounter English and Greek cultural
items, and interact with these two cultures implicitly and explicitly.
Cultural Identity, the “Identity of a group, culture, or an individual, influenced by
one’s belonging to a group or culture”, is something that is cultivated in a student’s life
by the exposure to other cultures, as well as the examination and reflection on one’s
own culture and their place within the culture (Milandinovic, 2013). When acquiring

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English as a second language, the culture of the home country, in this case Greece, as
well as English-speaking countries are examined and compared.
The investigation and formation of a cultural identity is of interest to research
because it is found to positively affect a students’ development. The formation of a
strong identity has shown to positively affect a student’s performance in school, as well
as their later success in life (Meeus, 2011). A strong cultural identity, specifically, “leads
to an increase in self-confidence and positive psychological development (Milandinovic,
2013).” Understanding how to best support identity development in the classroom, in
this case specifically cultural identity, will benefit schools, teachers, their students, and
the wider community.
The researcher used Phinney’s three-stage model describing Cultural Identity,
and Browne’s discussion of Culture, Global Culture and Globalization, Identity, Cultural
and Ethnic Identity to ground her observations. When creating questions to ask
students and teachers about her cultural identity, the researcher looked to University of
Kent’s work on exploring Cultural Identity. These three articles inform the discussion on
culture, identity, globalization, and cultural identity, and gives weight to the researcher’s
case study investigation of culture, identity, and education.
Research Methods
Understanding that research is a “thorough investigation” into a chosen topic, as
well as “an experimentation aimed at discovery”, this study has closely considered the
methods of conducting research, and analyzed the different layers of the conducted
research (Simos, 2016). These different research layers include the research lens,

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research family, research approach, and research technique. Utilizing this research
funnel confirms the systematic nature and validity of this investigation.
The researcher’s lens presents the point of view and preconceptions the
researcher brings to their work. The ontology, or the existence of a concept of which the
researcher engages, is the presence of National Identity cultivation in school. The
epistemology of the research, or in other words, the research relationship to national
identity cultivation in the Junior School, is understanding the place of English-Language
instruction in National Identity Cultivation. The nature of education being people-centric
determines this research as a qualitative rather than quantitative investigation. The
people that will be examined in this study range from students to teachers to interns.
The study’s research approach is a case study, focusing on the three classes of 4th, 5th
and 6th grade at the 4th Junior School of Vyronas, Greece. Research Techniques
include primary and secondary research. Primary research will take the form of
classroom observations, analysis of English-language lessons, classroom items and
lessons related to national identity, and notes on behavior and interaction of students,
teachers, and interns. Secondary Research will utilize journal articles from the field of
Sociology and Education that extend the primary research from the Vyronas School and
extend the research the larger arena of Cultural Identity Acquisition. The context of the
research is work-based learning, with the majority of research taking place in the
classrooms, teachers’ lounge, hallways, and the playground area of the 4th Junior
School of Vyronas.
The researcher is a co-teaching intern in a 4th, 5th, and 6th grade class, working
alongside an active Primary and Junior schoolteacher, as well a college volunteer. This

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unique opportunity of work-based learning allows the researcher to easily observe
classrooms, interact with students, and understand the teacher-student dynamics and
teacher-teacher dynamics. The intern’s position as a co-teacher also allows her to test
out activities and lesson plans created through this research.
The researcher brings with her experience as a Secondary Education major
knowledge of childhood development, behavior-management skills, and classroom
experience. The researcher has analyzed the many physical, mental, and emotional
changes that affect early adolescents in their performance as well as their identity
formation. As well as grounding her research in data about Early Adolescent
Development, this experience also led to the researcher’s interest in the topic.
Researcher Lens- The existence of National Identity
cultivation in the classroom, and the effect that English-
language lessons have on that cultivation.

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Research Approach Rationale
Schools are filled with complex human beings that cannot be summed up by
percentages and statistics. Similarly, a culture’s complex nuances and practices are not
found in calculations, but from human interaction. For this reason, qualitative research is
most beneficial in unpacking the creation of a students’ cultural identity.
A case study is the best approach to understanding transmission of culture and
the formation of a cultural identity because it allows a detailed investigation of a specific
population. The researcher acknowledges the temporality and narrow scope of a case
study, and understands that observations and conclusions drawn from this specific case
study in no way should be used to generalize a population, age group, or nationality.
Instead, this specific case study can be used to continue the broader conversation on
culture and cultural identity within schools.
The transmission of a culture is not always explicit, but implicitly transferred
through pictures, maps, ways of acting and talking, and other parts of daily life that often
go unnoticed. For this reason field notes from observations, interactions and lessons at
the 4th and 6th grade classrooms once a week, and the 5th grade classroom twice a
week, are beneficial research techniques that will add critical analysis to the study.
Observations will include descriptions of student interactions, pictures of the classroom
space and activities related to cultural identity, and record observations specifically
related to cultural identity.
Research Topic Rationale
As educational pedagogy has progressed, focus on a students’ identity in the
classroom and the development of their identity has increased. This growing interest

