Running head: RESEARCH PROSPECTUS 1

Research Prospectus
Jessica M. Buckle
California State University, San Bernardino
RESEARCH PROSPECTUS 2

Introduction/Problem Statement
Schools are not working for our students. Each generation sees a bigger divide in

seeing engagement and relevance in a broken educational system that was created to produce

factory workers during the Industrial Revolution (XXXX). There are three major issues with the

factory-model of education that we still see permeating the system today: (1) the factory-model

is inequitable and reproduces social stratification based on race and class through its use of

tracking; (2) the curriculum is standardized, based on a white-upper middle class worldview that

supports the banking theory and denies funds of knowledge that our students have; and (3) the

factory-model is based on compliance rather than social transformation with a primary focus

placed on test scores (Sleeter, 2015). While the factory-model of education might have been

beneficial for some in the 18th and 19th centuries by providing basic literacy skills, the ability to

follow directions, and job specific skills such as working on an assembly line, being punctual,

and having respect for authority (Van Duzer, 2006), only about 8% of jobs today are in

manufacturing, and most of those jobs do not entail assembly line work or unskilled labor (U.S.

Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019).

Students, especially students of color, are disengaged from the learning process,

especially because of the curriculum (Sleeter, 2015). Several studies with students of color have

shown that students start to become disengaged from the curriculum as early as elementary

school and that this rate of disengagement grows as they move to middle school and again when

they move to high school (Epstein 2001, 2009; Ford & Harris, 2000; Martinez 2010; Wiggan,

2007). In one study conducted with high achieving African American students, students

attributed teacher practices/engaging pedagogy as the most instrumental component to their

success (Wiggan, 2007). One reason students are so disengaged from the curriculum is that they

do not see themselves in it (Epstein, 2001). For example, if we examine the California History
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and Social Studies Standards, of the 96 American historical figures who are included: 77% are

white, 18% are African American, 4% are Native American, 1% are Latin American, and 0% are

Asian American (California Department of Education, 2017). Contrast this with the

demographics of students and it is not hard to see why they would be disengaged. Wilmer Amina

Carter High School in Rialto, California for example is 75% Xicano, 15% African American,

5.2% Caucasian, 1.2% Asian American, and .4% American Indian (Ed Data, 2018). If almost

94% of the student population is comprised of students of color but only 23% of the content they

learn about is related to people of color, is it really hard to imagine they would not feel

connected to their learning?

This lack of student engagement and a lack of seeing that what they are learning is

relevant contributes to high school dropout rates as well as behavioral problems (Appleton et. al,

2006). The High School Survey of Student Engagement (HSSSE) in 2006 polled 81,499 students

in 110 schools from 26 states and found that 3/4ths of students were bored in class because the

“material wasn’t interesting”, 39% of students were not interested because they didn’t find the

material relevant; white and Asian students reported being more engaged than students of other

races; and 22% of students have considered dropping out of school (of those, 73% said they did

not like school, 61% said they did not like the teachers, and 60% did not see the value in the

work they were being asked to do) (Yazzie-Mintz, 2007). According to U.S. Deputy Secretary

Tony Miller, 1.2 million students in the U.S. drop out of high school every year (Miller, 2011).

DoSomething.Org reported that high school dropouts commit about 75% of the crimes we see in

the United States. According to a study by Lance Lochner and Enrico Moretti, schooling

significantly reduces criminal behavior, and thus, arrest and incarceration (Lochner & Moretti,
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2004). Is it not essential then, for the betterment of students and society, that we address this

problem and work towards a solution?

Enter project-based learning with a social justice focus. Project-based learning provides

students the ability to make connections between content knowledge and 21st century skills,

examine an authentic and relevant real-world challenge/problem/need/concern, learn through

inquiry, use their voice and have choice in their learning, collaborate with others, partner with

members of the community, work through a process of feedback and revision, create and present

an authentic project to a real audience, and reflect on their learning and the process (Grant, 2011;

Hmelo-Silver, 2004). By adding in a social justice focus it allows students to critically examine

themselves, others, and institutions in evaluating patterns of inequality and discrimination and

explore possible solutions to these problems (Dover, 2013). Teaching for social justice helps to

provide a more equitable education to address the academic achievement gap among racial,

cultural, and socioeconomically disadvantaged students that is exacerbated by a lack of

resources, opportunities, and qualified educators (Lee, 2011). Students begin to act upon the

issues they see in society and become contributing members of their community (Farnsworth,

2010). They can use activist strategies such as social media campaigns, demonstrations, and

other means of raising awareness to build support for a positive change.

