To our Lead to Include readers, we would like to present the Summer 2023 blog series "A Look into the Work of a Research Assistant"! These blog posts are written from the perspectives of some of our incredible research assistants this summer, detailing different aspects of their educational experiences working on our research team.
For our second post of the series, we would like to present Beatrice Winchester's experience working on the Lead to Include as the social media/website lead! Beatrice is a hard-working and dedicated research assistant that we are so glad to have on our team. To read more about her experience working as an RA, please refer to her post below!
"Hi everyone! My name is Beatrice Winchester and I am currently enrolled in my third year in the International Education Studies program at Wilfrid Laurier University. I have been privileged to be a part of the Lead to Include research team for close to a year now, working with Dr. Sider and other fellow research assistants on various projects focused on providing principals and school leaders with the necessary resources to develop inclusive school environments.
As a research assistant, I have participated and contributed to a variety of research projects! This summer, I have had the opportunity to delve more into the administrative side of the research team. In this role, I have contributed to the creation of organizational systems that keep track of the team's on-going projects, managing our social media accounts and updating the Lead to Include website. This role has allowed me to improve my organizational skills as well as gain an inside perspective on the multitude of administrative tasks that are essential to the success of research projects!
My time with the research team this summer has been so valuable and has been one of the greatest learning experiences that I have had the privilege of being a part of! Not only have my research, critical thinking and writing skills gotten better, but my knowledge on issues surrounding inclusive education and the importance of providing schools with the necessary resources to create equitable educational opportunities for all students has grown. As a hopeful future educator, the lessons that I have learnt while working as a research assistant on the Lead to Include team have been so beneficial and insightful.
My experience this summer has shown me the importance of research for inclusive education in schools. Even though many efforts have been made within this field, there is still research that needs to be done in order to improve the implementation of inclusive education practices and policies globally. The Lead to Include team has provided me with the opportunity to build meaningful connections with others that are interested and dedicated to improving inclusive education efforts within schools. This summer has been such an enjoyable experience, full of learning and teamwork! I am looking forward to being a part of the incredible projects to come from the Lead to Include team."
We hope that you enjoyed this post and make sure to tune in to the upcoming posts to read more about the experiences of research assistants working on the Lead to Include team and the various interesting projects they are working on!