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stems from the positive effects that a student’s strong perception of identity has on their
school experience (Meeus, 2011). As these studies have found, when a student has a
strong perception of their identity, and sees that identity supported in a classroom, they
are more comfortable, engage more with the subject, and have the tools to succeed
academically as well as emotionally and socially. Supporting a students’ development of
a strong identity will benefit that students’ individual successes, and have effects as the
successes of the school and the larger community.
A student’s identity and positive self image is even more crucial during early
adolescence, where students experience extreme physical, mental, and emotional
changes, second only to the first years of their life (Wigfield, 2005). This study shows
that during this critical time, students universally are at-risk for dangerous activity, such
as drug use, pregnancy, and depression. Therefore, it is of utmost importance for
students to actively engage in identity development, and for teachers and schools to
support this development.
This research project aims to examine the development of a student’s national
and cultural identity, and to give teachers and schools the tools to engage in this
development. The three classes examined at the 4th Junior school of Vyronas are all
early adolescents, and examining their specific experiences related to cultural identity,
and creating materials to assist in their development will have positive effects on their
community as well as other Primary and Junior schools abroad.
Research Ethics
As this study’s research is primarily qualitative, many ethical issues arise. To
make sure this research is ethically sound, the researcher used the American

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Sociological Association’s five general principles —Professional Competence, Integrity,
Professional and Scientific Responsibility, Respect for People's Rights, Dignity, and
Diversity, and Social Responsibility—to guide her research (ASA, 1999).
To maintain privacy, all the names of students, teachers, and administrators have
been excluded. The 4th Junior School of Vyronas has given the researcher permission
to intern in their school and make observations, so informed consent has been given for
the school’s staff. In the case of individual students’ consent to pictures and
descriptions in field notes, the researcher has gained consent from the school and the
teachers. The English Language teacher has been informed of the research paper topic
and its focus, so there is no breach of trust between the researcher and the school.
First and foremost, the center of focus in a classroom is the students- their
learning process and their comfort. Although the research examines the formation of
national and cultural identity in an English Foreign Language classroom, its
development does not come at the expense of the students’ education, meaning that
their acquisition of knowledge and development in the classroom is placed above the
researcher’s acquisition of data. The researcher has put the investigations in the
background of the classrooms’ daily activities; field notes are all written after the class
periods have ended, and discussions with students and staff occur outside the periods
of class time.
The researcher considered these ethical implications not just because of ASA
guidelines, but also because of the respect she feels for the school, students, and
teachers that she will work alongside during this process, as well as the neighborhood,
city, and country she has had the privilege to work within. The researcher understand

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that her home university, Northwestern University, her current study abroad university,
The College of Global Studies-Arcadia University Athens, and the school she is
interning with, 4th Junior school of Vyronas, are stakeholders in this research. For these
reasons, extreme care is taken to represent these stakeholders accurately throughout
the research process.
Findings
First, the researcher unpacked materials in the 4th District School of Vyronas’
classrooms that implicitly transmit national and cultural ideas to the students. Next, the
researcher examined classroom activities that discuss Greek and/or English-speaking
culture, and analyzed whether they are adding cultural knowledge, or critically
examining their culture as well as foreign ones. Finally, the researcher analyzed the
students’ presentation of Greek or English culture in their self-expression, revealing
their presentation of individual identity and their place on the spectrum of cultural
identity.
Implicit Presentation of National Culture in Classroom
From the researcher’s past Secondary Education classes, and the book
Everyday Anti-Racism: Getting Real about Race in School, she knew that the visible
surroundings of a classroom can have a profound effect on a student’s comfort in a
classroom as well as their identity formation (Pollock, 2008). When the researcher first
began her internship at the 4th Junior School of Vyronas, she took special care to note
the visual surroundings in the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade classrooms that grounded the
students’ national identity. The significant cultural materials found by the researcher can
be divided into three categories- Religious Materials, Geographical Materials, and

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Linguistic Materials. The researcher made note of these materials present in the
students’ classrooms, and unpacked their significance.
Religious Materials
Although Greece is technically a secular state, its national religion is de facto
Greek Orthodox. Similarly, although the 4th Junior School of Vyronas is a public school,
it has strong affiliations to the Greek Orthodox Church. This religious affiliation in Greek
National identity is seen through the various religious icons that are present in the
classrooms and the teachers’ lounge of the 4th Junior School of Vyronas. At the front of
the 5th grade classroom is an icon of the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus, and in the
teacher’s lounge there is a Byzantine-style artwork of the Virgin Mary.
The most common religious icon the researcher found at the Vyronas School
was the ‘Christ the Life giver’. This square Greek Orthodox image of Jesus Christ hangs
above the chalkboard of the 4th and 6th grade classes, and on a bookshelf in the
teachers’ lounge. The researcher had seen this icon in other places around Athens,
from churches and museums to the front of several local trams. The icon pictures
Jesus Christ with long hair and accompanying beard, blessing the audience with his
right hand, and holding the bible open to a specific passage in his left.
The icon is given the name ‘Christ the Life giver’ because of its featured bible passage,
John 11:25. In Ancient Greek the passage reads, “εἶπεν αὐτῇ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ
ἀνάστασις καὶ ἡ ζωή· ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμὲ κἂν ἀποθάνῃ ζήσεται”, which translated into
English reads, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live,
even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die (The Holy
Bible, 1673).” This icon is significant in its message of Christ’s resurrection, and

