METHODOLOGY
Researcher Role
As the researcher, my role is to write, collect, and evaluate lesson plans that are written about division. I have developed a website[1] that will house various resources surrounding myfor the theme of division such as professional and student created artwork, and lesson plans that have been submitted by teachers, as well as lesson plans that I have created and gathered, and a message board where teachers can have an open dialogue about arts integration surrounding the theme of division. As teachers submit lesson plans I will use Terry Barrett’s (2012) Principles of Interpretation to evaluate the material being submitted (Barrett, 2012).
Data Collection
I will collect and analyze integrated arts lessons from other teachers that center around the theme of division. I will use social media, email, and my website to collect various lesson plans from other teachers. I will also use lesson sites like John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Education Closet, and Art:21 to find lesson plans that fit my criteria to evaluate. The website I create will act as a space where teachers can have open dialogue about the theme of division and share ideas and examples of how socio-political and mathematical division can be taught using the art integration of art in the classroom. Although the dialogue will be useful for educators, the content of the dialogue will not be evaluated for this study.
I am in the process of developing a website on wix.comat http://dannakerns.wix.com/artsintegration that will become the final presentationoduct of my action research. Through that website viewers will be able to explore the rationale behind my research, lessons that I have written and that others have submitted, professional artwork and artwork that has been completed by students from these lessons, a message board where teachers can discuss art integration, and a reflection, which I will complete after two weeks. At that time I will pause the process to evaluate the lesson plans that I have collected as well as reflect on the process and ways to improve the website to make it a better tool for teachers.
I plan to write lesson plans centered around division based on the Baltimore City Public Schools curriculum for 3rd-5th grade. I will also post on social media and email teachers involved in Arts Every Day, a non-profit organization that my school works with to provide arts integration experiences to inner city schools, to ask them for any lesson plans that they have written and/or implemented. I will look for existing lesson plans online that deal with the topic of division and how it relates to math and language arts as well as look at the database on www.artseveryday.org.
I will also compile a database of professional pieces of artwork that will serve as a resource to any teacher that would like to use art to teach about the concepts of division, whether they be mathematical division or social division. These pieces of artwork will be listed with their title and artist so teachers can reference the different pieces of work in their own lessons.
Analysis Process
Upon compiling this data I will then use Terry Barrett’s Principles of Interpretation to analyze the content of the lesson plans and will write a reflection about this process.
Terry Barrett’s Principles of Interpretation will be the tool I use to interpret the statements that people make about arts integration with two other content areas as well as reviewing any submitted lesson plans that deal with division. By utilizing Barrett’s Principles of Interpretation I will be able to interpret how teachers will develop their lessons as well as how they can contribute to these lessons. These principles will guide me to analyze the lesson plans in response to my two focus questions, how would teachers develop integrated art lessons that include math and language arts and how would teachers contribute to and use these lessons?
Following the collection of the lesson plans I will write a reflection about the process of creating my website and gathering data. This reflection will show what I have learned from this process and changes I would make if I were to start this process over again. Since this project will be ongoing beyond the deadline, I will also reflect on adjustments that can be made immediately as data continues to be collected throughout the process.
Delimitations
A delimitation that exists in my project is that I am focusing on the Baltimore City Public Schools curriculum because that is the school district that I work in and am mosthave connections with other teachers in this district. comfortable with. While the standards listed above are Common Core standards, which should be mastered across the country, especially in Language Arts, there is no strict guideline on how that content needs to be taught nor using which texts or examples. The content in our Language Arts curriculum may not be the same as other school districts which could limit the use of my lesson plans by other teachers looking at my website.