IRB

I opened my blog today to post some information about an article I have been reading and realized I had, at some point, started a blog post about the IRB but never actually wrote anything about it. I wasn't planning to still, but since it's already been started I think I will say a small bit about what this process has helped me to discover about my project.

The IRB is necessary for research projects and has  a lot to do with ethics. In my development classes we have been talking about language lately, and I have a post coming up about more of this but for now all I want to say is that I had never thought much before these classes and this process of doing the IRB about how I need to approach language with ethics. In large part this mostly means, to me, having the proper respect for the values and languages of others. I'll expand on these thoughts later in the week.

As for the IRB, I felt somewhat stumped about how to move forward with it, I didn't exactly feel like I was doing research or wanted to be, I just wanted to teach English and learn Tibetan. I easily saw research topics or at least observation opportunities regarding things people might research, but I've felt like I've been playing around with it a lot and not exactly knowing why or feeling like it was what was important to me yet.

I am better able to see my experience now as two significantly different parts that will play a big role with each other. I am doing an internship, I will be teaching English for this internship. Because of the way I'm choosing to do this a lot of experimentation will follow, some trial and error and hopefully success and opportunities to learn and to teach. As for my research, that will be given opportunity because I'll be teaching, I will find people interested in language who I will then talk to about  my research question.  This question is separate from my internship teaching, but integral to my field studies experience in totality.  I want to begin to understand the effects of language on identity.  I want to begin the process of better understanding the effects of language on the identity, specifically, of the Tibetan people in India, in Bylakuppe, in the homes I will be in, with the single individual that I talk to in a restaurant one day. It's going to start very personal and maybe develop into some greater and broader understanding of this large, large realm of language and culture and identity.  

The IRB also begs the question of why this is important and what contribution it is making to anything.  Another thing I have been glad to hear and better understand is that it is enough right now that this research and experience will benefit my personal scope of knowledge and give me opportunities to further that beyond this experience.  I have, however, been asking myself what kind of importance the things I'm asking about language and the things I'll be looking for while there have. While I've been thinking about this the topic  of language in education and the preservation of language has been a big topic in my development classes, as mentioned above. To the people fighting to have rights to education in their own language the study and understanding of the effects of language learning on identity are an important factor in making their case and helping people to respect language.

It is also essential to the many teachers of languages, particularly English, to understand the kinds of personal, social and other implications that language learning have on their students so as to approach what they do in the most ethical, respectful and understanding way. All the problems in the world are not going to be fixed, ever, and maybe little can be helped for some of them but it is beginning with individuals being educated on these matters and making choices that respect rights of other human beings when interacting with them that will make the world a better place to live and that starts with each of us and for me it's continuing with this experience and these questions.