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Christianity’s offer of everlasting lasting life to its followers, which is the root of Christian
faith.
The location of this icon is very significant because of its central placement in the
classroom. The ‘Christ the Life giver’ icon appears above the front chalkboard, and
because the students in both the 4th and 6th grade classes sit in rows facing the front,
this image of Christ blessing them is directly in their line of vision throughout the class.
Whether the students examine this icon or not, it is cemented as a foundation of their
surroundings, and an implicit factor into developing their national and cultural identity.
Geographic Materials
Along with religious affiliation, the idea of Greek regional, country, and continent
affiliation is presented in the classroom space through maps. These maps present in the
4th, 5th, and 6th grade classes vary in region, color, and date, presented different
national, regional, and global identities to the students. These diverse maps align with
the different ages and developmental abilities of the students. The 4th graders, still in the
period of concrete thinking, have a surrounding of unified land, while the 6th graders,
who are beginning to enter into the stage of abstract thinking, are presented with maps
expanding and challenging their geographic identity.
A grounding part of the Greek national identity is the Greek land itself. From the
period building up to Greece’s independence from the Ottomans in 1821, into the
beginning of the 20th century, what lands were geographically considered ‘Greece’ had
been a heated topic of debate. Greece’s ‘Big Idea’, or ‘Megali Idea’ of the 20th century,
grounded in irredentist thought, wished to broaden Greece’s borders to absorb
periphery lands and islands, such as Crete and Macedonia (Koliopoulos and Veremes,

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2009) For this reason, maps of Greece carry a political, nationalist, and historical
perspective.
The different classrooms at the 4th Junior School of Vyronas present varying
maps of Greece. The 4th grade classroom features a monotone map of Greece, unified
from the Northern Border to Macedonia, to the Southern Peloponnese, and the various
surrounding islands. This could work to cement a students’ identity as a ‘Greek’ living
within Greek borders. The 6th grade class, however, displays a colored map of the
different regions of Greece, showcasing different areas that had been annexed earlier
or later in Greece’s independent history. While the 4th graders are taught to see
themselves as Greeks, the map in the 6th grade classroom nods at their more advanced
development that could allow them to see themselves simultaneously as Greeks and
also as members of a specific region.
Linguistic Materials
The researcher interned in three English-language classes, but because the
foreign language teacher travels to different classes during the day, there is no specific
“English Language” class. Therefore, each class that the intern has worked in, for 4th,
5th, and 6th graders, has Greek writing as the majority on the walls. Some projects from
English-language class are posted on the walls, but are dwarfed in comparison to the
history essays, English projects, and other general posters written in Greek letters.
The idea of the Greek language was and is very crucial in the idea of a Greek
Cultural identity. Some Greeks believe that “there had been a continuity of the Greek
language and culture since antiquity in the historical Greek lands (Koliopoulos, 2009).”
Therefore, the Greek language that the 4th, 5th, and 6th students at the 4th District School

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of Vyronas use in their academic classes could stem from the same Greek that great
playwrights like Homer, philosophers like Plato and Aristotle, as well as great warriors
like Alexander the Great, used in their time. Whether the continuity of Greek language
from antiquity is true, the strong idea of a continuous cultural heritage through language
motivates a national pride that can strengthen a national identity.
Implicit
Presentation of
National Identity
Specific Examples Implications for Students’
National Identity Formation
Religious Materials
 ‘Christ the Life
Giver’ icon
 Virgin Mary
 Links Greek Orthodox
Church to Greek National
Identity.
Geographic
Materials
 Regional map of
Greece
 Unified map of
Greece
 Links Greek National
Identity to specific land.
 Regional Map expands
national identity to regional.
Linguistic Materials
 Posters
 Projects
 Links Greek language to
Greek National Identity.
Interaction of Cultural Identity and English-Language Acquisition
As Phinney’s three-stage model suggests, cultural identity is not developed past
the first stage of “unexamined cultural identity” until a student engages in successful
“exploration and questioning of your culture (Miladinovic, 2013).” His next stage,
“cultural identity search”, may come from a “turning point in their life or from a growing
awareness of other cultures”. With this definition, students at the 4th Junior School of
Vyronas may be experiencing this stage of cultural identity development through their
examination of English culture in foreign language class.

