When I think about research....

What insights have you gained about research from taking this course?

                I’ve learned so much more from this course than I had originally thought.  I was even worried about taking the class due to the term ‘research’.  I have a new appreciation for those who perform research and a better understanding of the importance they provide to any field in which they work. 

In what ways have your ideas about the nature of doing research changed?

                I have been enlightened to see that working in research encompasses much responsibility and much care towards participants.  It is not the get the facts anyway you can approach that I had thought of.  Researchers must be very careful in providing ethical concerns, validity, and reliability. 

What lessons about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood did you learn?

                I learned the most important part of research is the consent and the participants, if that is what you are researching.  I learned there are several ways to collect data and also several methods in which using other professionals can become helpful.  Working with children always requires sensitivity and although some being studied are young, their outcome and ethical concerns with them are still highly important. 

What were some of the challenges you encountered—and in what ways did you meet them?

                My biggest challenge in this course was coming to terms with my own personal issues for my study.  After discussing my topic with my instructor in the form of an assignment, I was able to see from her comments that I perhaps needed to step back from my own biases on a couple of points before I could move forward into helping others with my research. 

What are some of the ways your perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course?

                My ideas have been continually modified through taking all of my Walden courses.  With this course I would say that getting your hands dirty in research and trying to come up with new solutions and better ways of helping children and families is only the beginning in what we can do, but is the most important step. 

As always, I have appreciated greatly the support and help from my colleagues.  Your ideas and comments have been beneficial to my growth as a student and professional.  Thank you!

Research Around the World

I decided to answer the following questions through the website, EECERA, the European Early Childhood Education Research Association.  The link is http://www.eecera.org/conferences/. 

What are some of the current international research topics?

                I read that the organization just had a conference in September of this year in regards to how researching is being done in early childhood, and where exactly can they expand and improve.  In fact, to word them correctly, “This theme focuses on what practices exist for early education and what should be developed?” (EECERA. (2011)

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

                From the notes of the conference, I was able to observe that the same issues they were discussing, economic versus education, obtaining an inclusive classroom, educator training and qualifications, are the same issues we have been discussing throughout our Walden journey. 

What other noteworthy information did you find on this website?

                I found a topic titled “Aims of EECERA” and within this tab I read the organization lives up to.  They perform and create new and advanced ways to research everything that deals with early childhood.  With the changing times and more and more people suing over every little thing, I would guess that finding ways to research without crossing anyone’s boundaries would be a little difficult.  I also read that they offer awards to students who are currently enrolled in a postgraduate college who choose to write research papers and present them to the organization.  Many of the requirements were familiar to me from what I have learned from my current class. 

EECERA. (2011) 21st EECERA Annual Conference Switzerland 2011. Retrieved from http://www.eecera2011.org/.

Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

Strange but true, the assignment this week about providing an example of how research conducted proved to be positive on children and/or families, directly made me think of the show “Wife Swap”.

I have only seen a couple episodes, but I can say that families experience a huge wave of change and it is the children as well as the husband who express frustration.  The families are able to see that getting along outside of their bubble is sometimes harder to do than they believe.  The wives are thrown into other ways of doing things, sometimes experiencing great heartache, grief, and embarrassment along the way. 

And if that wasn’t enough, at the end of the show or experiment, the two families can get together and talk about what they liked and disliked about the change.  I believe this experiment creates positivity because it alleviates the sometimes felt; the grass is greener on the other side theory.  It reminds families of what they have together and often that their so-called routine needs working on so all members are happy. 

My Personal Research Journey

My original topic that I am interested in regarding early childhood is infant temperament.  I have wondered if infants who have calm and easy going parents are more likely to have a calm and easy going baby.  Or if parents who are high strung would have a high strung baby.  To narrow down my topic I had subtopics that included, is a baby’s temperament predetermined or shared with a parent(s), does the mother’s stress have any effect on the baby’s temperament, and what are the temperaments evolution over time.  
 

To choose one of the subtopics was a little difficult for me and hopefully my colleagues will be able to assist me in this.  I am more interested in a baby’s temperament in regards to the mother’s.  But since I haven’t done any research on the topic and don’t quite sure know whether a mother’s temperament has any effects on her baby, I wondered as well if a calm mother were to have an ill-tempered baby.  And if she did, would that just be how the story goes, or did the mother’s perhaps stressful pregnancy have anything to do with the baby having such an opposite temperament from her? 

