When I Think of Research...

Welcome back!!! :)

It has been a few weeks but we have been busy in class with research! This is our 8th and FINAL week of this course on Research Competency. It has been a busy 8 weeks but I do feel as though I have learned a great deal in regards to research simulations, studies, designs, and more.

In our final week, there are a few questions to help us reflect upon our learning and growth over the 8 weeks we have experienced in this course. The questions and my reflections are as follows:

• What insights have you gained about research from taking this course?
• "Research is conceptualized here as a systematic investigation of a topic or issue that is culturally specific, and which seeks information and/or solutions. It can begin with a question, concern, situation, or controversy," (Grieshaber, 2010, p. 179). I have come to understand the importance of research, as well as the various integral components of research and design, over the last eight weeks of this course. I was unaware at the depth of each component and the variety of issues, challenges, and concerns to consider when designing a research simulation or study. The idea of research has proven to be daunting but rewarding. It is, by far, not an easy task to complete and is something that must require a very lengthy amount of time, dedication, and effort to complete and conduct a study successfully. 

• In what ways have your ideas about the nature of doing research changed?
• I think my ideas and views on research as a whole have drastically changed throughout this course. However, my ideas and understandings of the nature of doing research have changed in that I did not realize the depth of the process, design, implementation, etc. that research requires. I have come to understand that completing and conducting a research study seems more ideal to do with a team of researchers in that you can share responsibilities, ideas, planning, analyzing, etc. throughout the process. Due to the intricacy of each piece of the research puzzle, it is a very well-thought-out process that takes ample amounts of time to conduct and complete. A research study most likely could take months or years to conduct effectively to achieve appropriate results. These are just a few ideas I was unclear of or misunderstanding prior to this course.

• What lessons about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood did you learn?
• The biggest piece to the puzzle of early childhood research I learned was the importance, relevance, and proper handling of the inclusion of children in a research study. The child as a participant presents an entirely new perspective, outlook, and understanding from a child's eyes in relation to your study. However, ethical concerns must be considered. I think that the ethical concerns and implications, as well as the use of variables, hypotheses, and questions within a design and study are the major components I have come to better understand and learn about. I had not previously considered some of the ethical concerns within a research study. Additionally, when designing and conducting research, I was unaware and unsure of the importance and necessity of things like variables, questions, and hypotheses yet I better understand this now. The most important piece I have come to understand is that there are SO many components to designing a research study to consider that the researcher must complete each step one at a time to ensure nothing is an oversight or forgotten. This will ensure an accurate, effective, and appropriate research study with results that can make an impact on the field of Early Childhood Education.

• What were some of the challenges you encountered - and in what ways did you meet them? 
• The idea of research was scary, overwhelming, daunting. Entering this course I was a nervous wreck. I was extremely unsure of myself and my abilities within this area. I think one of my biggest challenges was getting out of my own way! I have had so much doubt and so much nervous energy surrounding this topic that I have been overwhelmed by the information to read, comprehend, understand, and apply throughout this course. Additionally, a challenge I have encountered throughout the eight weeks was being able to clearly and accurately understand the information to be read and processed in order to accurately and correctly apply it to my own research simulation. I have appreciated all of Dr. Darragh's feedback week to week as it has greatly helped me overcome my anxiety in regards to this course. 

• What are some of the ways your perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course?
• As we near the end of this course, I have truly come to understand the importance of research in general, but especially for the field of Early Childhood Education. My outlook on research has changed, as well as it's importance to this field. Learning about incorporating children into research and the implications and impacts this has on our field and our understanding of children have greatly helped to open my eyes and my mind to research possibilities. There are SO many topics and arenas to explore in regards to research within the Early Childhood field. I think this course has definitely piqued my interest and perception in learning more in terms of child development within the research field. 

That's all for now. Another course is coming to an end, which means I am close to completion of my 5th course, also known as the halfway mark! :) :) Best of luck in future courses to all of my classmates and colleagues! I hope to meet you again in another course. Enjoy the one week break before summer courses and best of luck one and all! :)

-Ashley-

References:

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.

