Issues Related to Co-Education in Australia - Research Proposal Example

Running head: Issues related to Co-Education in Australia Student’s Name: Instructor: Course Code and Name: Institution: Date the Assignment is due: Issues related to Co-Education in Australia Plato, a great Greek philosopher, argued on a belief that co-education was of importance in helping individuals develop their personality. He postulated that both women and men have a major advantage from co-education systems because it created a comradeship feeling among them (Andrea, 2008). He argued that co-education was a necessary method that made both women and men equal and useful members of the general society. Therefore, in the west, the significance of the concept of co-education has had a great impact since ancient times (Alice, 1993). This research proposal is an Independent study, which discuses the significance of Co-Education to children and parents. It tries to address respective issues facing both parents and children relating to co-education issues giving a clear theoretical analysis on the topic. Reports from study by University of South Australia made examinations and verifications on whether coeducation schools had any significance on students as well as parents and its major impacts to the parties involved. The study verified the distractions created for the students in the co-creation schools. The researchers’ intention was to verify whether co-education that involved having girls and boys together in learning had any effect on their progress and the take on the side of parents in performing their roles (Alice, 1993). Co-education is an education system that involves educating girls and boys together and instilling various skills in overall gender without favors. In ancient times, the concept of co-education was so much prevalent in Greece and countries around the region. Today, the co-education system is there almost in every country globally but with limitations in the operations. This research purposes to derive answers to the following questions: How would the concept of co-education be operationally defined Can linear, self-report instruments used in assessing different dimensions of co-education be established What is the significance of the co-education concept on both children and parents From the studies conducted on co-education, there have been problems in relationships between boys and girls a factor that challenges the concept and requires interventions in place to handle the system (Alice, 1993). One major advantage in schools, is that it helps cover for the teacher shortage within the educational system. It is also postulated that boys because of co-education overcome their individual curiosity and girls are able to overcome shyness when in presence of the opposite sex (Andrea, 2008). The co-education has also been proved as the best approach in facilitating learning of individuals to respect opposite gender and harmonize their stay when learning in institutions as well as outside in the general society. It is absolute that there was a feature of conservancy about facilitating the system especially over the past decade with many conservative people arguing against the application of the system (Alice, 1993). However, much research has sidelined the conservative ideas and they do not hold any ground in the system of education. Co-education has been a driving force to generating harmonious and perfect relationship as well as a sensible a sense of co-operation, and therefore, it is a tool of progress in the education system within a nation (Andrea, 2008). Significance of the Study The proposed research is significant in contributing to several practice and scholarship in the fields of measurement, education, and educational psychology (Strauss, 1998). From a standpoint, the research results will be directly necessary to the entire Australian education system (Andrea, 2008). The outcomes of the research will provide Australian educators with ways and means through which they can asses systematically the respective students’ learning processes in co-education and its applicability in the current system, and develop insights into relationships between parents and students impact emanating from co-education as well as the overall take from both on the applicability of the system. In so doing, respective outcomes may not just be of use in increasing educators’ awareness of the relevance of co-education in both children and parents, but also it will develop impacts on the possibility of adopting the co-education system in many educational fields in the current curricula (Fontana, 2000). The research has a great potential of making at least three contributions to concept of co-education systems within the fields of measurement, education, and educational psychology (Fontana, 2000). The contributions are significant in furthering the co-education concept and deriving a better understanding within education systems in Australia. First, the research will make definitions as well as expand knowledge of co-creation learning environments, and make identifications of the main aspects as well as sub-aspects of co-education in the respective contexts (Blumer, 1969). In so doing, the research will have made improvements in co-creation concept applicability in Australian education settings and evaluate how the concept influences children’s learning processes. Further, the research will make extensions to elaborate theory established currently within the field of co-education, by exploring several components of the respective construct across a range of tasks and learning situations. It is through the research that verifications of the systems will be possible enabling a better understanding