Purpose Statement
The purpose of this study is to understand the impact project-based learning (PBL) has on

student engagement. For this study, we I will define student engagement as the degree of

attention, interest, passion, or motivation students show towards learning or being involved in the

learning process (XXXX). Other concepts that can be evaluated in terms of student engagement

can include intellectual engagement, emotional engagement, behavioral engagement, physical

engagement, social engagement, and/or cultural engagement.

RESEARCH PROSPECTUS 5

Research Questions
This study will be guided by three research questions:
1. How does project-based learning (PBL) with a social justice focus impact student
engagement?
2. What are students’ attitudes about PBL with a social justice focus?
3. What factors of PBL with a social justice focus motivate students to create authentic
learning experiences?
Research Design
Research Paradigm
Qualitative research seeks to make sense or interpret actions and narratives and the ways

in which they intersect (Glesne, 2016). Because of this, it aligns well with the constructivist

worldview. As proposed by Jean Piaget, constructivism tells that knowledge is not transmitted

passively from one individual to another, but that one constructs their knowledge from

interacting with the environment (Jones & Brader-Arage, 2002). Constructivism as a learning

theory has three main ideas: 1) what we learn and how we learn go hand in hand with our

environment; 2) cognitive conflict, puzzlement, or wonder inspires and classifies learning and

provides the learner with a purpose; and 3) knowledge evolves as the learner exchanges and

appraises the sustainability of continued understandings (Savery & Duffy, 2001). Constructivism

is the perfect framework to use in a study on PBL because it is through PBL that students are

able to construct their knowledge through inquiry and authentic learning experiences through an

active, hands on approach to learning (McHugh, 2015).

Methodology
The research methodology that will be used for this study is phenomenology.

Phenomenological studies are used to reduce individuals’ experiences with a concept or

phenomenon, in this case project-based learning with a social justice focus, to a universal

generalization (Creswell, 2018). Therefore, by conducting a phenomenological study with a

RESEARCH PROSPECTUS 6

group of students experiencing PBL with a social justice focus we can use the results to

generalize about the impact of this pedagogy on a wider range of students.

Data Collection
Data will be collected through open-ended surveys, semi-structured interviews,

observations, student projects, and student reflections. An open-ended survey at the beginning

and end of the year will shed light on students’ perceptions and attitudes towards educational

strategies, project-based learning, project-based learning with a social justice focus, and

engagement levels. Observations, projects, and reflections will be collected continuously

throughout the year. Semi-structured interviews and open-ended surveys will provide the best

data for this study because of the flexibility the structures of these afford (SaldanaSaldaña,

2016).

Participant Selection
The participants in my study will be students, most likely my own, who will be given

access to PBL with a social justice focus. The study will take place at X High School in the

Inland Empire. The student population is comprised of roughly 2,400 students. Of this

population 95% are students of color, 75% are socio-economically disadvantaged, and 9% are

designated English Language Learners (Ed Data, 2018).

Data Analysis
The goal of this study is to understand the impact project-based learning with a social

justice focus has on student engagement. Multiple sources of data will be analyzed including

open-ended surveys, semi-structured interviews, observations, student work, and student

reflections. Data will be coded using descriptive coding and values coding. Descriptive coding is

useful to this study as it will help to document and categorize the breadth of opinions from the
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numerous participants and values coding is important in order to understand the participants’

values, attitudes, beliefs, and perspectives in order to decipher how students feel about project-

based learning and their levels of engagement with this type of pedagogy versus others (Saldana,

2016).

Trustworthiness
According to Glesne (2016), qualitative research studies depend on trustworthiness rather

than validity. Strategies that would be relevant in demonstrating trustworthiness for this study

would be: prolonged engagement and persistent observations as the study would take place over

an entire academic years’ time; triangulation as multiple data-collection methods would be

employed (open-ended surveys, semi-structured interviews, observations, student work, and

student reflections); rich, thick description that would make use of observations and interview

transcripts to write descriptively, giving readers a better context for my interpretations; member

checking as I would want to share my thoughts, observations, and the final product with my

participants to get their feedback; and peer review and debriefing to obtain external reflection

and input.