Research Around the World

Welcome back! We did not have a blog assignment last week and with the craziness of my schedule (report card and assessment time in our school) I did not have a chance to post at all and was not required to post either. This has been a busy course and it is hard to believe how fast it is going - we are already ending week 5! This week's blog assignment called for us to explore International Early Childhood Research to better understand what kinds of research are taking place around the world within the field in our current society and present times. I chose to explore the Early Childhood Australia website, which is the equivalent to our NAEYC organization. After spending some time perusing the website, I discovered the answers to the following questions:

1. What are some of the current international research topics?

There is a specific section of this website titled RIPS (Research in Practice Series) in which you can access research articles, guidelines, an index of articles, guidelines, and become a subscriber. By viewing this section of the website I was able to discover some current research topics in Australia. Some of the topics that stood out to me the most included: how positive relationships can impact children in ECE; how children can learn positive behavior traits from teacher-child relationships; and several on the importance and impacts of play in ECE. I was happy to see these topics listed as they are all topics I am interested in as I understand they can greatly impact children in early childhood. One of the topics mentioned actually is strikingly similar to my chosen research subtopic so I plan to utilize this as a resource throughout the remainder of this process. 

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

Upon opening this webpage, I was immediately captivated by the first slide that came across the screen. When I clicked on the link it took me to the "About" section of the website, in which it stated, "Early Childhood Australia is the peak early childhood advocacy organization, acting in the interests of young children, their families, and those in the early childhood field. Our vision: Every young child is thriving and learning," (ECA Inc., 2013, para. 1). After perusing the website and becoming more familiar with this organization, it became truly evident just how similar this organization is to our very own, NAEYC. The Code of Ethics is very similar to our own and that made me very pleased to see, as I have learned that the NAEYC sticks strongly to our own code. In addition, there are sections on the website for ECE news and more. This is definitely a website I will keep as a tool of reference in the future. Additionally, I will try to check in for updates as often as possible to compare research topics and findings to those in our own country. 

3. What other noteworthy information did you find on the website?

There were a few additional components I was very interested in that I discovered on this website. The first was the Everyday Learning Series, which "offers simple, creative ideas on how to enhance children's interactions with the world around them," and is "aimed at parents, grandparents, and carers of young children," to help them to foster and support a child's growth and development appropriately (ECA Inc., 2013, para. 1). This is an outstanding tool for families! I would love if our district could offer resources such as this to the families in town. There are also links to their own ECE Journal, Newsletter, and Magazine, as well as resources for educators to support best practice and much, much more. This was an extremely informative and impressive resource to be utilized in the future.

That's all for now, folks. Until next time…

References:

ECA, Inc. (2013). Early Childhood Australia: A voice for young children. Retrieved from http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au. 

Research That Benefits Children & Families - Uplifting Stories

This week's blog assignment calls for each of us to share stories of positive impacts of research that have taken place with children and families involved in research studies. If we have our own examples to share of our own personal experiences with this topic, we are to write about it or research a sample of this. There was an additional option, as well. We could discuss a possible research topic we would conduct and how it would be successful and positively impact children and families, describing the ways in which this takes place. I chose to do the second option since I did not have experiences related to option one.

If I had the appropriate means and qualifications to conduct, operate, and fund my own large scale research study, I would focus on the topic of how poverty is impacting children and schools and what the schools could do to make a positive difference in the lives of these families. For example, our district provides a breakfast program and free & reduced lunch program for families who qualify and are in need. These two programs are instrumental in providing a healthy and nurturing program for the whole child, for every child. The goals would be to show the negative impacts that poverty can have on children, families, and schools and to counter this problem with positive solutions to help the children and families in the school. I think this would have a positive impact on the children, keeping them from hunger and providing nutritional meals for them in a time where their growth and nutrition is so crucial. In addition, I think this would help families in that it would reduce the stress of putting food on the table for all three meals. Families in poverty are having a very difficult time providing for their family so if the child is being provided with a meal for breakfast and for lunch at school that requires one meal to be provided for the family 5 out of 7 days of the week. In this case, any help is appreciated and I think it would be one small step at reducing the stress of the families who are struggling with poverty. Another example of something positive to be done for those in need within the community is that my district has a Village Shoppe, in which anyone can donate items to it (food, clothing, toys, household items, etc.) and the families in need can "shop" there for free for items for their families. This, again, would be a positive and uplifting resource for the families to provide for their children and family at no cost. I think this type of research and involvement would create many positive impacts on the children, families, and schools involved in the study and in the overall process.

