A research simulation projects is new to me. During week one of our course, I shared that I was interested in the impact of play has on cognitive skills. As part of our application assignment, I had to narrow my topic down into three subtopics which included the effects of structured play versus direct-instruction practices in a child's cognitive and/or social development. I'm also curious if there is any correlation to high-school drop-out rates. However, I think would like to focus on the impact play versus direct-instruction impacts our children's cognitive and social skills.
With our changing education system, developmentally appropriate practices are being pushed aside to make room for academic learning through direct-instruction. The expectations in the public school where I have been working for the past four years has increased yearly. It used to be acceptable that children left kindergarten knowing their letters, sounds, and a few high frequency words. In year four, they are expected to know all of that before they enter school and by the time they leave kindergarten should be reading and comprehending a Guided Reading Level C book. I'm not saying that our children can't do it but at what cost? The pressure of No Child Left Behind is ridiculous this year as it's nearly impossible to make Adequate Yearly Progress. I really want to know the long-term impact of this academic push over developmentally-appropriate practices is really helping us "get ahead". Will our children graduate with 21st century-skills such as creativity and inventiveness if they are always instructed instead of being guided?
I found our research chart as part of APP1 to be very helpful in understanding research. It allowed me to see the overwhelming research article in smaller sections. Understanding what sections are important and what sections I can ignore was a great time saver and relief. Also, I have found our discussion board to be very informative this week. Are there any quality research sites that you use outside of our Walden Library?
If so, please post those links. I would like to a research link page.
Thanks for reading! I look forward to helping all of you and receiving help through this research simulation. It's still a little daunting.
Maggie
Maggie,
ReplyDeleteI find your post to be very interesting on the impact of play. Several states have taken play out of their curriculum which I do not think was such a good idea to do so. Children learn through play, and play is vital to a child's everyday living. I think the reason for them taking play out of the curriculum was that some parents thought that the Performance Standards should be focused on more than play. My intake would be to focus more on play.
Tracey
Hi Maggie,
ReplyDeleteI like the focus of your research. I look forward to reading more about your process and your discoveries in regards to play. It would be interesting to learn more about the long-term impact of pushing children academically.
One step at a time! Keep up the great work!
Tamara
Great topic or shall I say sub topics you have developed. This is a topic that is being addressed widely. I am sure you will have more than enough resources to gather data from. In response to you curiosity about the long term outcomes of direct instruction / vs play practices, you would have to conduct a longitudinal study I would think. I would suggest Googling the Perry High Scope website.I wish you well on your research.
ReplyDelete