So ultimately to wonder if a baby’s temperament stemmed from the mother’s actual temperament or from the infant’s unique own, or if the mother’s stress during pregnancy had anything to do with it, was a hard decision to make in terms of a subtopic.  I think it would be difficult to research whether a mother’s child had a temperament normal to what they should have or due to something like stress because the baby cannot be reborn to different circumstances to test out the waters of the other side. 

Although we have an assignment due this week asking us to pick a subtopic for our simulations, I am at best a little undecided and am hoping my colleagues will read this and be able to give me a little help.  I will report back with anything new.

Final Blog for Issues and Trends

Wow, where to begin to thank all of the websites I have visited in my exploration for information.  The Internet can be a positive force in this sense.  Three consequences of learning about early childhood internationally is that I have learned the issues effecting others outside the US, I have become inspired and motivated by what is being done in some of the poorest parts of the world, and that I have been able to share stories with my colleagues and am able to get the word out. 

My goal for the field of early childhood and international awareness of issues and trends is that the Global meetings do not stop, but only multiply.  I understand that the field is slowly gaining the importance that it deserves and through the process of speaking up and speaking out we can make a difference globally. 

The importance of collegial relationships to me is the bond that takes place when people with similar interests get together.  But in this case not only similar interests, but similar passions and the want to make changes happen.  I like the fact that I can bounce ideas off of colleagues and receive feedback that is part wisdom, part experience.  This has been a great journey in education and one I plan to keep repeating. 

Three New Ideas Learned from UNESCO

The most saddening side to not hearing back from my international contacts is the gained professional contact and information that I have missed out on.  I was really excited to hear from Italy, a place I have always wanted to visit.  However, thanks to knowing the website for their UNICEF program, http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/italy.html, I am able to visit and get to speed when needed (thank you Internet).  

 

On the website for UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, I watched a short video about Moscow’s kindergartens.  It was nice to see the children experiencing their culture and learning with adults as well as their peers.  They emphasized singing in their language as well as learning English.  They dressed up with their parents in traditional garments and the excitement displayed by the adults to sing and dance encouraged the children.  It would be nice if in America parents could attend the kindergarten setting with their child to sing and dance, but I feel that art and expression is being pushed far out of the boundaries for kindergarten. 

I was made aware that the World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education website has stepped up their own language barriers.  Besides English, there are now four other languages available in which to view the website material, those include, French, Spanish, Russian, and Chinese. 

There was also an article that caught my attention regarding the inequality of child care quality versus costs.  “Good quality childcare comes at a price, said Helen Penn from the University of East London. She estimated the cost at between $7,600 and $22,000 a year. In many countries she added, it is provided mainly by entrepreneurs.  This exacerbates inequalities, the rich being able to pay more for higher quality service” UNESCO, 2010)  This headline is something we have been steadily talking about in class.  How can we improve on quality care when the funding is non-existent?  Also, why is it so easy for some to see the benefits and need for quality education and care for all children, but others seem to think it is okay for now to set on the back burner? 

UNESCO-United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/world-conference-on-ecce/single-view/news/market_control_of_ecce_is_not_an_option/

Sharing my Web Resource- Save the Children

I chose a different approach to reviewing my Save the Children website.  I had noticed this link before but had never followed it.  Up at the top of the main home page, under Ways to Give, there was something called a Gift Catalog.  Gift Catalog?  After clicking on the link I was able to find out that this was a place where you can directly purchase an item for a child and their family.  But unlike regular catalog items there is no option for this fall’s latest J.Lo cardigan.  These items are cows, donkeys, goats, a child’s education, and ready-made food to name some of them.  I was really surprised that I would be able to buy such useful items up front. 

There was also a link to their blog, and they have started a Twitter account as well. 

Under What We Do, I found a title called Success Stories.  Who doesn’t want to read something like this when all around are famine and heartache?  I clicked on it and was able to read many stories of how Save the Children has been helping to save lives and bring hope to many, many families. 

I read a story about a mother in Egypt who had three miscarriages because there were no health services for pregnant women in the area in which she lived.  Can you believe that?  She was unable to obtain care in the city because of the cost of getting there.  She was a farmer’s wife and they didn’t have a lot of money.  So she would just wait and see how long she could carry each baby.  That is her child’s earliest care, in the womb, and he/she is unable to receive it due to lack of income, and lack of services.  After three miscarriages I am sure this mother was wondering if she should or even could keep trying.  She found out from word of mouth that Save the Children had come to her village and through their help she was able to carry the baby full term with the proper medical care, and deliver him.  The inequity that she faced before Save the Children helped her is something that even the poorest in America do not know anything about. 

http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E/Official_Site.htm