Until next week….

Your Personal Research Journey

Week 2 of our Building Research Competency Course calls for us to discuss our chosen topic in our blogs, as well as questions, concerns, or whatever comes to mind in relation to this topic. For our research study, I chose to focus on social-emotional development in children within the Early Childhood field. This topic always interested me and I have worked with various students in my 4th grade classroom who have struggled with issues within this area. Due to this, I have become curious to learn more about this developmental instance to better understand the depth of this development, as well as various factors that can positively and negatively impact this stage or instance of development.

Within this topic, I listed several subtopics to possibly study and focus on for my project. Of all the possibilities, I decided to focus on the ways in which various relationships can impact social-emotional development of a child in Early Childhood, including family relationships, teacher-child and teacher-family relationships, and peer relationships. I think this is a topic that could be easy to study and get results and information on, as well as it is something that piques my interest. I would like to do triangulation research, in which I compare various relationships to see which has the biggest impacts and what impacts each has in comparison to one another, as well as if they work together to promote healthy development or can work together to hinder healthy development. 

At this point, I have many reservations about completing my own research. The overall idea is very daunting and overwhelming, albeit even a bit frightening to me! I feel very unsure of my own knowledge about the field yet as I am still learning, coming from and Elementary and Special Education background and working in 4th grade currently. In addition, I tend to have moments of doubt in my own abilities so would feel more confident and trusting if I had someone to work with or consult with in this process. I worry I will create a question that is too broad or too specific and will not realize this until too far into the process. I worry I will not properly draw conclusions from the information and data I have gathered and analyzed. At this point, I am a total worry wort in terms of research! ;) Is anyone else feeling this way or am I the only one!??!?! I am looking forward to embracing this journey with the support of my classmates along the way, learning together. I know this will be a challenge but I am hoping to be successful and learn along the way.

Until next week...

Building Research Competencies - A new journey!

Hello everyone!

Welcome back to my blog. The fifth course of the program, Building Research Competencies, begins today. This is going to be another new journey and adventure. I am very excited to see so many familiar names in my class, as well as in my group. Looking forward to meeting new people, too! Over the next eight weeks I will be posting blog posts related to this course. I must admit I am very nervous about this one!

Here's hoping for a great eight weeks one and all!

-A

Issues & Trends: A Final Look Back on the Course...

As week 8 of the Issues and Trends course is upon us, I find myself reflecting on my learning and experiences that have taken place over the past 8 weeks of this course. We have discussed a variety of issues and challenges that impact the field of Early Childhood Education, not only in the United States but world wide. We have also discussed the changes taking place in the field, new investors coming into the field, researched organizations that support children, families, and the ECE field, and even had the opportunity to establish contact with international education professionals to learn more about the issues and trends of ECE on a global scale. In the final week, our blog assignment calls for us to discuss at least three different consequences of learning that come about in response to establishing international contacts and professional development opportunities, as well as one goal for the ECE field related to remaining aware of issues and trends on a global scale internationally.


I begin with the three consequences, whether intended or unintended, that relate to learning about the ECE field internationally for personal and professional development.

1. Learning internationally and globally about the field of ECE will make me more open, aware, and understanding of other cultures. This is a positive intended consequence as I work in a district with ever-changing demographics and would benefit greatly by speaking with other professionals from various countries around the world to better understand the cultures, languages, and backgrounds of children from such countries to make them feel more welcome and at home in my classroom.

2.  An unintended consequence of continuing to learn about ECE internationally is that it will help to understand the depth of the issues and trends within the field and learn from others on ways to improve or handle situations, and ways in which we should adapt to make more successes and avoid negative outcomes. This can help us to learn from other countries about best practices and share research to be utilized to improve the field of ECE for the better.

3. A troubling ideal about this learning opportunity is that many may count reading and article or two about an issue or trend as professional development time. This comes into play as a consequence because we still struggle to define what professional development is, how it should be taking place, and its role and importance to educators.


