My personal research interest focuses on teachers feeling unprepared for differentiated instruction techniques for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) in inclusive classroom settings. This topic rests on certain epistemological and ontological philosophical assumptions that relate to appropriate research approaches.
Ontologically, this topic assumes that there is an objective reality regarding the experience of teachers working with students with EBD that can be measured and understood (Burkholder et al., 2020). It rests on a realist perspective that reality exists outside individual interpretation. Epistemologically, the goal would be to gather data on teachers’ preparation, attitudes, and behaviors through quantitative methods with the aim of descriptive and potentially predictive theory development (Burkholder et al., 2020). The orientation aligns with a positivist paradigm, seeking to generate empirical knowledge through objective data collection (Burkholder et al., 2020).
These philosophical assumptions lend themselves best to quantitative or mixed methods research approaches to measure variables related to teacher preparation, efficacy, and implementation of differentiated instructional techniques. Survey methods could gather data on teachers’ attitudes, observational methods could objectively assess instructional approaches, and student outcome data could determine the impact of interventions. Combining such data could lead to explanatory theories on how best to
prepare teachers for differentiated instruction.
References:
Burkholder, G. J., Cox, K. A., Crawford, L. M., & Hitchcock, J. H. (Eds.). (2020).
Research designs and methods: An applied guide for the scholar-practitioner
. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
