Barbara Angus The Golden Retriever Analysis

As Barbara Angus gives an account of her experience as an action researcher, she clearly shares the triumphs and defeats educators may encounter in the classroom. After reading the article, I particularly want to address the following research question: How can educators support students by introducing them to various sources that can address their inquiries as learners?
This question sparked my curiosity when I read that Angus encouraged the children to learn more about the golden retriever that visited their class on a weekly basis while pregnant. Although I commend Angus for providing the emails the breeder sent her, I wonder how her students could become more independent in their investigation. Rather than strictly directing the students’

source for exploring their inquiries, I would rather support students’ learning by equipping them with the skills to investigate sources other than the ones I provide.
Thus, my research question will prove that introducing children to other options for researching their topic, with some degree of adult scaffolding, will stimulate my learners to acquire knowledge on their own. By sharing the emails with the students as the only documented way to address their questions, I believe Angus viewed her students as empty vessels, minds that had no cognitive abilities to apply prior knowledge and experience dealing with dogs. For instance, perhaps the emails were engaging for some learners. However, other learners may have different needs based on their profiles, interests, and readiness. Maybe Angus could introduce a sample brochure from the breeder that includes photographs, or allow the children to conduct an interview with the breeder, showing that people can provide “important sources of information” (Barton & Levstik, 2011, p. 93).
Therefore, my research will address how educators can become more proficient at “directing students’ attention to this process of evaluating the usefulness of sources” (Barton & Levstik, 2011, p. 93). By avoiding the blank slate theory that assumes the human mind is apt to absorb whatever information it receives, I believe a teacher that encourages students to explore various sources is a teacher that will adequately facilitate her classroom learning to address the intellectual, social, and linguistically diverse needs of her students to draw conclusions based on their own evidence.