The meeting with my instructor today was quite short, but fruitful nevertheless. She helped me clarify some ideas and we identified my research aim and some objectives. I think.

I am not quite ready to put it all into words, but I can say that my proposed research is influenced by the book Releasing the Imagination by Maxine Greene. This is the book I read at work with my coworkers. You all know how much I loved the book club, even though it was quite challenging at times. I still miss getting together to share our thoughts about education. Anyways, Maxine would argue that schools should be a place where all students have a voice.

This connects to You Can’t Say You Can’t Play Vivian Paley. One of my favorites for sure. She implements the rule “You Can’t Say You Can’t Play” in her kindergarten classroom after discussing with the children whether this rule could work or not. The children that get rejected the most were in favor of the new rule and the kids that did most of the rejecting thought it was crazy. The classroom being a public space (unlike your home where you can choose who you want to hang out with) I think that this rule could help all children develop a sense of belonging.

Now I just have to connect my ideas and write up the research proposal. Piece of cake.