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Through three months of classroom observation and engagement, the
researcher took note of specific classroom activities that incorporated ideas of Greek
Culture, English-speaking culture, or a mix of the two. The researcher, as a teaching
intern, also created her own activities along with her co-intern, and analyzed those
lessons’ examination and often-unintentional analysis of cultures.
Classroom Activates focused on Greek Culture
The Greek National Culture is explicitly, or actively, presented to and engaged in
by the students of the 4th Junior School of Vyronas in classroom activities. The
researcher observed that whether an activity attributes to identity development is the
level of engagement and critical-thinking required for said activity. An active exploration
and questioning of Greek culture could lead the students to the stage of cultural
identity search, while incorporation of Greek National culture without critical thinking
grounds the students in the unexamined cultural identity stage (Miladinovic, 2013).
As the researcher observed and co-taught in the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade classes,
she realized that many of their English-language activities, either found in their
workbook or created by their main teacher, discussed Greek history and Greek
historical figures. Below are certain significant activities, completed in English, that the
researcher believed let students to form their cultural and national identity.
“Why Was Alexander the Great So Great?”
This writing assignment asked 5th grade students to justify Alexander the Great’s
impressive title. Many of the students’ answers centered on Alexander the Great’s
achievements through a Greek cultural lens, such as a student who wrote, “He spread

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Greek language and culture”. Other students wrote about how Alexander “conquered
most of the known world” or discussed his military prowess.
By discussing the achievements of this Ancient Greek, the students become more
connected to their history, and build their cultural identity by increasing their feeling of
“belonging to a group or culture (Browne, 2008).” The free-write aspect of the
assignment challenged the students to use their knowledge of the English language, as
well as make a stronger connection to the Greek historical character. While it doesn’t
overshadow the grammar aspect of the assignment, the question “Why was Alexander
the Great so Great?” leads students to critically analyze Ancient Greek history, which
relates to analyzing their own Greek identity.
“Olympic Games- Past and Present”
This 6th grade listening activity outlined the ancient history of Greece’s Olympic
games, and its eventual revival in Greece in 2004. In its discussion of Olympia, the
original site of the games, the English-language recording discussed its current tourist
appeal. The recording went on to discuss how the Olympic games traveled to locations
around the world, but eventually came back to Athens in 2004. It emphasized that the
games were revived in Athens, and the city exploded with the building of restaurants
and cafes for the Olympic games.
This activity was not as engaging as a writing response, as it only had students fill in
multiple-choice questions or yes or no answers related to the recording. However, it did
hint at a larger global worldview, mentioning the Olympics traveling away from Greece
and then eventually arriving back. If extended into a discussion of Olympic games

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around the world, this activity could have the potential to increase questioning of
national identity.
“More Famous People from the Past”
This activity in the 5th graders’ workbook allowed the students to practice their
knowledge of the past tense, as well as discuss and learn about famous Greeks. The
famous Greeks ranged from Aristotle Onassis the ship-owner, Eleftherios Venizelos the
politician, Manos Hadjidakis the composer, and Melina Mercouri the actress.
Instead of writing down sentences, as the book instructed, the English teacher
engaged the class in a discussion, asking them what they knew about these famous
Greeks. Many of the students knew the actress Mercouri, famous for her acting in
movies like Never on Sunday as well as the position of Greece’s Minister of Culture, but
did not know the lives of the other famous Greeks. Attesting that students do internalize
their surroundings, and that the backdrop of students’ lives are filled with national
imagery, a few students mentioned how they knew Venizelos’ name from the Athens’
Airport, and others knew the name Onassis from the Onassis cultural center.
This activity had three benefits: students practiced their English past tense, they
learned new facts about important Greek figures in history, and they unpacked implicit
National Images in their daily life, like the name of the airport and concert hall. This
activity not only increased the students’ national identity, but also had them examine it.
“Extinct Greek Job Dialogues”-
This 4th grade activity involved students picking a job in Athens that is becoming
extinct- or rather it is in less demand- and writing a fictional dialogue where they
interview that person about their job. This came in the unit where the 4th graders were