of the concept and people’s views and suggestions on the topic (Fontana, 2000). The research will also make original contributions in the field of research by testing the concept of co-education in Australian educational system. It will make detailed specifications on how the system merged and influenced the general society and its relevance in educational field (Fontana, 2000). This will be a bridge to allowing the establishment of co-education applicability to the system within the education system of the country. Given that the research data analysis will base particularly on current modeling techniques, (Woods, 1992), the research study will be a contribution as the first to bring out a valid, reliable, and linear measure of co-education as a system of education in Australia. This is well stipulated by the data collected from individuals in case studies and basing on their core experiences in co-education systems of education. The proposed study will design, conceptualize, and validate instruments for making evaluations on co-education and the respective system’s environments ((Fontana, 2000)). From the research, it will provide basis of more research on the concept. The field of co-education is still green and not ventured by many researchers. Therefore, the research is a route to furthering discussions, surveys and more researchers on the same topic from other scholars (Strauss, 1998). Research Methodology This research on co-education and its significance on parents and children will involve case studies (Stake, 2000). The conceptualization of the study is generally within the symbolic interaction theory (Woods, 1992). It will also use auto ethnographic (Ellis, 1999) and ‘constructivist’ grounded theory (Glaser, 1992) to facilitate an achievement of the dual aim of developing: (a) Theory explaining the relevance of co-education to the parents (b) In-depth and credible understanding of the significance of co-education to children (I) Case Studies To use Stake’s (2005) terminology, the intention is to use an ‘instrumental’ auto ethnographic case study (Stake, 2000) carried out initially followed by a similar ‘collective’ case study (Stake, 2000). These case studies are generally on the experiences of parents and children who might have gone through co-education of else facilitated this form of education (Strauss, 1998). The auto ethnographic case study conducted initially will seek to examine every single case to allow “the provision of insight into an issue” (Stake, 2000). It will give an overview of some few experiences and the take of parents as well as children on co-education basing on the shared experiences (Fontana, 2000). After the “instrumental case study”, a ‘collective case study’ will commence, undertaken just like the previous one following Stake (2000) illustrations of a case study. Selection of respective cases will be supportive of grounded theory as well as use of ‘constant comparative method’ (Woods, 1992) which is important in comparing different people’s views, accounts, situations, actions, and experiences (Woods, 1992). Theoretical sampling will be used taking place between and within cases “whereby, respective analyst codes, collects, and analyses his data and makes a decision on what data is valid for collection next. He will also develop a capacity of verifying where to find the respective data. This is in the process of developing his theory as it comes up (Woods, 1992)”. (II) Symbolic Interactionism Herbert Blumer, a Chicago sociologist, first coined “symbolic Interactionism” early in 1937. From his approach, it demanded the study of people within natural environments and not through their respective abstracted forms or even in artificial experiments (Woods, 1992). Symbolic Interactionism is perfectly understood using the Blumer’s (1969) “central principles.” It is an argument that human beings tend to act toward things mainly based on respective meanings that these different things have for them. This meaning attribution to objects through respective symbols is a really a continuous process according to the based argument (Stake, 2000). In addition, the attribution of meaning is the main product of human social interaction within a particular society (Woods, 1992). Human conduct therefore can only be understood relatively in the context where they are found. Such notions as time, place, culture, self, significant others, and structure are important components of ‘situation’ and they exist if only the individual refers them as important (Stake, 2000). As indicated from Woods (1992) explanation “people act based on meanings that they inscribe to objects. They do not necessarily respond to the way others perceive it or objective reality.” This study will make an exploration on what symbolic meanings participants share in their respective situation; and why and how these relationships might exist (Stake, 2000). References Alice, W. (1993). Co-Education: A Series of Essays by Various Authors. New York: Kissinger Publishing. Andrea, G. (2008). Women and Coeducation in the American West. London: Sage. Blumer, H. (1969). Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. Fontana, A. & Frey J.H. (2000). The Interview: From Structured Questions to Negotiated Text. Handbook of Qualitative Research (2nd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Strauss, A. & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Stake, R.E. (2000). Case Studies. In N.K. Denzin & Y.S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed.) pp. 435-454. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Woods, P. (1992). Symbolic Interactionism: Theory and Method. In J.P. Goetz (Ed.) the Handbook of Qualitative Research in Education. London: Sage. Read More