When I Think of Research

While taking this eight week course on Building research competency the insight what I have gained about research is that it takes time and dedication as well as discipline. Research requires for one to take his or her self out of the equation in order for the results to be valid. The lesson that I learned about planning, designing and conducting research in early childhood is that it all must be done in an orderly and timely fashion. Some of the challenges I encountered what trying to stick to the facts and not going off my opinion when conducting research, how I met this challenge was staying true to my findings and seeking evidence to back that up. Ways in which my perception of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course has only strengthen my level of respect these professional.  I can only hope to be labeled as a early childhood professional later in my career.

Research Around the World

What are some of the current international research topics?

·         Improving the quality of childcare through parenting enrichment and training of trainers: The Eritrean Model

·         Leadership skills training for Administration and Parent support Training for Caregivers

·         A Guide for Effective schools and Parent Collabration in support of Early Childhood Development Program in Tanzania

What surprising facts/insights/new ideas about early childhood did you gain from exploring this international early childhood website?

“Among others, Landers (1992) and Evans (1998) greatly acknowledge and advocate for the family’s role as a major force in the development and provision of ECD. They perceive the family’s involvement as an indispensable ingredient for sustaining the accomplishments of early childhood programs” I always thought of parent to be an important part of the success the early childhood program after reading the text the term use to describe family involvement was a “indispensable ingredient” which caught my eye because it very rarely used in relation to the early childhood field.  To be an indispensable ingredient means that you are essential to the process without it all things lack.

What other noteworthy information did you find on this website?

I noteworthy information I found on this website is that although it is not advertise in the media, Africa is taking stride to move their early childhood programs to a quality level through research, education, and training.

 

Reference:

Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): Developed and maintained by the University of Victoria, Canada, this virtual university is the international gateway for early childhood research worldwide. Through the link below, you can access ECDVU’s Sub-Saharan Africa portal. The second link takes you to a list of current early childhood research conducted by students in Sub-Saharan Africa.

http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/index.php

http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/major_reports.php

Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

While completing research for this week's blog about the benefits of research in regards to families and children.  I found an article titled "New Study On Homosexual Parents Tops All Previous Research" by Peter Spriggs. This article raises questions as to whether or not children who are raised by same sex parent are affected negatively in compassion to children who are raised by married mother and father. This topic has often been discussed amongst my colleagues and myself however there was no proof that either side was correct. While reading this article and identifying the conclusion of the research the article stated that "The myths that children of homosexual parents are "no different" from other children and suffer "no harm" from being raised by homosexual parents have been shattered forever." I find this to be a positive research article because it verifies children do not suffer from having same sex parents. Children deserve to be love whether it is in a traditional home or homosexual parent. If we are putting the children first as a child advocate if there is not harm done to the children having homosexual parent then it is our responsibility to promote love.

 

Reference:

New Study On Homosexual Parents Tops All Previous Research (2015) by Peter Spriggs

http://www.frc.org/issuebrief/new-study-on-homosexual-parents-tops-all-previous-research

My Personal Research Journey

The topic I chose was to learn more about is curriculum and assessment guidelines as it relates to early childhood education programs. Why I chose this topic is because not every early childhood education program has the same curriculum and are assessed the same, which cause me to want to research in depth to find out why and what is being done to insure that all children are being assessed accordingly and have a curriculum that is conductive to their success as an early learner. Emphasis is most often times placed on how teachers teach, while is still feel this is an important piece to receiving a quality education, we as advocate for children must not forget what we are teaching our children. Standardized test have been apart of assessing children for years, I am now pleased to see that steps are being made to performance-based assessments that more accurately reflect children's learning. Based on the research of ECLKC (1992):

 National organizations call for schooling to place greater emphasis on:

• Active, hands-on learning
• Conceptual learning that leads to understanding along with acquisition of basic skills
• Meaningful, relevant learning experiences
• Interactive teaching and cooperative learning
• A broad range of relevant content, integrated across traditional subject matter divisions

Curriculum development should take into account the many sources of curriculum:

• Child development knowledge
• Individual characteristics of children
• Knowledge base of various disciplines
• Values of our culture
• Parents' desires
• Knowledge children need to function competently in our society (Spodek, 1988; 1977; in press)

I found these suggestions and practices to be very helpful when building an appropriate curriculum of quality, as well as an effective approach to assessing children. While researching this topic I see their I more to learn and if my colleagues have more insight regarding this topic please feel free to share.