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learning about vocations, and they highlighted specific Athenian vocations, such as a
Latern street musician. Some jobs were specific to touristy areas, such as a personal
photographer, while other jobs referenced a different generation, such as an ice-stroller.
This activity allowed students to practice their new English vocabulary and
investigate Greek jobs. While there wasn’t an analysis of these jobs, questioning
whether they were uniquely Greek, or just uniquely older, therefore there wasn’t a
questioning of National and cultural identity, there was an addition of knowledge to their
preexisting Greek identity.
Activity Title Grade
Level
Activity
Type
Activity Description Culture Critically
Analyzed?
“Why was
Alexander the
Great So
Great?”
5th
Written
Response
Students are asked to
justify Alexander the
Great’s title by discussing
his life’s
accomplishments,
military prowess etc.
Somewhat. Although
Alexander, a famous
character in Greek history,
is critically examined, his
relation to the student’s
personal national identity
is not.
“Olympic
Games-Past
and Present”
6th
Listening/
Multiple
Choice
Students answer multiple
choice and yes/no
answers related to the
history of Olympia,
Greece’s 2004 games,
and the booming tourism
during the games.
Not directly. Potential for
critical analysis of Greek
culture as well as
awareness of other
cultures if paired with a
discussion of Olympics
outside of Athens.
“More
Famous
People From
the Past”
5th
Discussion
Teacher engages
students in a discussion
about past Greeks, and
allows students to
contribute their cultural
knowledge, as well as
unpack how their daily
surroundings represent
these famous icons.
Yes, from the class
discussion students had
the opportunity to present
their pre-existing
knowledge about their
culture, as well as unpack
their surroundings that
contribute to national
identity.

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Classroom Activities focused on English-Speaking Culture
While they weren’t in the majority, the researcher did encounter some lessons at
the Vyronas School that presented aspects of English-Speaking culture. These
activities, by presenting a culture separate from the students’ experience, could lead to
the students’ “awareness of other cultures” as well as allow students to “question where
[their cultural] beliefs come from” (Milandiovic, 2013).
Just as the lessons focused on Greek identity and culture, some lessons involved
more critical analysis of the English-speaking culture than others. The added analysis of
these cultural difference could lead to the students’ more nuanced understanding of
different cultures, and help them along their cultural identity development.
“Which do you prefer?”- 5th Grade
This listening activity, designed to practice comparative and descriptive
adjectives, had students write sentences describing which item they would prefer to
purchase. Many of the items were nearly universal, such as computers or cars.
However, in the music section, there they specifically listed English-speaking artists,
such as Beyoncé and The Beatles. The class engaged in free writing as well as an open
discussion about the pros and cons of buying the different materials.
Instead of the teacher needing to fill in the students’ gaps in cultural knowledge,
as with the Greek focused “More Famous People From the Past” activity, all the
“Extinct
Greek Jobs”
4th
Dialogue
Students research into
extinct jobs in Athens,
and write dialogues
describing what the
people liked about the
job, wore on the job, etc.
Somewhat. Students gain
more cultural knowledge
about their own city, but
there is not a comparison
across cultures.

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students either knew who these two English-speaking artists were, or knew that they
were common knowledge. This speaks to the students’ prior knowledge of English
Culture, or the expectations to know about English Culture. While this activity presented
examples of a different culture than their own, they were presented without critical
analysis. This could contribute to a students’ “growing awareness of other cultures”
within the ‘cultural identity search state’ or simply be taken for granted, grounding
students in the stage of ‘unexamined cultural identity’ (Miladinovic, 2013). Without
explicit unpacking of cultural difference, these cultural differences may go unnoticed.
“Why did he behead you?”- 5th Grade
This activity involved students ordering chunks of English dialogue into a
coherent story, featuring the ghost of Anne Boleyn discussing to an unknown man why
her husband, Henry VII, beheaded her as well as five other wives. The horror and
tragedy of the story, described in lines such as “Why are there tears dripping down your
face?” may have been lost on the students, but they all definitely understood the basic
plot, and very quickly ordered the dialogue into the correct order.
This is one of the first activities the researcher observed that was explicitly
teaching history that was not Greek history. Understandably it was British history,
because of its English-language nature. Looking through the Vyronas School’s English-
Language textbook, the majority of history-focused activities that were not Greek-
focused were British focused, which represents only one of many English-speaking
countries around the world.
This story, though very much simplifying the causes behind Anne Boleyn’s death,
as well as the motivations European kings had for desiring male heirs, did present a

23. 23
different cultural practice to the class, allowing for the students to develop widening
worldview. The extent to which the students fully examined this cultural difference is not
revealed through their classwork, since their task was simply to organize the text into a
concise story. If the lesson added a reflection aspect, where students were asked to
consider their own beliefs in the situation, more critical analysis of the English-speaking
culture, as well as the students’ own culture, could have been reached.
Activity
Title
Grade
Level
Activity
Type
Description of
Activity
Relation to Cultural
Identity Development
“Which do
you prefer?”
5th Listening
Students compare
different products,
which range from
cars to CDs, and
choose which item
is best to buy
based on price.
The presence of other
cultures’ music may lead to
knowledge of other cultures,
but there is no explicit
analysis of cultural difference
and similarities.
“Why did he
behead
you?”
5th Reading
Students sorted
quotes into a
concise dialogue,
while learning
about King Henry
VII’s beheading of
his wives,
specifically Anne
Boleyn.
Students given access to
larger worldview, but the
cultural differences present
in these events are not
unpacked. Added reflection
of students’ reactions to the
event, and analysis of those
reactions, could lead to a
more critical activity.
Student Presentation of Cultural Identity
All of the preceding ways the researcher the transmission of National Culture in
the classroom involved teachers’ curriculum or creation of a classroom space. In other
words, adults, either teachers, school administrators, or interns, controlled the
presentation and analysis of National and foreign Culture. These outside actors were
acting on the students, presenting them with cultural ideas implicitly or explicitly.