Additionally, one goal I would create for myself in relation to remaining up to date and aware of issues and trends in the ECE field world wide on a global scale would be to remain in contact with the international professionals I have met and built a rapport with throughout this course. I would LOVE to learn more about the issues and trends taking place in terms of the ECE field in other countries, as well as learn more about their classrooms, their dynamics, their routines, their shining moments as well as their struggling moments, and so much more. I would LOVE to be able to Skype with another classroom from around the world and even be pen pals (I know that is "old school" but the children would love it SO much and learn SO much along the way). I am hoping to do just this with Nancy, who is currently teaching 4th grade in Chile, since I also currently teach 4th grade. We are hoping to set up some opportunities for our students to work together in some capacity as we are both reading and discussing the book Because of Winn Dixie with our students. It will be a great opportunity for the students to experience a "book club" or "literature circle" atmosphere with other students and to connect with other students their age from a different part of the world!

This course has been extremely eye opening and insightful over the past 8 weeks. I am very, very grateful to have met and worked with so many excellent professionals within the field of ECE once again in this course. I feel as though we have learned so much from one another and look forward to further experiences such as this in future courses. Do no be strangers - keep in touch! :)

Until next course! ;)
--A

Getting to Know Your International Contacts - Part 3

We are nearing the end of this course and this week calls for us to discuss some final thoughts with our international contacts before the course ends. As mentioned previously, I was finally able to establish contact with an international professional in Chile. Nancy is a teacher for a Teach Abroad program. She has taught in a variety of different countries, including Singapore, Japan, and now Chile. Her husband is the IT professional for the Teach Abroad programs in those countries with her. She currently teaches fourth grade at an affluent private school in Chile. Since she felt as though she could not answer all of my questions due to working at an affluent school, she asked two senior student teachers who are from the area and have had experience in all types of schools the questions, as well. Between the three adults, I received responses to each of the following questions:


1. What issues regarding quality and early childhood professionals are being discussed where you live and work? 

- "Poverty in Chile is an issue in the government schools. One problem is the poverty line here is very low but the line is set so low such as having NO home and being homeless is the baseline so many very poor people get no extra services. The middle class here is actually in need of services, but get no government support. Here our [education] system has three types - public, public and private that receive some money from gov't and grants but still charge and the third is private that fully charge. The public schools don't directly receive gov't money - it goes to local gov't for a city and that money differs depending the results of tests. It's bad that all public schools don't have equity even from the early years without test results. Kindergarten is now mandatory but only since last year so most poor kids did not have any early childhood education before grade one. This is a big year for Chile in that regard. Poor can't easily achieve the same quality of education even if the parents are committed, they are disadvantaged."

- "Now another issue is having police checks that are validated every 60 days to ensure of all students throughout the country. Now that ECC is mandatory the discussion is now around how to ensure a child registered is actually going and the police are sent to the homes but the question is how can this really be managed - this is a very new issue."

- "EC educators face discrimination because they don't have the same prestige as other teachers - and teachers in general for the public schools. If you don't do well in other subjects - you go into Education. However, a new scholarship has come out as an incentive for people who get a certain average to have the degree paid for. It even involves scholarship plus bonus money and an internship abroad. In exchange you have to work at least 3 years in a public school. The problem is that some people are doing this only for the money and leave after 3 years."


2. What opportunities and/or requirements for professional development exist?

- "PD - is not good in the public schools and many are not interested because there is no incentive or requirements. Some do have it but it is not consistent. It is mostly training to pass tests."


3. What are some of your professional goals?

- Sofia: "To get a M. Ed in Montessori in the US and come back to use it for expanding programs such as Montessori and Waldorf and come back and use my expertise in Psychology and Education."

- Maria Jesus: "To be able to teach in the public school system but in reality I can't live on what I earn so at the same time work in the private schools to help transfer the knowledge and system and then go on to further my education to apply my practical experience."


I am so thankful to have established contact and learned so much about the country of Chile. The varying types of schools provide different resources and opportunities for children and families. Early Childhood Care and Education is a newly mandated field, with Kindergarten only. I am glad to hear of the new requirement and hope that they move toward requiring additional early childhood care in the future. Poverty is a great concern in this country, as well. So much has been shared and I feel as though my eyes are truly opened to the similarities and differences amongst the challenges and issues and trends in the field of education as a whole between the countries.

-Ashley