This week, you will begin a pilot research study to inform your philosophy and approach to family and community engagement as well as participate in the research process. A pilot study is similar to a “practice run” before conducting the actual study. Sometimes it helps the researcher decide if this is the topic he or she wants to pursue for further research. Often, the pilot study is used to test certain methodologies to be used in the larger, actual study. In the Master of Arts in Education (MAED) program, you will most likely be conducting some kind of research in your Capstone course. 

The assignments in the next three weeks will help you in the following ways:

• Inform you about family and community engagement that occurs from current early childhood professionals.
• Help you develop your final philosophy and approach statement for family and community engagement.
• Allow you to participate in action research (research that will directly impact practice or emerge from practice) and inquire about current or future issues of interest in your job.

Prepare for Written Assignment and Research
Visit, call, or send an email to the director or a staff member of the early childhood program you identified in the Week One discussion, “Defining Family and Community Engagement.” Ask if you can visit the program and conduct an interview with the director or with another staff member the following week. Find an early childhood program that is willing to help you conduct the interview by the end of that week. If visiting is not convenient for the director or yourself, ask if a phone or email interview would be possible. If you cannot reach anyone to conduct this interview, contact your instructor as soon as possible.

Writing the Assignment 

Include the following sections in your written assignment. The assignment should be three to five pages, in addition to a separate title page and a separate reference page, and formatted in APA style. Format your writing as follows: MS Word, double-spaced, 12-point font, one-inch margins all around. Proofread your paper before submitting it.

• Create a profile of yourself as an educator. The profile will include your preferred teaching style, an in-depth look at your experiences as an educator (if you have not worked with children, you have most likely been an educator with your own children, family members, co-workers, church members, etc.), and how that experience impacts your teaching style and your philosophy on how children grow and learn (this is not the same as your philosophy on family and community engagement but will overlap). Build on the theoretical perspective you developed in last week’s discussion as well as your experiences. You must cite one scholarly source (in addition to the textbook and required readings) in your profile. Create your profile before you begin writing your philosophy statement and approach. If you have had to do some of this thinking, reflection, and creation in another course, contact your instructor if you would like to re-use portions for this assignment.
• Create your philosophy and approach to family and community engagement. Build your philosophy statement from the bulleted items you created for last week’s discussion, “Philosophical Perspectives on Family and Community Engagement.” Be sure to incorporate concepts we have addressed in the course discussions thus far and also draw from your direct experience working with families, if you have them. Your philosophy statement and approach should align to a theoretical perspective. You must cite one scholarly source (in addition to the textbook and required readings) in your philosophy and approach statement.

• Identify three questions you would like to ask during the interview with the director or staff person in the early childhood program. The questions should focus on some aspects of family and community engagement to help support or expand your philosophy statement. If you are currently working with young children and their families, try to think of questions that relate directly to issues that have arisen for you. If you are not currently working with children and families, these questions can be ones you have curiosity about. Discuss the reasons why you chose these questions. 

   

Required Resources

Required Text

1. Scully P., Barbour, C., & Roberts-King, H. (2015). Families, schools, and communities: Building partnerships for educating children (6th ed.) [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/
   • Chapter 3: Viewing Family Diversity
   • Chapter 4: Understanding Roles and Experiences of Parents

Articles

1. Christian, L.G. (2006, January). Understanding families: Applying family systems theory to early childhood practice. Young Children on the Web. Retrieved from http://www.naeycdev.org/files/yc/file/200601/ChristianBTJ.pdf
   • Focuses on finding common ground in family goals instead of on differences in appearance or practice.
2. Santora, L. (2012). How can you create a learning environment that respects diversity? Anti-defamation League. Retrieved from http://www.adl.org/assets/pdf/education-outreach/How-Can-You-Create-a-Learning-Environment-That-Respects-Diversity.pdf
   • Gives explanation and ideas of how early childhood practitioners can create an inclusive learning environment that promotes healthy social identity.

 650 words minimum

1. Compare and contrast Marx and Weber’s notion of class and class stratification.

2. Thinking about Max Weber’s three components of social class, answer the following two questions:

If you were forced to choose between Weber’s three components of social class, which component would you choose to have for the rest of your life: property, prestige, or power? Why?

