In order to research my Inquiry question to the best extent, I have come up with three steps to guide my research and help me find the answers I’ve been seeking.
Step 1 – Research how people’s background and life experiences fundamentally change their identity and beliefs.
As people live their lives, they gain a lot of knowledge and experience about the world, good and bad. We are always growing, learning and experiencing new things that change our view on who we are, and who others are. No one is the same today as they were a year ago, a month ago, even a day ago. We are constantly evolving as humans based on what we have gone through during our lives. Do some experiences shape us more than others? Are there common life experiences with certain demographics of people that change them in similar ways? Could two people that go through the same experience come out of it with different conclusions? Researching how people’s life experiences change them will then help me figure out how in turn, those changed views will affect their future children.
Step 2 – Research how parents influence their child’s development and childhood.
Every person on this planet is unique, which means every parent on this planet is unique as well. No two people parent their kids the exact same way. Parenting styles differ based on who the parents are, and who they want their kids to become. Children learn much about the world through their parents, so this wide range of parenting styles will lead to a wide range of views on the world. Since children pick up much of their early understanding from the grown-ups they are around the most, they are very inclined to follow in their parents’ footsteps regarding certain ideologies or ways of thinking. Are there some areas where children tend to be more impressionable than others? Are there some extremely important things that parents pass down to their children that stay with them for the rest of their lives? Learning about the exact ways parents leave a mark on their children during childhood can help me gage any similarities between ideas parents pass down, and children’s future endeavors.
Step 3 – Research what pushes children to follow their own paths.
Children do learn a lot from their parents, but they are influenced in other ways too. Friends, teachers and mentors, personal interests, and society can have just as important an impact on people’s lives as their parents. At some point, people start to question the values their parents had instilled in them, going off to find some answers for themselves. There comes a point where a person has to evaluate what they were taught as children and compare it to what they want to have as core values in the future. Are there certain philosophies that children tend to stray farther away from form as they grow older than others? Are there exterior factors that affect kid’s beliefs more than their parents? Knowing in what ways children pull away from their upbringing with helps me pinpoint in what exact ways they tend to stay on the path their parents set for them.
Sources that might be useful:
https://www.ncda.org/aws/NCDA/pt/sd/news_article/604403/_PARENT/CC_layout_details/false
https://climerconsulting.com/experiences-shape-lives/
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_parents_influence_their_childrens_goals
This Inquiry project will have implications for me by helping me understand how children grow to be similar and different from their parents. As someone who has always wondered about my future, what I will study, where I will live, this Inquiry will hopefully give me a bit of insight into what I might do based on my parents’ prior experiences. This project will also aid me by helping me be more insightful when talking to others. With this project, I will understand more of what people go through to get to a certain stage in their lives, and to get their children to a certain stage. After doing this inquiry I will be able to sympathize with others more.
This project will also have implications for my community by helping others to figure out why people act the way they do. Perhaps by reading my blog posts, people will be more understanding towards people’s seemingly extremely positive or negative social and financial standings because they know many factors have led them to be that way. Also, my community will be benefited by hopefully giving parents more insight into just how much they are shaping their children’s futures. With these series of blog posts, I hope parents can become more aware of just how much their parenting techniques are molding their kids’ whole lives.
Can’t wait to start researching!
