EDLD 5301 Final Reflection

During the course of the last five weeks, I have experienced two revelations—both of which are related to the activities of this class. The first revelation has to do with the data sources of my action research project.   I had planned to use three courses—Auto Mechanics, Welding and Health Sciences—in my study of the gender gap in nontraditional courses.  After reading Chapter 3 and learning about the different data collections plans, I reflected on the sources I would be collecting data from.  During that reflection I came to realize that one of those sources would not work.  While Auto Mechanics and Welding are straightforward classes with gender slanted toward males, Health Sciences is filled predominantly with females.  My premise is that showing males in medical roles that are nontraditional for men—primarily nursing—would increase the enrollment in that class.  However, while I was discussing the details with the teacher in charge of that class, she requested several times that I make sure I did not refer to her class as “Nursing.”  When I questioned her about this, she replied that one of the reasons her class is filled with girls is because the counselors and even administrators continually refer to her class as “Nursing” instead of “Health Sciences,” which covers a wide range of medical areas of which nursing is just a small part. At this point I realized that the reason for the gender gap in her classes might be caused by a lack of understanding regarding the context of the class rather than gender role perception.  This realization led me to question whether my data would be compromised, since the media campaign would by its very nature educate students—as well as counselors and administrators— as to the content and purpose of the class.   Would the clarification of the class curriculum in some way skew the findings?  I am still struggling with how to deal with this issue. The second revelation has to do with my personal feelings about being an administrator.  For several different reasons I have begun to doubt my goals and question whether I “have what it takes.”  Is my skin tough enough to withstand the scrutiny and criticism that comes with the job? But this course has shown me a completely new aspect of the job, and I feel a renewed purpose.   I love everything about the process of action research:  the wonderings, the data collection and analysis, the sharing of that quest for better understanding, and finally, the goal of creating change for the better.  And then there are all those additional “wanderings” that lead to more opportunities to complete the process again.  It is a never-ending circle of learning, one in which I am excited to be a part of.