Tuesday, April 21, 2009

What am I learning from my Inquiry Project?

Here are some excerpts from my Research Project so that you can get a taste of how much I am learning. Hope you enjoy it and any feedback will be appreciated:

* What programs are available, in your city, to help you out with an array of problems (i.e., financial, relationship, educational)? What organization can you turn to when you feel that you are at the end of your line? When you sit down and think about these questions, you realize that the answers to these questions are very difficult to find. Not all cities proudly promote the services that are available to support everyone in their community. Through my research and interviews, I have realized that community-based organizations have strong ties with the communities and actually support the individuals by giving them assistance and teaching them various skills needed to be successful in the future. For instance, there are various programs which take an active role in changing things that are negatively affecting the community; community based participatory research (CBPR) “involves the systematic inquiry, with the participation of those affected by the issue being studied, for the purposes of education and taking action or effecting social change” (Victoria Breckwich Vasquez, 2006).

* After-school programs are defined as safe, structured activities that convene regularly in the hours after school and offer activities to help children learn new skills, and develop into responsible adults. It has been stated that approximately “6 million of the 54 million K-8 children in the United States participate in after-school programs that are school based or community sponsored” (Kanter, 2001). In general, that leaves a large percentage of the children between the ages of 5 and 14 without any type of support or supervision. These programs can assist children in many areas of life that go far beyond the inner sanctuary of the school building because “child and youth development is influenced not only by families and school, but by an endless variety of community organizations” (Paul W. Speer, 2002).

* There are also programs available where students are given a formal education similar to the education that is taught in schools. The only difference is that the program actually gets the children involved in their surrounding communities while ensuring that they learn a particular lesson at the same time. These types of programs use a method called experiential learning to ensure that the children understand the message and lesson that is being presented to them. Experiential learning is known as “an approach to learning that encompasses service-learning and is a term used to describe learning undertaken by students who are given a chance to acquire and apply knowledge and skills in an immediate and relevant setting” (Suzanne B. Cashman, 2008). This is a great form of education because the students get a hands-on approach to the lesson they are learning and are able to see its true effects on their own community.

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