24. 24
Students also present National Culture, in reaction to outside actors, but through
their own independent expression. Through observing the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade
students at the 4th Junior School of Vyronas, the researcher understood what parts of
the Greek National Culture the students chose to accepted and displayed in their
outward identity and discuss in conversation. By understanding the parts of their
national identity students decide to showcase and present, the researcher began to
understand their stages of cultural identity development.
Dress
One Monday at the Vyronas School, the researcher noticed that three of the 6th
graders were wearing fake mustaches. These three boys, instead of just being silly,
were celebrating the beginning of Carnival through their dress. Although the researcher
never saw students dressed in full costumes at the school, she witnessed many
younger Athenians wearing costumes in Syntagma, walking through Pangrati’s squares,
and even going to the local grocery store
Carnival represents the time before Greek Orthodox Lent, and involves Greeks
dressing up in costume, eating meat, and enjoying parades, music, and merriment. This
holiday continues the religious narrative that weaves through the Greek national
consciousness. The fact that three 6th grade boys decided to wear these mustaches to
class shows their acceptance and alliance with their culture during Carnival. Their
costume wearing shows that they are a part of this group, and whether or not they’ve
questioned the religious connotations of carnival, or accepted it without critical thinking,
they have aligned themselves with their own culture.

25. 25
Songs
Another Monday at the Vyronas School, the researcher had the chance to sit in
on the 6th grader’s music rehearsal preparing for their March 25th celebration. This
Greek national and religious holiday celebrates collectively Mary’s annunciation in the
Greek Orthodox faith, as well as Greece’s independence from the Ottoman empire in
1821. Similarly to the celebration of Carnival, this holiday represents how Greece’s
national and religious identities are intertwined.
In the 6th grade music rehearsal, the researcher had the chance to sit among the
students while also attempting to sing along. The students, three girls specifically, were
very interested in telling the researcher the English translation of the songs, and
described in detail their significance. The slower songs, often in more solemn tones,
explained the many deaths from the Greek Revolution, while the faster, more joyful
songs told of celebrations after battles. The students were very interested to hear the
researcher’s impressions of the songs, and were excited when she expressed
enjoyment with the music.
Food
While the researcher was waiting outside the school gate one Monday morning,
the 6th graders from her English class came up to her and engaged her in conversation
about Greek food. They asked what food she liked to eat, such as ‘souvlaki’ and other
traditional Greek pastas, soups, and fish. The students went into specific descriptions of
the food to fill in the researcher’s gaps in knowledge and laughed at the researcher’s
attempt to repeat the Greek phrases.

26. 26
The researcher realized the students’ strong desire for her to accept their local
Greek food. When the researcher responded to their questions with “Yes I love
souvlaki!” the students smiled at her, and continued to ask even more questions. This
displayed the students’ strong knowledge of Greek culture, as well as pride in their
cultural practices, which was similarly apparent in their music rehearsal.
Conclusion
A student encounters their national culture through their family, friends, school,
media, and other public institutions. Understanding how the 4th, 5th and 6th grade
students at the 4th District School of Vyronas either passively or actively engage in
these presentations of national culture can reveal to what extent they are developing
their cultural identity in the classroom. A strong cultural identity can “[lead] to an
increase in self-confidence and positive psychological development”, and therefore is an
important topic to be examined by teachers and schools (Milandinovic, 2013).
From the researcher’s Secondary Education classes at Northwestern, she knew that
the visible surroundings of a classroom have a profound effect on a student’s formation
of identity (Pollock, 2008). When the researcher first began her internship at the 4th
Junior School of Vyronas, she took special care to note specific cultural materials in the
4th, 5th, and 6th grade classrooms. These objects, with religious, geographic, and
linguistic messages, act as the students’ backdrop of daily classroom activity, and
therefore may go unnoticed and unexamined by the average student.
Believing that cultural identity, while implicitly presented in classroom materials, may
also be explicitly analyzed within classroom activities, the researcher turned her
attention to observing lessons that involved Greek and English-speaking culture. The

