When I Think of Research.......

During this 8 week course I have gained some knowledge that I will take with me on my future endeavors in Early Childhood education. I have gained more insight on what research is all about and how research helps. As the books states when you do anything for the first time it’s a challenge. My ideas have changed about research because of this class, at first I didn’t know much about research and now I understand better and why it’s done. Research is about uncovering and enabling the emergence of new understandings, insights and knowledge (MacNaughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010).

Lessons I’ve learned about planning, designing and conducting research is that before preparing to do a study you have to plan to see who the participants will be. Researchers have to consider confidentiality, privacy, cultural issues before the study begins. The best research will always involve close, ongoing collaboration between those who plan the research, those who carry it out, those who participate in it, and those for whom the results have an impact (MacNaughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010). Researchers have to understand ethical issues that can arise while doing research. The participants have to be protected by researchers, and they must know what responsibilities they have as a researcher.

I encountered many challenges because I was very unfamiliar with terms used and didn’t know what to expect or where to begin. Once I started reading about research weekly and started doing charts I begin to develop a better understanding of research and the steps needed to take for a successful study. I also learned that in order to have quality research it requires knowledge, skills and experience. As a result of this class and gaining more insight on research my perceptions has changed because so much goes into research, having accurate research and what can be gained from good research if all areas are covered before starting a study.

I wish everyone the best on your journey of the Graduate program at Walden University. This class has been challenging because I wasn’t familiar with most of research terms. I want to say thank you to everyone for sharing so much knowledge in this class. I have read discussions and blog post and I have gained more knowledge about research.

 

Reference

 

Mac Naughton, G., Rolfe, S.A., & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010). Doing early childhood research:  

        International perspectives on theory and practice (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

 

Rsearch Around The World

I chose the Early Childhood Australia website, some of the current research topics on the website are health and nutrition, practice and learning series for early childhood education in Australia.

Some surprising facts/insights/new ideas about early childhood that I gained form exploring the international website about Australia: Early childhood in Australia has been around since 1938, it advocates to ensure quality, social justice, and equity in all issues relating to the education and care of children between the ages of birth to eight years. Every young child is thriving and learning is the ECA’s vision. Australia future prosperity is linked to the collective investments that we make in all of our children’s development and the reason is when programs are improved; services that help children to be healthy and to receive a good education benefit everyone in the long run. The website has helpful information for parents like health and wellbeing info that consist of recipes, posters and safety tips.

I also found other information I found was interesting and that was the learning hub. I clicked on there to see what it was about and I saw it had educator’s resources some were free online courses while some have to be paid in order to take courses. The start early course tells how everyday behavior and attitudes shape a child’s relationship over their lifetime. ECA has a blog that is helpful as well and newsletters that have various information inside.

 

Research that Benefits Children and Families

                                                          Positive Parent-Child Relationships

When a child has a positive relationship with their parents it provides the basic foundation for children's learning. It also has a great effect on the child's overall development and well-being. Children will do better in school when they have positive relationships with parents because if they have a positive relationship the parents are involved more in their child's education. When parents have a warm, trusting, and reliable relationship with peers, family, community members, and service providers, they are more likely t have positive relationships with their children (2013). Having a positive parent-child relationship benefits not only the child but the parents and family members as well. I can remember a child I had in my class whose mother as a single mother and had no clue on what she needed to do for her child to be successful in school and life. She told me that it was the same way with her mother it was a cycle and she had to break it soon. After I gave her some avenues to help her and I spoke with her throughout the process she formed a better positive relationship with all her children. She told me that she was taking parenting classes, read to her children nightly, attended church weekly and did family movie nights. Her child improved tremendously after this happened. Last year I was told by her friend that she is in her second year of a radiology program in college. A story like this really is proof that the effects of research on children and families will lead to positive outcomes along with happy endings.

