jillmartin
08-26-2009, 12:47 PM
Hello, my name is Jill Martin and I am a doctoral student at Oklahoma State University. I am inviting you to participate in my dissertation research, a life history project involving female elementary school teachers. This research project is designed to provide female elementary school teachers with an opportunity to share their life stories, to reflect on identity and self during this sharing process, and to explore how life experiences are situated in a historical context. It is my hope that this in-depth exploration of elementary school teachers’ life histories will help both me and my research participants to better understand how teachers challenge prevailing social constructions and stereotypes of the elementary school teacher and negotiate their identities and create their sense of self within their lifework.
This research study will collect life histories from female, elementary school teachers who have taught a minimum of five years. Through a series of three to five life history interviews, each research participant will be asked to recount and reflect on her life and teaching experiences, specifically those experiences related to living within, negotiating between, and crossing over the socially constructed identity categories and stereotypes surrounding elementary school teachers.
If you agree to participate in my research, your participation will take place over a seven month period (September 2009–March 2010) and will include the following:
Three to five life history interviews (each 60 to 120 minutes in length) that will be recorded on a digital audio recorder.
The option of creating a timeline of your life experiences, providing personal documents or archives relevant to the research, and having your classroom space observed outside the school day.
The review of written transcripts from your interviews, data analysis results, and completed life histories to ensure their accuracy.
Your participation in this research is completely voluntary, there is no negative consequence for declining participation, and you are free to decline to participate for any reason without explanation. There are no known risks in participating in this research beyond those encountered in daily life. A ten-dollar gift certificate will be provided to you at the completion of your research involvement as a thank you for the time and energy you have devoted to my dissertation research.
If you would like to participate or learn more about this research opportunity, please contact me by email (marjill@gmail.com) so that we can discuss this life history project further.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely,
Jill V. Martin
This research study will collect life histories from female, elementary school teachers who have taught a minimum of five years. Through a series of three to five life history interviews, each research participant will be asked to recount and reflect on her life and teaching experiences, specifically those experiences related to living within, negotiating between, and crossing over the socially constructed identity categories and stereotypes surrounding elementary school teachers.
If you agree to participate in my research, your participation will take place over a seven month period (September 2009–March 2010) and will include the following:
Three to five life history interviews (each 60 to 120 minutes in length) that will be recorded on a digital audio recorder.
The option of creating a timeline of your life experiences, providing personal documents or archives relevant to the research, and having your classroom space observed outside the school day.
The review of written transcripts from your interviews, data analysis results, and completed life histories to ensure their accuracy.
Your participation in this research is completely voluntary, there is no negative consequence for declining participation, and you are free to decline to participate for any reason without explanation. There are no known risks in participating in this research beyond those encountered in daily life. A ten-dollar gift certificate will be provided to you at the completion of your research involvement as a thank you for the time and energy you have devoted to my dissertation research.
If you would like to participate or learn more about this research opportunity, please contact me by email (marjill@gmail.com) so that we can discuss this life history project further.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely,
Jill V. Martin