When I think of research...

With this being my first research course, it was a real eye opener for me. I knew coming in I would gain a great deal of knowledge regarding the research process itself. There is so much involved from start to finish that it does get overwhelming at times. All the technical terms that go along with research was very intimidating for me as well.  I believe my biggest struggle during this course was choosing a topic to research that sparks my interest (there is a lot!), and narrowing it down into a question to study. Research is a wonderful tool that gives us insight into early childhood and helps us to build quality programs for our children. Although, it is a very complex process that requires much knowledge and careful planning in order to successfully validate your research in the end. I feel in the beginning of this course I underestimated the array of challenges that researchers face throughout the study. It is so important to take into consideration all of the ethical issues that could arise in your research design. Making sure your participants are fully informed of all knowledge regarding the study is extremely important as well as confidentiality. When children are involved in the research process, even though they are not at legal age to consent to the research, they need to be aware of what they are going to be involved in.

I knew research was a huge part of our knowledge of the early childhood field, but thinking I could be a part of it never crossed my mind. I feel much more comfortable in my understanding of research and the design process, but know I will need more practice in order to be truly comfortable. I have gained a better understanding of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research and when it benefits to use each one.  I have so much more respect for EC professionals that work so hard to bring to us this wonderful insight into the development and care of our young ones.  Their work is never ending.

I appreciate all of the knowledge and insight my classmates have brought to this course. I have learned so much just from the discussions of others alone. Having the support of others has really helped me to continuing my journey in early childhood and has made it much more enjoyable. I hope to work with you all again, and I wish everyone much success in the future!

Research Around the World

For this assignment I chose to explore Early Childhood Australia. There are many resources available and listed on the main page of the website. One of the studies I found searching through their website was on a children’s sense of belonging when they enter Kindergarten. This research article caught my attention because I was a Kindergarten teacher and I know how difficult it can be for children to transition into a full ‘classroom’ experience. This time is an important one in the lives of children and their parents; a process Joerdans (2014) calls it rather than just a one-off event.  Being aware of the children’s feelings and well-being during this period is critical to know what needs to be done in order for them to become and feel a part of the school community.

Another research article that I found studied the professional challenges of 87 preschool teachers at a major time of a policy change in Australia. A program was designed to look at the existing skills and knowledge of current teachers against 4 year graduate proficiency standards. As these teachers entered this university learning environment they faced many challenges, where lecturers noticed a difficulty in re-engaging in the study of early childhood. This study concluded that in order engage effectively in ongoing professional development teachers need inbuilt ‘slow time’ (Whittington, Shore, Thompson 2014).

I also found a few studies on the use of technology in the early years, specifically with the use of musical learning. With my own research question focusing on parental involvement I was excited to see a study on parents as activists for equitable high quality early childhood education in Australia. Through much of my research in both U.S. and international searches, I find that we are all studying much of the same topics in early childhood. We are all concerned with the well-being of children while providing them with quality programs. While providing these programs for children we need to make sure that our teachers are re-educating themselves on practices and procedures needed in order to maintain these programs as high quality. Concerning ourselves with challenges teachers and professionals face in the classrooms, will lead us to ways in which we can support teachers and help them in their struggles.

I will definitely be visiting this website again as I did not get too many of the articles that I would have liked. So many of the research titles caught my interest and I know would expand my knowledge in early childhood. I enjoy gaining all of these resources so I can go back and revisit to gain more and more information and keep up to date on current news, which is so important in the world of early childhood.

http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/