How could you use that one component to gain the others?

respond no.1

I think Karl Marx and Marx Weber contradicted each other on the class nature particularly. Traditional measures were applied by other sociologists to analyze stratification. Karl Marx argued that class is decided by economic factors only. Whereas Weber argued that social stratification is not only determined by class and economic factors affecting relationships of class. According to Weber, Social class is comprised of prestige, power, and wealth or property. Weber worked half a century after Karl Marx. He derived his assumptions of stratification social ladder from three independent factors namely; power, class, and status. He treated these factors each independently but associated sources of power each with their various impacts on social life. Property is defined as wealth and comprises of owner’s factories or corporations and also the sole managers working in these structures. Weber describes power as the ability of an individual to have his way regardless of the prevailing resistance surrounding him. Prestige is described as an individual’s popularity and social honor in society.

If I was to choose between the three components social by Weber, I would choose property. The property comprises economic resources that include; businesses, land, and buildings that generate wealth. According to Weber, economic power or wealth is the foundation of social class. However, he identifies social power and prestige as crucial class markers. For people to be accepted into classes of higher status, they should hail from prominent families that may not be wealthy or maybe politically powerful. The property still stands out as a good choice. This is because property can be used as an instrument to acquire prestige and power. With wealth, people can buy the education they need to join a higher social class. Prestige can be built using property to champion good ideas resulting in the growth of an individual’s name positively in society. Wealth can also be utilized to acquire power. A wealthy person can afford to move around to avenues where they can meet powerful individuals in normal environments and exchange important information. Wealth can be used to sponsor a political candidate in numerous ways to put a political agenda of interest on the table. Currently, we are in a world where the property can open several doors and is therefore greatly respected.

From the above research, Karl Marx and Marx Weber disagreed on social stratification and inequality. Karl Marx believed economic factors alone determined class while Marx Weber argued that Karl Marx’s points were not enough, he added prestige power and property to his theories. Of the three components of social stratification, I would choose wealth. This is because wealth dominates all the other two components. Despite the dominance of wealth, the two components are also important. Wealth has more importance because with wealth, an individual can acquire both prestige and power.

respond no.2 （ i will give you later and plz respond me back asap）

Both The Great Gatsby and Washington Square are very much novels of their time, giving great detail about social attitudes in general and male and female roles in society in particular. They are also books that are concerned with image, illusion, and relationships.

Consider the various pairings in each book:

The Great Gatsby:

Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby             Daisy Buchanan and Tom Buchanan

Myrtle Wilson and George Wilson         Myrtle Wilson and Tom Buchanan

Nick Caraway and Jordan Baker             Nick Carraway and Daisy Buchanan

Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway                Nick Carraway and Tom Buchanan

                                      Jordan Baker and Daisy Buchanan

Washington Square:

Catherine Sloper and Morris Townsend   Catherine Sloper and her father, Dr. Austin Sloper

Catherine Sloper and her aunt, Lavinia Penniman 

Lavinia Penniman and Morris Townsend

Note that not all the pairings listed above are romantic relationships. Washington Square also focuses on family relationships as well as romantic ones, while The Great Gatsby also examines friendship.

In a well-developed essay of 4 to 6 pages (double-spaced), examine at least one pairing from each book, exploring the dynamic of expectation present (i.e., what does each person in the relationship want from the other? Expect from the other?).

Then compare the authors’ styles with each other. Who seems more successful in bringing their characters to life – Fitzgerald or James? How?

Do not just present unsupported opinion. Use examples and quotes from the books to illustrate and defend your point of view.

This project will serve in place of a midterm exam. We will discuss the ideas that you will explore in this paper in class as we discuss Washington Square, and The Great Gatsby, so you will have some basic material to draw upon for your writing.

Please note that any quoted material must have MLA citations and the books should be listed on a works cited page at the end of the essay.

Since you will have considerable time to work with the material, do your best to present thoughtful explorations of the concepts required. This is not a book or film review expressing your likes and dislikes but an examination of how the authors handle characterization.

Part I

Healthcare organizations must be economically viable to implement and maintain policies. The cost-benefit analysis measures viability and highlights when or where changes need to be made to ensure financial sustainability. Find a healthcare company (department or company-wide) of your choosing and in a minimum of 250 words examine the financial policy within that company that supports or negates sustainability (i.e., cost, benefit, and outcome). Provide a rationale for your position.

Must use at least one scholarly source and document all sources in APA style.

Part II

Assessing value in health care is based on the outcome. The policy that is implemented to analyze value must be one that is specific to the healthcare organization and must address the value issues (i.e., past, current, and forecasted). It is important to note that ethics and values are both inclusive and exclusive of each other in terms of policy; from both the stance of “professional decision-making” and “policy analysis.” In a minimum of 250 words, discuss the following:

Review the “General Requirements for Informed Consent” in the attachment.

Create an Informed Consent (for a hypothetical human subject research) using items 1 – 8 under Section A in the attachment.

Must use at least one scholarly source and document all sources in APA style.