K-W-H-L Statements Topic:
Emphasizing the importance of providing students with a well-rounded education, rather than focusing on a limited range of disciplines.
K: The No-Child-Left-Behind Act has caused school to devote increased attention to the subjects of math and English, and this has cause them to neglect other important subjects, especially those geared towards the creative development of students. Schools have made this move because they are concerned about students’ performance on national standardized testing assessments which concentrate on math and English skills. Schools need to reinstate the importance of teaching diverse topics in the classroom to best help their student success in their future educational and life endeavors. Audience: educators and other educational professionals, parents, students, government law-makers Sources of Information: Elementary Education course at Pitt, articles on the topic of NCLB, educators, documentaries on educators’ experiences with NCLB
W: How can individuals set out to change the NCLB law or alter it in some way so that it does not adversely affect the students in concern? Who is the best target to direct this information towards?
H: Education journals, interviews or correspondences with educators, government websites, educational websites
L: The solution to this topic will probably be difficult to develop because of the complexity of the issue with regards to political aspects of the situation. Educational sources will probably be the best source of researching information on this topic. K-W-H-L Statements Topic:
Implementing language learning in elementary classrooms, instead of waiting to start language instruction in secondary school.
K: Young children pick up languages more easily than older individuals. As individuals age, their ability to acquire languages becomes less acute, therefore making it more difficult to become bilingual. Due to the difficulty of learning a language when one is not introduced to that language early, a majority of people in the US do not pursue learning a foreign language. Many benefits are associated with being a bilingual individual, especially at present when the world continues to become more globalized. Audience: professionals in the education field, both local and national (such as creators of curriculum, individuals on the board of education for various districts), parents
Source of this information: Personal experience, observation of children who started learning a language when they were young, conversations (in education) that suggest this phenomenon
W: Why, with this knowledge of the benefits of early language learning, has there not been a move to introduce languages in the majority elementary classrooms? What are the obstacles that have kept US schools from emphasizing language instruction in comparison to schools in European countries? Who are the main opponents of this idea, and what are the main reasons for their oppositions?
H: Sources for information: Teaching journals, elementary teachers and those in the educational profession who are the main decision makers regarding curriculum, professionals in the field of linguistics, European examples of early language learning in elementary schools
L: From thinking of how to approach this research project, I have become aware that I need to do a lot of research to update myself on where this issue currently stands. Although I am well aware of the topic’s importance to the education of individuals, I do not have a firm foundation for the obstacles that hinder the implementation of language learning at the elementary level.
