A better use of the focus group method would have been to collect the responses of the PTs to the direct research question at the start of the study and again at the end. Doing this could have added much-needed validation to the process and results of the study. Procedures The author does a very good job of outlining the procedure. The procedure process is in detail enough to be replicated. Yow also describes each element of the procedure as it relates to the theoretical literature included in the study. There is also an inclusion of the data analysis procedure. The author describes how the information from the PTs’ free writes would be collected, analyzed, coded, categorized, and triangulated across themes with methods references of procedure …show more content…
This summation of the data and the resulting actions needing to occur as a result do not precisely correlate to the question. The question posed by the author was how do PTs view themselves as oppressive and liberative mathematics educators? The expected answers to this question would be for a PT to respond as “oppressive or liberative”. The majority of students lacking in the mention of self-oppressive teaching moments does not definitively support or discredit the question. It does not answer the question at …show more content…
The author goes through points the PT’s left out of their responses (mentions of race and socioeconomic status) and the implications for teacher education. The author makes one recurring recommendation that educating teachers give PTs time to reflect, write, and discuss oppressive and liberative practices as to become better in the field. There is one limitation that went unmentioned by the author. The participants in the study were those who signed up for the class. It is very easy to say that the responses they turned in were generated under the pressure of wanting to sound good or wanting to pass the class which does not speak to their true opinions on the subject. The study itself, as stated previously, lacks numerical backing. There should be some type of statistics aligning the idea liberative practices output student success. Without this, the author limits herself to her own opinion and the light backing of the study results and leaves the ending on a null and repetitive note that liberative practices will give equal math education to all.
The first, focus groups, interviews conducted with 8 to 10 people with a trained moderator following an interview guide, a common useful approach for acquiring health care information. Also, useful in examining a wide range of sensitive health care issues. Second, probability sampling, units selected by chance, the sample’s reliability, and does not require detailed information about the population surveyed. The third option, mail surveys, inexpensive way to contact individuals over a large geographical area, provide anonymity to the respondent, and eliminate interviewer bias.
Data proves that America does not have enough African American males teaching in today’s schools. As a matter of fact, only 2% of America’s nearly five million teachers are black men (Bryan 1). In our American society, more and more African American females are fiercely taking over both public and private classrooms. Although this might be a great accomplishment, school officials believes that if more black males teach, it would reduce the numbers of minority achievement gaps and dropout rates. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 44% of students nationwide are minorities, but nearly 90% of teachers are white. Polls and surveys further read that if there were more African American male teachers, the dropout rate would decrease while the graduation rate increases. In urban societies most African American teens would be more likely to succeed if there were more black males instructing secondary classrooms.
When I first decided to be a teacher I had many thoughts and opinions about teaching and education. Some of my thoughts and opinions have stayed them same; however, many have changed from the discussions and readings in LL ED 411 and 480. When I first decided that I wanted to be a teacher I thought that most students learned in the same manner. I also thought that the teacher should have power over the classroom. Likewise, I thought that technology should not be used in the classroom--except to type papers. I now know that there is not much truth to my ideas and thoughts because my thoughts were shaped only from my experiences. My experiences are narrow because they were shaped from the problems in schools and the old ideas that teachers still have. Now that I have learned the other sides to these problems I know that my thoughts about teaching and education are not fully developed.
In the future, more care could be taken in discussing the research framework and design; however, overall, this was a well-designed, qualitative research study. Despite a few potential limitations, the study findings were reasonable, consistent with one another, and compatible with similar studies, leaving the research consumer satisfied with the soundness of the study.
Some are white, but most are black. According to the black teachers, you either have to be willing to fight for change or succumb to the status quo. The diversity in the classroom can become overwhelming if you are not committed to making a difference. As I read this book I could hear the voices of many of those teachers saying some of the same things and dealing with some of the same issues. Delpit (2006, p.87), talked about how the Alaskan parents wanted their children to be able to live between two worlds.
Kozol perceives a war waging between teachers and the public school system (Kozol, 3). Teachers are trapped victims confined to the two purposes public school is attempting to accomplish. Those two goals include “class stratification and political indoctrination” (Kozol, 7). He believes that students should be aware of what is really being taught so they can react accordingly (Kozol, 9).
This article hasn’t provided an introduction; however a lengthy summary of the study which identifies the problem, purpose and rationale for the research study has been provided in the background. The introduction should give the reader a general sense of what the document is about, and preferably persuade the reader to continue reading. This prepares the reader for reading the rest of the document (Burns & Grove, 2001 p.636; Nieswiadomy, 2008 p.380; Stockhausen and Conrick, 2002).
Shor, I. (1986, November). Equality is excellence: Transforming teacher education and the learning process. Harvard Review, 36(4), 406-426.
Sadker, D.M., Sadker, M.P., and Zittleman, K.R.,(2008) Teachers, Students, and Society (8th ed.).New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
The term methodology refers to the way in which we approach problems and try to find answers and in social science, it applies to how research is conducted, our assumptions, interest and purposes shape which methodology we choose (Steven, 2016:3).Qualitative research is understanding people from their own perspectives, their viewpoint and experiencing reality as they experience it. Qualitative research has many approaches or methods of collecting data and one of them is an interview which I have chosen to explain further based on it as a method of collecting data. The interview is the most common method of data gathering used in qualitative research and it is used in deferent ways by every main theoretical and methodological approach.
Brown’s (2012) study on Black male teachers focused on the methods in which the teachers were placed and positioned within the school (Pabon, 2016). Findings in Brown’s (2012) study indicated that the participants believed that their placement centered on disciplining the
A significant problem of practice in education is teacher bias. Teacher bias has implications around race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and socioeconomic status. Teachers must be willing to examine their beliefs, acknowledge and overcome their biases. Teachers need to evaluate their practices in relation to their ideals as well as recognize and assess the position of power they hold in their classrooms in order to be true Social Justice Educators (Cooper, 2003).
Through the use of focus groups and semi structured interviews relevant data was collected as participants contributed tremendously regarding the topic of research. The focus group session gave a shed load of information with the main topics highlighted being: the benefits gaming had on a child’s educational life, their thoughts on why the media portrayed online gaming as a destructive device, why they thought parents didn’t see the appeal of computer games, whether children imitated the negative behaviours they were exposed to while gaming, the lack of educational apps on offer to female computer gamers and most shockingly how children young as 8 were given access to games over 18+ and social networking websites. A majority of the children
Peske, Heather G., and Kati Haycock. "Teaching Inequality: How Poor and Minority Students Are Shortchanged on Teacher Quality: A Report and Recommendations by the Education Trust." Education Trust. N.p., June 2006. Web. 12 Jan. 2014.
In recent years, the cliché image of a teacher has come under attach. Research has shown that teachers often work in an isolated setting in which they are considered experts in their specific area; however they often lack the support and equipment needed to do their jobs effectively. As a result, to the inadequate working environment new teachers often leave the profession within the first five years. These conditions often exist because the educational system fails to prepare our teachers with the proper tools and experience needed to do their job well (U.S. Department of Education, 2010).