Throughout my research, I have found quite a bit of valuable information on how learning occurs in urban schools. I have found one common theme throughout my research thus far and it is to make sure students have some sort of connection and engagement to the assignment. Teachers must make sure that the student is genuinely invested in the assignment or their learning; therefore teachers must take students’ personal experience, culture and interests in order to create meaningful assignments that students can invest in.
After receiving my research proposal feedback, one comment by Professor Knudson stood out to me the most. She stated that “Some people might argue that teachers just need to have a big tool box, a tool kit of strategies so that no matter if you’re teaching in a suburban environment or an urban one, or even a rural one for that matter, kids are kids. That’s one thing that I’ve noticed. I’ve taught in both urban and suburban environments and I just noticed that the personality types are consistent no matter where you teach. And it is a matter of the chemistry of the classroom and figuring out where the students are and where they need to go.” After hearing in the feedback Professor Knudson gave me, it made me really re-evaluate how I was viewing urban education. It allowed me to reflect on experiences that I have had in an urban setting and realize that it is true that students’ personality types are consistent regardless of what type of setting you are teaching in. I was glad to hear that testimony in my feedback because it allowed me to look at my research paper from a different light. Although, I do still believe that even though personality types may be consistent and kids are kids, different kids deal with different things in their life which are sometimes (unfortunately) predetermined by their culture or background.
With that being said, I have found some information that caters to certain cultural backgrounds that are usually found in an urban setting such as a Latino population and African American population. In some of these articles, studies are conducted where teachers allow students to make decisions about what they are doing their writing about. In one article called “Picturing a Writing Process: Photovoice and Teaching Writing to Urban Youth,” students use photography to capture their views about school from their own perspectives. Students also were encouraged to take photos of things in their lives that they believe that hinder some of their opportunities to learn such as poverty. Students were encouraged to take photos around their homes, communities and friends to portray their feelings. The article also examines how poverty, which inhibits much of the urban area, is directly related to students’ ability and graduation rates in school. With this project, students were able to overcome this predetermined idea of inability to perform in a classroom setting and write to their best capabilities. The students working on the Photovoice project were very successful and produced wonderful pieces of writing based on their personal experiences and beliefs. This is similar to what Kittle has been explaining in her book, that students will be more engaged if what they can relate to what they are learning.
As I previously explained, a lot of the research I have found so far explains the same general idea: allow the students to involve their personal experiences and interests in their writing and learning. I have already chosen about 10 articles and one book but I still need to find the rest of them and read some of the ones I already found. I believe I will have a better idea of what I want to write about after I gather more research.
There is one thing I am unsure about with my research paper: I am unsure of how I want to set my paper up and what issues I want to address. Since I am writing about how to teach writing in an urban school, I need to figure out what specific aspects I want to discuss and research. Another issue that I think I may have while writing this research paper is putting my own bias and political views in it. I just have to make sure that I leave those views and ideas out of the paper. Another question I had was if I am allowed to use personal experiences as a part of my research paper? Would it be considered valid information and how would I do that?
Overall, as I continue to research my topic, I am sure that I will be able to develop a valuable and informational paper on teaching writing in an urban setting. I am very excited to write about this topic!
After receiving my research proposal feedback, one comment by Professor Knudson stood out to me the most. She stated that “Some people might argue that teachers just need to have a big tool box, a tool kit of strategies so that no matter if you’re teaching in a suburban environment or an urban one, or even a rural one for that matter, kids are kids. That’s one thing that I’ve noticed. I’ve taught in both urban and suburban environments and I just noticed that the personality types are consistent no matter where you teach. And it is a matter of the chemistry of the classroom and figuring out where the students are and where they need to go.” After hearing in the feedback Professor Knudson gave me, it made me really re-evaluate how I was viewing urban education. It allowed me to reflect on experiences that I have had in an urban setting and realize that it is true that students’ personality types are consistent regardless of what type of setting you are teaching in. I was glad to hear that testimony in my feedback because it allowed me to look at my research paper from a different light. Although, I do still believe that even though personality types may be consistent and kids are kids, different kids deal with different things in their life which are sometimes (unfortunately) predetermined by their culture or background.
With that being said, I have found some information that caters to certain cultural backgrounds that are usually found in an urban setting such as a Latino population and African American population. In some of these articles, studies are conducted where teachers allow students to make decisions about what they are doing their writing about. In one article called “Picturing a Writing Process: Photovoice and Teaching Writing to Urban Youth,” students use photography to capture their views about school from their own perspectives. Students also were encouraged to take photos of things in their lives that they believe that hinder some of their opportunities to learn such as poverty. Students were encouraged to take photos around their homes, communities and friends to portray their feelings. The article also examines how poverty, which inhibits much of the urban area, is directly related to students’ ability and graduation rates in school. With this project, students were able to overcome this predetermined idea of inability to perform in a classroom setting and write to their best capabilities. The students working on the Photovoice project were very successful and produced wonderful pieces of writing based on their personal experiences and beliefs. This is similar to what Kittle has been explaining in her book, that students will be more engaged if what they can relate to what they are learning.
As I previously explained, a lot of the research I have found so far explains the same general idea: allow the students to involve their personal experiences and interests in their writing and learning. I have already chosen about 10 articles and one book but I still need to find the rest of them and read some of the ones I already found. I believe I will have a better idea of what I want to write about after I gather more research.
There is one thing I am unsure about with my research paper: I am unsure of how I want to set my paper up and what issues I want to address. Since I am writing about how to teach writing in an urban school, I need to figure out what specific aspects I want to discuss and research. Another issue that I think I may have while writing this research paper is putting my own bias and political views in it. I just have to make sure that I leave those views and ideas out of the paper. Another question I had was if I am allowed to use personal experiences as a part of my research paper? Would it be considered valid information and how would I do that?
Overall, as I continue to research my topic, I am sure that I will be able to develop a valuable and informational paper on teaching writing in an urban setting. I am very excited to write about this topic!
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