CHOOSE A SOCIAL PRACTICE TO CHANGE OR IMPROVE 13
especially important to talk to your supervisor or advisor early in the process to ensure that your topic is appropriate and acceptable to the course in which you are enrolled.
In summary. you will be more or less free to choose your topic. depending on your specific circumstances, To illustrate this consider the circumstances of Lynne, Terry and Sabena. Each of them is more or less free to choose their topic, because each occupies a specific position in the early childhood field.
e -is an undergraduate student tes’ catcher, She is studying for a degree in early childhood studies and has just begun a new subject. ‘Children as social learners’. This subject requires her to do an action-research project to improve her capacity to support children’s skills in solving social problems.
_ Terry is an early childhood practitioner researcher. He has just been to a conference on children’s rights with two of his colleagues. The con-ference inspired them to rethink children’s participation in decisions `about curriculum. They have decided to do an action research project on this topic as part of thei professional growth and learning.
• Sabena is a school curriculum leader researcher. She has just been asked to lead an action research project – funded by central government – in her school district to improve indigenous children’s literacy. Sabena can’t change the research topic but participants in the project can choose specific questions about the topic that catch their interest.
‘Niggles, norms and nevers’ Brainstorming – by yourself or with others – can help you to find your research topic. This process works whether you are free to choose your topic for yourself or have a topic imposed on you. Glenda has helped people to choose a research topic by using a four-part brainstorming process she calls ‘Niggles, norms and nevers’.
• Part One. Identify the social practices (rituals, customs or conven-tions) that niggle you (in your current work or in the research topic you have been given) that you know something about but you’d like to know more.
• Part Two. Identify what you do normally about this niggling social practice and what you would like to be different
. • Part Three. Identify what you would never do about your ‘niggle’ and what you would like to change.
• Part Four. Identify the most interesting and meaningful way to resolve your ‘niggle’ through an action research project and suggest a research topic.