Research:

 

 

What Does Research Say About Early Childhood Education (1992)

http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/teaching/eecd/Curriculum/Planning/edudev_art_00421_081806.html

Final Blog Assignment

Throughout this course I have learned a great deal through my research and the research of my colleagues about the early childhood field internationally. Unfortunately I was not about to make any contacts with professionals internationally, however I was able to review several podcast and review my colleagues findings. Although there were several consequences of learning about international early childhood field there were three that stood out to me. I have a new respect for American’s that go oversea to help educate, the effect poverty has on young children, and also develop a deeper understanding of the importance of equity in early childhood education.

Some of my colleagues were able to connect with educators from around the world and shared with us their experiences teaching abroad. These teacher are dedicated to providing children with the quality education they deserve, despite their working conditions and lack of resources. Educators must meet the requirement for the area in which they are teaching in. These educators must deal with the daily challenges of living and working in an unfamiliar environment, while trying to improve the lives of young children.

For many years poverty has been a growing issue, I have only recently studied the effect poverty has on young children. The first eight years of the child’s life is vital to their overall mental and physical wellbeing.  Children growing up in poverty experience, staving, malnutrition, and often lack of medical care. Poverty is the leading cause of death in most countries. With poverty being the leading cause of death, I often wonder how countries will ever get out of poverty. We must educate our youth by providing young children with quality education to insure their future is brighter than that which they live in today. Children living in poverty often display poor cognitive skill, social skills, and have behavioral problems, it is our duty has advocate of education to provide quality service to our youth.

Lastly, equity in early childhood education is not so equal, children living in lower class community, minorities, and children with disabilities of lack the necessary needed in order to be successful. In many countries woman and young girls are not allow to go to school. Law makers believe that only man and young boys should seek proper education. I have found organizations around the world that are seeking to make education available to all.

My goal is to go oversea and change lives, give children whom would have never been available to have quality education a chance to be successful in life. I want to world with improvised families break through poverty. My goal is to use all that I have learnt and share it with those less fortunate  

 

 

 

 

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3

After exploring the site thoroughly there were many insightful ideas internationally as it related to  early childhood education and my professional goals, starting with the UNESCO which is expected to implement a stronger and better targeted strategy to build peace, eradicate poverty, and achieve inclusive sustainable development by improving the quality, equity and relevance of education.(UNESCO 2009-2014), by eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and achieving gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls’ full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality. The UNESCO are making strides to expand learning opportunities particular for girls and woman, which I believe as an early childhood professional is an goal to achieve, girls and woman around the world deserve to have access to quality education. What a joy it is to know that there are others around the world that have the same interested in bettering the lives of young girls and woman. Ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to, and complete, free and compulsory primary education of good quality. Gender-based discrimination in education has both cause and sequentially will continue to cause poverty. Given the opportunity for girls and woman to advance academically allows everyone around the world to raise out of poverty. Gender must therefore be integrated at all levels of education, from early childhood to higher education, in formal and non-formal settings and from planning infrastructure to training teachers. Countries often promote alternative services for poor children with limited or no access to mainstream early childhood services which can be cost-effective and pedagogically innovative, but often raise concerns about sustainability and quality, this information I find every insightful, how countries believe that because it is cost-effective it is efficient, if these children are not exposed to high quality education how will they come out of the poverty in which they were born into.  

 

Reference:

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sharing web resources

While searching outside links I was lead to an article titled " Report: U.S. should focus on equity in education" which suggests that  Identifying and publicly reporting the teaching staff, programs and services needed to provide a meaningful educational opportunity to all students of every race and income level, including English-language learners and students with disabilities, based on evidence of effective education practices. Adopt and implement a school finance system that will provide equitable and sufficient funding for all students to achieve state content and performance standards.To ensure meaningful and fair evaluations, evidence of student learning should not rely solely on standardized tests. 

This newsletter contains several pieces of important information. And adds to my understanding of equity and excellence in early care and education, for example  Equitable resources may in some cases mean more than equal investment; as is often the case in other advanced nations, it includes the provision of additional resources to address the academic and other needs of low-income students, students with disabilities and English language learners, and for districts and schools serving large concentrations of low-income students and those in remote areas. 

Reference
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/02/19/report-u-s-should-focus-on-equity-in-education/