Research Topic #1. There are some preschool children who live in homes where English is not the primary language spoken at home. This could be due to the fact that the parents do not speak English themselves. Another possible explanation is that these parents would prefer their child to learn English, but also speak the language that is spoken in their native country. The focus of this research would be to find out what impact this exposure to multiple languages has on preschool students, both educationally and socially. In order to find out more about this research, I would have to observe a classroom that has at least a few students who come from homes where English is not the main language communicated. One of the methods that could be used to accomplish this research would be to interview the parents and/or teachers so I could get a better understanding of what language is spoken at home versus what is spoken in school. Another method that I could use might be ethnographic research since that deals with “cultural and social practices.” (Griffin,10) A final method could possibly be discourse analysis. One misgiving that I may have is that there could be a language barrier between me and the parent, which could make the interviewing process difficult. I would also be concerned about whether I could observe enough students who fall into this category so that I would be able to obtain accurate results.
Research Topic #2. Bullying has recently become a major issue in many schools. There are efforts being made to try and prevent this from becoming much worse. The focus of this research project is whether or not teaching bullying prevention at a young age will have any lasting effects on students when they are much older. This research would have to be done through preschool, elementary school, and middle school observations over a certain time period. Interviewing would obviously be an important method to use for this type of research. Another method that might be useful for this could be some form of quantitative research so that I could gather the numbers of students who are actually being bullied in school. One of the misgivings I might have about this research would be some parents might feel uncomfortable about their child learning about a serious issue at such a young age in a school setting. They may feel much more comfortable talking to their child about this issue at home, rather than in school.
Research Topic #3. One of the major problems faced in schools over the past 10-15 years has been the fact that the fine arts programs (i.e. music, art, dance, drama, theater, etc.) have been cut from schools. It is possible that since these programs have been cut from the school budget that students are becoming less creative. Obviously, this may not be the only reason for less creative students, but it is certainly possible and worth noting that the cutting of these programs has led to not as many artistic/creative students. I could certainly interview the main teacher, fine arts teacher, principal, and parents to get their perspective on whether or not they feel that the cut of these programs could have possibly led to less creativity in students. I would also consider using quantitative research in order to gather all of the numbers for those who think that this is in fact the result of less creative students. As of now, I do not see any possible misgivings for this research project.
No comments:
Post a Comment