Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Action Research Project

For my masters thesis, I have chosen to do an action research project involving my classroom practice, using my own students as participants in the study. I have only begun to formulate the theoretical framework for the project at this point, but I will begin the field research and data collection in the Fall of this year. As an introduction to my research proposal, here is an excerpt from my work so far:

As identity and self-perception are key elements in the development of high school students, one subject often plays a large role in students' understanding of themselves: race. At High Tech High, a school with an increasingly more diverse student body, educators need to understand how this complex issue affects the students' understandings of not only themselves but of their peers and the school community around them. As a teacher of tenth grade humanities, the topics of race and ethnicity arise frequently in the work I do: in our studies of modern world history, my students and I often address issues such as genocide and ethnic cleansing, slavery, socioeconomic trends and their correlation to race, and other sensitive issues. Similarly, in our studies of English language arts, my students and I address issues of identity and self-perception through creative writing and Socratic seminars. Not only do these issues play an important role in my work in the classroom, they also affect the school as a whole by their influence on the development of students' sense of safety and community. Because issues of race and ethnicity are so crucial to my work as an educator in a diverse learning community, I will research the question, “How do students talk about race and ethnicity?” I chose to emphasize talk because it is more easily identifiable than how students think or feel, yet it gives insight into both. In addition, it also addresses a component of the work I do as a humanities teacher: verbal expression. The answer to this question will help me understand how to support the development of students' identities, and also how to create a more inclusive, safe space for discussion of this often touchy topic.

To read up on the rest of this project, as well as related artifacts from my work as a teacher and a learner, visit my digital portfolio: http://www.spencerpforsich.com