I think I am going to try and do at least 1 blog post a day to keep a track of how my exploration project is going, a bit like a diary of work. So whats happened since yesterday…
Well I have managed to get an appointment with Dr Nick Neave, this is happening on Tuesday morning so hopefully his opinion will help me with a lot of the research I have already found on the Nature VS Nurture debate.
I have had a reply from a nursery interested in my project who will hopefully allow me to come in for a focus group, I have made a plan of what I intend to do for that today and sent this in an email with the relative ethics forms to fill out –
I think my plan is to present each child with 4 different toys, each one have different traits.
- stereotypical feminine job, feminine appearance
- stereotypical masculine job, masculine appearance
- stereotypical masculine job, feminine appearance
- stereotypical feminine job, masculine appearance
When each toy is presented I will ask them their opinion showing them a card with 3 faces on, happy, neutral and sad to help them communicate. I will then also ask them whether they think the toy is for a boy/girl/both. Hopefully from this experiment I can start to get an idea of whether its the role of the toy or its appearance that influences what the child thinks of it.
I have also started to get a plan together for all my research of how to present it. We are getting told that creating a book is the usual route but the tutors eally like to see a visually creative way of presenting so my idea currently is to create a book however make it interactive like a children’s book with pop ups, slide out parts, lift up flaps etc. This way I can collate all my research but make it fun to read about everything I have carried out and it also links in very well with the topic of my project.
I’ve also painted a blackboard for myself today in my desk space, I thought it would come in handy for writing deadlines and quick notes on etc. and as you can probably tell I got some new sharpies and highlighters today from my photos! I love getting new stationary to play with!