27. 27
researcher found that critical analysis of differences and similarities in cultures was
sometimes present in the English language activities. However, it appeared that the
students’ cultural knowledge of English and Greek culture and the cultural knowledge
supplied in the foreign language textbook was often not connected.
The researcher often learned about the students’ knowledge of their national culture,
as well as their knowledge of other cultures, outside the English-language classroom.
Moments of cultural exchange involved the students eagerly explained Greek customs
to her, as well as asking her questions about English culture, her life in Chicago and
American university, and English cultural icons.
While Phinney’s first stage of identity development, “unexamined cultural identity”
involves a “lack of exploration of culture and cultural differences…taken for granted
without much critical thinking”, his second stage of identity development, “cultural
identity search”, involves the “exploration and questioning of your culture” (Miladinovic
2013). From these moments of cultural exchange, the researcher noticed the students’
interest in other cultures, as well as pride in their own culture, suggesting that some of
these students were within their “cultural identity search” stage. While some of the
English-language lessons encouraged continuation of this cultural identity search by
examining Greek and English culture, there was not a consistent critical analysis of
cultures across English-language lessons.
For this reason, the researcher developed a mock-lesson plan that attempted to
bring in students’ pre-existing knowledge of their culture and other cultures. This
activity, “We are going on a trip. What are we going to do there? What will we see?”
leads students to “explore and question their own culture” through the comparison of

28. 28
another culture (Miladiovic, 2013). While simply writing about observations from a
postcard may not lead students to compare and contrast their own national and cultural
identity, the added reflection at the end of the lesson, with engaging discussion as well
as a free-writing portion, allows students to critically think about their own experiences,
as well as the beliefs they have about other cultures. The researcher hopes that this
lesson, as well as her findings about student’s critical analysis of culture in an English-
language classroom, will encourage teachers and administrators to create and utilize
lessons that encourage exploration and development of cultural identity.
Lesson
Title
We are going on a trip. What are we going to do there? What will
we see?
Purpose
Students will practice present simple, present continuous, and future
simple tenses, while simultaneously comparing their home culture
and other cultures around the world. This critical analysis will lead to
a students’ growing awareness of other cultures and questioning of
their own culture, contributing to their cultural identity development.
Opening
1. Write down names of different countries on the board.
2. Have the students think about these countries and write down
their preconceptions of them.
3. Discuss with the students their preconceptions about the
countries, and try to find similarities or differences among the
class.
Main
Activity
1. Each group of 4 will get a postcard with a different travel
destination.
2. Tell the students they are planning for a trip to this destination
in a week, and need to make travel plans based on these
pictures.
3. First, the students will examine the postcard and write down
their observations in present simple and present continuous.
a. In Amsterdam I see boats. (PS)
b. In Amsterdam people are walking. (PC)
4. Using these facts, students will use ‘going to + infinitive’ to
describe their activity intentions at the travel destination, as
well as use ‘will + infinitive’ to describe what they will see
there.
a. When I go to Amsterdam, I am going to swim.
b. When I go to Amsterdam, I will see boats.
5. Have each group present to the class their postcard, what
they are going to do there, and what they will see there.

29. 29
Reflection
1. Tell the students that they will now reflect on their activity.
2. Discuss with the students observations they had from the
postcard that surprised them or that they expected.
a. Were the surroundings different? Where people’s
actions different? What was similar to your experience?
3. Have students write about their reactions to the photos then
share in pairs.
Summary
The researcher interned at the 4th District School of Vyronas for three months, assisting
with classroom activities as well as co-instructing and creating lessons. During her
internship, the researcher became interested in studying the relation between the
students’ development of their cultural identity and their acquisition of English as a
second language. To understand the students’ development of cultural identity, the
researcher observed classroom materials that had cultural significance, English-
language lessons that discussed Greek and English culture, and the individual students’
presentation of their cultural identity. The researcher found that some English-language
activities encouraged students to examine and question foreign cultures as well as their
own, while other activities presented Greek or English cultural knowledge without critical
analysis. To incorporate the cultural knowledge of students into the foreign-language
classroom, as well as introduce ideas of other cultures that the students may not have,
the researcher created a mock lesson aimed for a 5th grade English-language
classroom during a unit on Future and Past tense. This mock lesson, as well as the
researchers’ conclusions, encourages teachers and school administrators to create
lessons that involve reflection and critical analysis of cultural material in foreign
language classrooms.

30. 30
Reflection on Research and Internship Class
Arcadia’s internship class and the process of writing my first extensive research
paper were two very new experiences for me. While I’ve had other internship
experience, at schools, afterschool programs, and summer camps, I haven’t had an
internship class devoted specifically to reflection, analysis, and discussion of my field-
based learning. Through the class’s weekly meetings, I learned to think more
analytically about my teaching experience, and strike a balance between teacher and
researcher. As an added benefit, I also gained extensive knowledge about the
workplace and research from my teacher as well as my peers.
Before I took this internship class, I never really thought my work in a classroom
teacher as scientific. But by utilizing the research funnel, and examining the specific
research families, research approach, and research techniques, I found that my work in
a qualitative field such as education to have much more importance. Instead of just
observing actions in a classroom, I started to analyze them, look for patterns, and
unpack their significance. I will carry this scientific lens to my future classroom
experiences, hopefully leading me to critically analyze my own teaching style, how I
structure a classroom, as well as what I choose to present to my students.
While the internship class taught me to look at my teaching in a more scientific way,
it also allowed me to find a balance between teacher and researcher. At first this
dichotomy overwhelmed me, and led me to take a back seat in the classroom and
observe instead of interact. As someone who avoids multitasking at all costs, I thought I
had to either put my “researcher’s hat” on and make mental field notes, or put my
“teacher’s hat” on and engage with the students. As the weeks went on, I realized that

