Diversity In Education

             Assignment 2: Research Paper Part 1 – The Foundation

Due Week 5 and worth 200 points

If you have ever asked a question, wondered why something is as it is, or tried to understand an event, you have engaged in research. For this assignment, you will create the first part of your research paper. You should use the headings below for the sections of your paper.

For this assignment, you will craft the framework of your research using the articles you collected and summarized from Assignment 1 and / or other articles you found that relate to your research topic. Assignments 2, 3, and 4 will all build on each other to create one comprehensive research paper. Each time you submit an assignment, your instructor will provide feedback that you can use moving forward with the other parts of the research paper.

Research topic: Diversity in Education K-12. Educators being more diverse when creating lesson plan & teaching.

Write a four to five (4-5) page paper in which you:

1.       Describe the:

a.        Introduction to your topic.

b.       Purpose of your research.

c.        Problem statement.

2.       Summarize the literature you collected related to your topic.

3.       Identify the:

a.        Gap(s) in the literature.

b.       Research question or hypotheses of your topic.

c.        Proposed theory for your research.

4.       Include at least six (6) peer-reviewed quantitative or qualitative articles related to your topic.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

·         Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

·         Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

·         Identify a research topic and describe why it can and should be studied.

·         Determine the appropriateness of peer-reviewed literature to support research topics.

·         Use technology and information resources to research issues related to educational research methods.

·         Use quantitative and / or qualitative approaches to create research topics.

·         Analyze research methodologies that support specific research topics.

·         Evaluate components of a research proposal.

·         Write clearly and concisely about educational research methods using proper writing mechanics.

·         Determine the appropriate research procedures when designing a qualitative study.

·         Determine the appropriate research procedures when designing a quantitative study.

Click here to view the grading rubric for this assignment.

Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic / organization of the paper, and language and writing skills, using the following rubric.

Human Diversity, Assessment in Education and the Achievement of Excellence and Equity

The work by Wade Boykin aims to recognize and nurture talents from a culturally-diverse learning environment. He notes that in the recent past, localized formative assessments have been used as major drivers to reform the education section. Further, there has been repeated use of large scale educational assessments to attain the same objective. Although it is important to conduct educational reforms, these two means have been the only definitive channels used. Boykin cites that there are other important considerations that should be taken into account. Notably, it is important to take account of assessments that do not exclude some learners on the basis that they do not constitute the mainstream of the society. This is cited as one of the major ways education is wasting human talent.

It is important for the education system to be inclusive. Boykin (2014) presents the view that there should be emphasis on assessments for learning as opposed to assessments of learning. Further, educators have to pay attention to assessing the learning context and not solely assess the students. This is meant to present a purpose to schooling and enhance human capacity. When students attend school, they ought to be enlightened and develop in a way that they would not in any other place. However, the current school setup is more inclined towards sorting and selecting.

In the article, the author presents diversity as an attribute of learning as well as a reality in most classes. Learning should be a process where different lessons are imparted, and should also be designed to accommodate a culturally-diverse class setup. Assessment should play the function of assisting actualize such form of learning and development.

What is Quality? The Political Debate on Education and its Implications for Pluralism and Diversity in Music Education

Eva Georgii-Hemming’s article looks into the role of education and particularly on quality as a source of political activism. The quality of education is a constant concern to politicians as it is viewed as an indication of the future of the country. There is emphasis to maintain education as a priority and ensure that it is of the best quality.  However, quality assurances of all kinds seem to be built on and result in a number of quantitative measures.

The concept of quality education is not well defined. Further, all the measures taken to develop a quality education system are not inclusive of what many may view as essential components of learning. In the article, Georgii-Hemming introduces traditional and philosophical aspects of learning, and discusses how the emphasis on quantitative measures of quality education influences pluralism and diversity in the education system.

The author describes the widely-held view of quality education as worrying. He however acknowledges the fact that the problem is dynamic and cannot be easily solved with brief citations from researchers and philosophers. However, the intent of the article is to illuminate on the problems and introduce views and ideas that have largely been overlooked. The author intends to incite further discussion and analysis in relation to attitudes and concepts thought of as mandatory. He includes several philosophical concepts that contribute to generating awareness on the restricted view of quality education. Further, the author hopes to set a trend towards a more dynamic stance on quality education.

Diversity in Public Education: Acknowledging Immigrant Parent Knowledge

Yan Guo tries to redefine the learning by presenting the view that the learning environment is crucial to the process and general development. Specifically, the author focuses on the knowledge that is presented into the learning environment by immigrant parents. The general assumption is that people know information that can be presented to other through learning. In the article, the varying values, language, culture, religion, and educational background of immigrant parents is presented as a haven for knowledge and learning opportunities. Guo presents such parents as possible avenues to enrich the learning environment. However, the current state of affairs is one where such parents are not included in the education system. The article explored the value of such parent to the public education system.

In order to complete the article, the author has to conduct extensive interviews with different immigrant parents from different families. The aim was to collect first hand data on the views that these parents had. In addition, the interviews were meant to interact and gather knowledge that can be used in the education sector.

The results of the study demonstrated that the significance of immigrant parent knowledge, culture, language, and religious knowledge. The disparity in culture and knowledge presented is critical in education as it presents a more dynamic step in learning. The monotony of similarity does not present this advantage. As identified in the article, the education sector has not exploited this chance that it ought to. Besides the students, the authors put forth the recommendation that administrators and educators can also learn a lot from the same parents.

Discovering, Recovering, and Covering-up Canada: Tracing Historical Citizenship Discourses in K–12 and Adult Immigrant Citizenship Education

Cultural diversity is generally accepted in Canada. In fact, provinces such as Ontario and Alberta have developed education documents that embrace cultural diversity as a central and key aspect of nationhood. The federal government also produces its own citizenship document that introduces adult immigrants taking the citizenship test. The big question in all these cases is on the role of cultural diversity in the nation, and implementing effective measures to take on all cases in citizenship education.

The author intends to present the interesting comparison on how citizenship and diversity are presented to youth and to adult immigrants. The article offers a critical analysis of the extent to which current discourses reflect, revise, or reassert those that were prominent in the past. It is important to understand the role of diversity in learning about citizenships in order to highlight the areas that need improvement. Canada is a very diverse country, and it is important for the education system to take this into account in the way it imparts knowledge and skills.

The study establishes that the education system promotes social cohesion whilst overlooking important areas such as social justice discourses. The author describes this as a cause of a narrow vision of Canadian identity and history. At the provincial K–12 level, a neoliberal understanding of individual development and economic rationales is dominant. However, this is not the case at the federal level where there is a shift toward neo-conservatism that recovers the imperial roots of Canadian citizenship ideals while covering up the strong history of equity, diversity, and civic action.

References

Boykin, A. W. (2014). Human Diversity, Assessment in Education and the Achievement of

            Excellence and Equity. The Journal of Negro Education, 83(4), 499-521.

Georgii-Hemming, E. (2017). What is Quality? The Political Debate on Education and its

Implications for Pluralism and Diversity in Music Education. Philosophy of Music Education, 25(1), 67-86.

Guo, Y. (2012). Diversity in Public Education: Acknowledging Immigrant Parent Knowledge.

            Canadian Journal of Education, 35(2), 120-140.

Pashby, K. (2014). Discovering, Recovering, and Covering-up Canada: Tracing Historical

Citizenship Discourses in K–12 and Adult Immigrant Citizenship Education. Canadian Journal of Education, 37(2), 1-26.