                                                                    Reference

Understanding Family Engagement Outcomes: Research to Practice Series. Positive Parent-Child Relationships. (2013). Retrieved from http://eclks.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/ha-system/family

Personal Research Journey

The topic I chose was Social Emotional Development and the reason I chose it is because since starting my career as a teacher I have come in contact with so many children with social-emotional problems. I find ways to help a child social emotional problems, I seek out help if needed for feedback on the issue. I also have partnered other children with children who is lacking in this area. I can recall a child I had before who didn't talk, play or interact with the other children. After speaking to parents I decided to partner the child with another child and soon the child who is lacking in the area began to interact with other children and talking more in class. We never know what children are dealing with at home and they bring those issues to school with them. I strive to find ways to improve children's thinking skills and social emotional skills. Over the next 6 weeks I will be researching this topic more to get a better understanding of it and finding ways to improve a child's social emotional skills so they can lead successful productive lives.

Final Blog Assignment

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world" --Nelson Mandela--


It's very unfortunate that I never received a response back from an international early childhood professional. After weeks of exploring websites I must say I have gained more important useful information that I can use throughout my career as a teacher. The various websites I searched have enriched my professional development because of information on the sites, global information, newsletters, signing up for newsletters, and current issues and trends. Throughout this 8 week course my colleagues have supported me by posting weekly discussions, blogs that relates to current issues/trends that I've read and gained more knowledge from different perspectives and from people all over the globe. I have supported them by doing the same thing.

I would have to say some consequences about learning about international early childhood field for my professional and personal development is that some international professionals don't send a response to your questions you asked therefore you can't receive answers needed to compare international early childhood programs and the early childhood program in my home state. Luckily I was able to read post from colleagues about issues and trends that's happening internationally. After reading post by colleagues and exploring websites about early childhood education I felt as though I did make contact with a international early childhood professionals. Colleagues provided a lot of helpful information about international professionals.

One goal for the field of international awareness for me is to one day be able to volunteer my time to a international early childhood program and it really doesn't matter where I go to volunteer. With so much going on in Haiti right now I would love to help them put their lives back together and volunteer at a early childhood school there.

I wish everyone the best of luck in their future endeavors.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts

During this class I've tried to make professional international contact countless times and haven't received any feedback back so I've been doing the alternative. I reviewed the website and some issues and other information I came across on the website are the following:

UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) provides leadership to create learning societies with educational opportunities for all populations was established November 16, 1945. The organization was founded by 37 countries and they fostered partnerships to strengthen national educational leadership and the capacity of countries to offer quality education for all.

Other countries try to improve the quality of early childhood care and education but have a problem with resources. In some developing countries early childhood basically is pushed to the side because of other priorities, such as universal primary education in developing countries.

UNESCO and ADEA (The Association for the Development of Education in Africa) launched 'Childhood Cultures" it's an intergenerational Africa Series of books for children. The main characters are Bouba and Zaza, the series of books seek to develop life skills and socialization skills for children 3 to 8 years of age. The books also are aimed at teachers, parents and older children. The series covers topics that African parents may be reluctant to talk abut. Some topics the series discuss is war, conflict, water issues, and HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Sharing Web Resources

The early childhood organization I chose earlier in this class is National Association of the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). I have navigated the site for some of the outside links and all of those links took me to more indebt information about current and past issues dealing with early childhood education. Some of the links I explored were conferences and events, overviews, and  membership; which led to ways to join by renewing, student membership, member benefits and frequently asked questions. One particular area I searched took me to a link for families and once I searched that link it showed me articles like teaching table manners, 4 month old doesn't sleep and Biting in daycare. I found these articles to be very helpful for families who are dealing with similar issues at home with their children.

New information available on the website is childhood development series highlights global development goals. This link talked about how researchers found out about the development of young children all over the world. Another article I saw was Join Early Ed for President and this stated help us ensure candidates champion the power of early learning for children which also has a area where you can donate.

An insight I gained this week from the website was that the Head Start Program get first Major Revamp in 40 years. The U. S Department of health and Human Services said new standards will focus on reducing achievement gaps for children served in the program. Things that will change are raising curriculum requirements, educational standards and professional expectations and more emphasis will be given to parental involvement. Another thing that will happen within the next five years for head start programs is to make the program a full day for all students.