Limitations
I anticipate that there will be limitations to this study that may impact my research

results, such as the number of participants. While I am hoping all my students will participate, I

will have no control over students who do not wish to participate or parents of students who do

not wish their student to participate. Another limitation is that students might use responses they

think I want to hear to please me, but I am hoping by making the open-ended surveys anonymous

that will limit that as much as possible. I could also wait to interview them until after grades are

submitted, which might allow for more honest feedback if they do not perceive the possibility of
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punitive recourse. I am hoping that based on the foundations and relationships I build with my

students they will feel comfortable being honest with me.

Delimitations
The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of project-based learning with a social

justice focus on student engagement. While the literature review will provide a global context of

project-based learning and social justice teaching pedagogies, this study does not evaluate either

one. Also, this study will not focus on impact on student grades, solely on engagement, which

has been defined as the degree of attention, interest, passion, or motivation students show

towards learning or being involved in the learning process for the purpose of this study.

Researcher as Instrument Statement

My identity, even as part of the white majority group in society, has very much been

grounded in the challenges that I faced and the things I had to overcome to achieve what I

wanted. My mother was in and out of jail and rehab my entire life. My father very much avoided

problems so he either let someone else run the show or he hid from it. I went to ten schools

before I graduated high school. I knew that my parents’ lives were not what I wanted for myself

and the childhood I had was not the childhood I wanted for my future children. I knew the only

way to be successful in life was to get an education so I could get a good job. Another force that

encouraged me to get an education was something my grandmother told me when I was young,

she said “A college degree is the one thing a man can’t take from you.” So those two forces

drove me to work my hardest during my schooling.

I was lucky in that I liked school and school was built for children like me. Obedient

(quiet, did not question authority, compliant), hardworking, driven children who sit in their seats

and do as they are told. I never questioned my teachers or the work they assigned us, I just did it.
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I worked hard and got mostly As with some Bs, was on the honor roll, was involved in different

groups like theater and spoke at my high school graduation. I was overweight throughout so was

never the cheerleader or prom queen type, but I had to learn to be social because we had moved

around so much. I also never saw myself as smarter than anyone else, but I knew if I worked

harder than anyone else, I would still achieve my goals. And I did. I finished high school in

Oregon and moved back to California after two years of being away, to attend college at

California State University, Fullerton. Despite the fact that I had taken care of myself, and my

siblings, most of my life I was not prepared for the type of freedom that came with that first year

of college or with the amount of responsibilities. I was working two part time jobs just to try to

pay rent since all my student aid went to paying the cost of my out of state tuition and focused on

that more than school. Pair that with my stepfather being diagnosed with cancer at Christmas

break of my first year of college and I essentially gave up. I quit going to classes, quit my job,

and was ready to move back to Oregon to help take care of my family. Then my mom threw me

a curveball and told me I needed to stay down here and go to school. So, I took a semester off,

got my act together, and refocused and enrolled in the community college to finish my general

education classes. It took me ten years on and off working full time, and at times a part time job

as well, going to school to finish my bachelor’s degree but I never gave up. Finishing my

bachelor’s degree is one of the things I am most proud of. I then went on to get my Single

Subject Credential to teach Social Science, finished my master’s degree in history, and have

started my EdD in Educational Leadership. I think my grandma would be proud. I have

accomplished so much, and no one can take that away from me.

Originally, I did not want to be a teacher. I wanted to be a criminal prosecutor that put

bad adults in prison, bad adults like my parents whose children suffered because of the poor
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decisions they made. However, I decided that a better goal would be to try to stop people from

becoming criminals by intervening during their formative years. If I could be there for them like

my parents were not, if I could show them someone cared about them and supported them, and

encourage them to reach for their dreams than less children would suffer. I try not to let my

views be colored by the choices people make. I know that parents and students alike make

mistakes and that there are systems in place that contribute to these decisions, so I try to focus on

what I can impact, my students, through showing them how much I care about them and working

my hardest for them. I want to pay forward what my teachers had been for me and that is

something that I work on every day. I did my student teaching at Buena Park High School and

absolutely loved it. When I was hired to work at Fullerton High School, I was very surprised at

the way they turned their noses up at Buena Park because they thought it was “ghetto” and

students’ attitudes towards entitlement. I would be in for another huge culture shock when I

started at Carter High School in Rialto two years later.