31. 31
teachers, even when they’re not conducting official research, are wearing multiple hats,
as a parent, a friend, a listener, an observer, a nurse, and a therapist. For me to
practice balancing two different roles in a classroom, as a teacher and as a researcher,
was only a taste of the multitasking that I will experience as a teacher.
One of the largest takeaways I have from my experiences researching is that my
observations and notes from the classroom will never be as neat or orderly as I would
like. While writing up a research paper, I realize that it would be easy to write up
findings that follow an organized chronological order, or if they exactly followed my
conclusions. Through this process I realized that if my observations were neat, orderly,
and predictable, then this research would not be worth conducting. Trying to find order
from the chaos of a case study is the beauty I’ve found in research.
Overall, exposure to research in Arcadia’s internship class has inspired me to
have a more analytical eye when engaging in a school or other workplace. I plan on
bringing this critical eye with me as a future public middle or high school teacher, in the
U.S. or abroad.
Reflection on Internship Experience
I’m currently a Secondary Education major at Northwestern hoping to become a
high school or middle school teacher in the future. Although I’ve taught in many different
contexts, from a preschool classroom, to private clarinet lessons, this internship at the
4th Junior School of Vyronas was my very first teaching experience in a middle school-
age classroom. While I walked away with a lot of new teaching skills, such as
confidence within the classroom, learning how to write lesson plans, and how to

32. 32
productively collaborate with teachers as well as peers, I also developed a strong
appreciation for the Athenian traditions, as well as love for the city and its people.
Of the many technical teaching skills I acquired, the first one was confidence in
the classroom. I learned early on in my internship that I had to assert myself, and get
myself involved in classroom activities if I wanted to have a worthwhile classroom
experience. This lesson came from a few days of passively observing in the classroom,
and leaving from my internship frustrated at my lack of involvement. I was angry with
myself for not engaging more with the students or the lesson in the classrooms.
Reflecting on my participation in the classroom, and how I wanted more out of my
internship, I thought of the quote, “You only make a mistake once—after that it’s a
choice”. Thinking about this idea, as well as counseling with Joanna, I made a
conscious effort to engage myself in my internship in the following weeks. This
intentional effort to become active in the classroom succeeded in me feeling more
connected to the classes, as well as getting more experience from my internship.
When I pushed my confidence level in the classroom, and moved from a passive
observer to an active teacher and participant, I also began to develop some lesson
plans for the class. I made these lesson plans along with my co-intern, and through this
process I learned collaboration skills as well as lesson-plan creation skills. We worked
as a well-balanced team, bouncing ideas off of each other the night before our visit to
the Vyronas School. I’ve realized that team-teaching has great benefits, from getting a
new perspective on a lesson plan, to having more hands while doing an activity in a
classroom. While implementing the lesson plan in the classroom, one of us wrote
instructions on the board, while the other explained the lesson to the class. While the

33. 33
students began the activity, we would both walk around the room to see whether the
students understood the activity, and answering questions when needed.
While learning how to collaborate with my fellow student intern, I also learned
how to collaborate with a host teacher. The trap that many interns fall into, at least from
my observations, is that they walk into an unknown place brimming with ideas, and want
to shake it up. The largest pitfall that said intern could fall into is thinking they can do
their job better than the workplace’s veteran workers. At the Vyronas School, however, I
was blessed to work alongside a great veteran teacher, who from day one made me
connected and welcome in the classroom. And when I asked for more responsibility in
the classroom, such as presenting lessons and activities of my own, she was eager to
give me the spotlight. Being able to shadow the veteran teacher, as well as work
alongside her, gave me an appreciation for the knowledge that veteran teachers have
from years of classroom experience.
I am so thankful to the 4th District School of Vyronas, Arcadia University, and my
Internship Coordinator as well as my veteran teacher for helping me grow through my
internship. As I head into a career in teaching, I will not just bring the technical skills I’ve
acquired in the Vyronas school classroom, but also my extended cultural knowledge of
Athens, and an acceptance of cultural differences.

34. 34
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Browne, K. and Browne, K. (2008). Sociology for AS AQA. Cambridge: Polity.
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Kent University (2012) Culture and Identity Session 1.
Koliopoulos, G. and Veremēs, T. (2009). Modern Greece. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Meeus, W. (2011). The Study of Adolescent Identity Formation 2000-2010: A Review of
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Miladinovic, M. (2013). Forming Your Cultural Identity |. [online] Afs.org. [Accessed 28
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Pollock, Mica (2008) Everyday Anti-Racism: Getting Real about Race in School, New
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Simos, Joanna (2016) Defining the Research Question, INPR 310.
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