Process Paper

Andrew Chalfen

Process Paper

3/29/12

 

When I heard that I had creative rights to make this project into my own artistic style I knew I was going to have fun with it. I was given the topic of school district funding something that I strongly feel is a large issue in modern day education systems around the world but especially in the Philadelphia public school district. I’ve had other opportunities to learn about school district funding so when this project was assigned I was actually quite prepared as far as ideas went. As far as actually creating the project I knew the things I wanted to avoid were a long written paper, or something that involves a lot of technical work. I don’t very often enjoy writing and I’ts hard for me to incorporate any type of visual component into a paper. I also get easily frustrated with computers so any advanced website or “prezzi” would have to be left for my other group members. The way I was best at contributing was through social media.

 

I brainstormed my favorite social media ideas and decided to go with the one that stuck out as the most interesting. I have a lot of connections to high school students from schools all across Philadelphia. I used these connections by asking a diverse variety of students a sequence of questions. I chose students from all different ethnicities and cultures in over fifteen different Philadelphia public and charter schools. The point of these questions was to ask the students how school district funding directly affects them and their school communities. Its not often students are given a voice in the decisions that affects their everyday lives so this project means more to me then just a grade. I honestly intend to keep up with this research and at some point submit my data and finished product to the school district itself. I will outline what data has been collected, what the data says about our school systems, and what positive suggestions students have contributed.

 

A major challenge I was faced with was identity. Many of the students I interviewed did not want to be identified given that their candid responses could be considered disrespectful. I opted to include pictures of the students but keep names out. This way I can show what exterior appearance the students choose to personify without giving anyone the opportunity to find out more about these students.

 

My group and I have worked together well. At the beginning of the project we all outlined goals for ourselves and for the group. Each member has contributed in their own way and had a positive impact on this project. I really enjoyed the idea and process of this project and would highly recommend Ms Pahomov to continue it in future years. One suggestion I would make however would be to mandate some sort of outside sources. Kind of like how I got information from students at other schools, any of the projects in the class could have used a source outside of SLA, I don’t know how many others took advantage of that. Overall I would say great project and I feel strong about what I contributed.

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