Halfway through my second year of teaching we got a new principal. Despite the fact

that I was involved in everything from being the Tech TOSA, to a WASC Focus Group Leader,

to going to all the student’s events, the new principal decided she did not want to keep me and let

me know I would not be back the following year and she would not give me any reason why.

Some said it was because she wanted to hire more Latina teachers, some said it was because I

was the old principal’s hire and she didn’t like her and wanted to get rid of her hires, and some

said it was because I intimidated her. Whatever the reason, does not really matter, I had to find

somewhere new. I chose to look at it from the point of view that there was somewhere else that

needed me more and I think that was true. I started at Wilmer Amina Carter High School three

weeks into the 2018-2019 school year and I was shocked. The students were wild and
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completely disrespectful, due mostly to the fact they had an ineffectual substitute who offered no

boundaries or structure. For example, on my first day I asked students to tell me five things I

should know about them and one student looked me dead in the eyes and said “I’m not telling

you shit, I don’t know you.” I tried not to take it personally as I know she might have had bad

experiences with authority figures or the educational system, but it was still surprising. It was a

rough year to say the least. I knew all I could do was try to do right by them and not quit. It

probably was not until Thanksgiving break where I finally got to the point where I felt like I

could breathe and that I enjoyed being there.

I focused on building relationships with the students and by valuing their ideas and their

voices. I incorporated gamification to get them up and moving instead of stagnant and bored in

their seats and I incorporated Project-Based Learning and Service-Based Learning projects in

order to help them find their voices and have their voices be heard. I am a huge proponent of

Project-Based Learning and Service-Based Learning because it creates a way to connect content,

21st century skills, and inquiry into authentic learning experiences where students feel like they

have a choice and a voice in their own education and in their communities. A quote that I heard

two years ago that truly changed my teaching was “Students are not apathetic, they’re

uninvited.” Ever since then everything that I do is tied to trying to get my students not only to

learn history but to live it and make it. My students have created podcasts around social issues,

they have created

awareness campaigns around human rights violations, they have interviewed women of color

who

have made a difference in their communities through politics or activism, they created viable

small businesses and raised money for a classmate that had been diagnosed with cancer, and they
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are currently working on an Activism Through Art project where they are creating art

installations around social issues they want to raise awareness for or protest and tying it in to

learning about Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans and the Great Depression. I know through

student reflections and conversations that these experiences have had a huge impact on students.

They feel as if they were able to live and make history. They feel as if they have been heard and

were able to tie in their own interests and passions to allow them choice and power over their

own educational experience.

I am very much a believer in you can be a victim or you can be an agent of change. I

want to be an agent of change. I want to create the kind of school and community that my

students so desperately need and that they deserve. Working at Carter High School has really

opened my eyes to the things students of color are going through. I want them to question the

educational system and the world around them, I want them to learn how to use their voices in a

constructive manner, and I want to teach them how to work for change. I am so privileged to be a

part of these children’s’ lives and I want them to know it every day. I want to value their

experiences and their beliefs and help them find ways to channel it. I have seen situations where

other teachers who try to implement these types of experiences are accused of creating an

angry generation who is “playing the race card” but that mitigates and downplays the

experiences of students of color and is weaponizing their feelings to silence them. I want to

create a generation of resourceful young people who can channel their fear and anger into

resolve and that resolve will one day make changes. My resolve has made changes. That student

who on the first day who told me she was not going to tell me shit is now my biggest fan and

visits me every day to give me a hug even though she is not in my class this year. It would be

ignorant to say that all it takes for change is the courage of one’s conviction and putting in the
RESEARCH PROSPECTUS 13

work to see it done but sometimes that is what is needed. I think that all of my experiences and

the educator I have become will strengthen my work because it is a change I am passionate about

helping to make. It is not an assumption that project-based learning with a social justice

positively affects student engagement, it is a certainty. I know that it positively affects students

because I have seen it, I have heard it, I have felt it. My students have told me they have felt

powerful, my students have told me what they are passionate about and how happy they are that

they get to incorporate that into their learning, I have been thanked for having discussions on

hard topics like race and inequality and for helping students learn ways to use their voices and

become activists. All of this influences my work and my research because I know how beneficial

it is. I believe if I can show how student engagement is positively affected by project-based

learning with a social justice focus, it will encourage school districts to adapt a similar learning

model, which will benefit out students and our communities.

RESEARCH PROSPECTUS 14

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