Friday, May 11, 2012

My Personal Research Journey


Every since I can remember I wanted to become a teacher, but I just didn’t want to teach any group of students, I wanted to teach the group of children living in poverty because I wanted to not only give them a chance in life but also close the achievement gap. I am interesting in poverty and the effects that it has on children. I would also like to take a closer look at how it affects African American children because that is the group of children that I work with.
What is Poverty? According to Wikipedia, poverty is the shortage of common things such as food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water Poverty in this country is a common term. Poverty takes hold of both men and women. Poverty affects people in all states as well as all countries. Who is affected the most by poverty? Mainly African Americans.
This week’s reading was helpful to me because it taught me what to look for when looking for creditable research.


3 comments:

  1. I think your topic sounds interesting and it will definitely give you new insight in working with your specific group of children. As I ponder on my own research topic, HOW to perform formal assessments in early childhood, I am worried I still need to narrow my search to a specific learning domain (ie. math skills, early literacy, etc.). It may be easier if you do the same. For example, how does poverty affect early literacy skills in African American children. This may be easier to narrow down search results and focus on. Just a thought! Goodluck!

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  2. Temeka,

    I think it's admirable that you are choosing to research poverty within African American children. Poverty is a cancerous, debilitating state that affects everyone, including children. However, there is so much to consider within this topic. What specific age group are you targetting, and are you going to filter your search by parental status such as single mother and/or fathers? Also, are you going to focus on one specific geographic location such as the Northeast etc.?
    Look in to the Harlem Children's Zone if you need any more resources. I have browsed that organization's website many times and have found that it offers useful information.
    Good luck and thanks for sharing!!
    Andrea

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  3. Studying poverty and its effects on children is an excellent choice. The reality of poverty is becoming more common today with the children experiencing the greatest effects. The last course that I took "Issues and Trends in Early Childhood" touched on the issue of poverty among children. To my surprise I discovered through selected course reading that children are the largest group of individuals living in poverty. Many of the articles that I read for this course focused on policy and practices established to reduce poverty. I think one's attention should be refocused to consider the effects of poverty on children first to assist in the creation of policies and practices.

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