I learned so much this semester, and I feel as though I have made great progress towards figuring out my research interests and dissertation topic. This is the first class where I have really felt as though the work was beneficial to me as a future researcher. I learned so much about the research process and my role as a researcher. I feel better prepared to begin working on research for my dissertation and publication. For the first time since starting my doctoral coursework last summer, I am starting to understand the direction I want to go in as a researcher.
I started working on my Ph.D. because I wanted to make a difference in education. I have long felt that the education system in America needs a major overhaul. So much of what we do doesn’t actual benefit our students or the community as a whole. I hear repeatedly that students aren’t prepared for college or the work force. Yet we continue to focus on standardized test results and an outdated education model. As is, the system doesn’t meet the needs of students or the community. Although there is no quick fix for the problems facing the education system in the United States, I feel confident that I can make a difference through research and public speaking.
At this point, I have two concerns about focusing on systemic change in education as my dissertation topic. One is do I have to relate it to learning technologies? Technology has drastically changed how we learn and interact with information as well as the skills needed to compete in today’s workforce. Technology is a major influence on the need for change in education, but is that enough of a connection to justify this topic of inquiry for my dissertation topic?
My second concern is that the topic may be too broad for a dissertation. While working on my Qualitative Research Framework, I realized that there is so much to cover in relationship to systemic change in education. There are so many components within a system that it may be impossible to focus on all of them. Yet, when you are designing a system, you cannot isolate parts of the whole. However, as I delve deeper into this work, I have identified several specific areas of interest including teacher recruitment and retention, the role of technology in education reform, designing frameworks for systemic change in individual states, and the development of personalized, competency-based instructional systems. Perhaps these are topics I may pursue if my current focus proves to be too broad for my dissertation. However, for now, I know I have to better understand the complex education systems of the United States and other countries in order to make a difference in educational change.