When I Think Research

Looking back throughout this course I learned a lot of things about research. Quite honestly, I didn't know whole lot about researching at the start. Yes, I have written research papers before, but nothing from a study point-of-view. I realized that there are many different ways you can conduct a research study, and that it is important that you make your study valid. If you data/study isn't valid, then the information you discovered will not be accurate or usable. You also have to take into account the safety of the participants and if what you are trying to prove is really worth it for the children and putting them through the study.

My views of about research changed in a couple of ways. First, I realize that conducting a study is a lot more working than I ever imagine. I know in high school we created a hypothesis, tested, and recorded you findings. However, a real research study is far more than that. I realized that you have to have the data and research on why you are conducting the study, find participates and get their consent, and conduct the study. I also realized that you have to leave your personal bias behind, and it can't be brought into the study. My view about research changed but for the better. I realized the more detailed we are now, the more valid our study will be, the information could make a difference for our children and future children.

One challenge I encountered while working on my research stimulation was how can I ensure that my results remain valid. When talking about different kindergarten programs, you are obviously going to have different teachers teaching the classes. So my challenge was how do I ensure that the teacher and their teaching styles don't hind the study in anyways? I decided that I would allow the teachers to use different teaching styles, but I would have to have some control over them to ensure that isn't factor that affects the results.

After taking this course, my perception on early childhood professionals has been modified to that fact that early childhood professionals aren't just teachers. They are professionals that truly care about our children, and thus conduct research projects to help advocate for our children. I realized that early childhood professionals one goal is helping our children succeed and if that means we conduct research studies to learning and gain better information that will help our children succeed, then that's what we will we. I realize that researching and conducting studies is just one way an early childhood professional can contribute and help the field of early childhood.

Research Around the World

For this week’s blog assignment, I chose to look at early childhood research topics in Australia. After researching the site, some of the currently research topics that are happening there are international teaching, sustainability, forming partnerships, play and quality, transitions, asthma and asthma management, children’s rights, flexibility practices and patterns, and reconciliation (cultural awareness).

One thing that surprised me when exploring the website is that they have a series of publications that talk about the above research topics, and how early childhood professionals can use the research in the classroom. The books offer insight of the research topic, the findings, the benefits, and ways they can incorporate the finding into their centers, teaching, or lives. I think this is a great resource they offer early childhood professionals in their country, and a way for early childhood professional to stay informed on recent research and the findings.

Other information I found on the website is that it is not only beneficial for early childhood professionals, but it has a lot of resources for parents as well. Some resources includes information about children health and nutrition, how to deal with separation anxiety, and how to deal with transitions to schools. 

Reference:

Early Childhood Australia, (2015). Educator resources. Retrieved from        http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/learning-hub/educator-resources/

Positive Effects of Research Study

For this week's assignment, I chose to find a research article had had positive effects of using children as part of the their research. The study I found look at how what children ate for breakfast effected how they acted in school. We all know that breakfast in the most important meal of the day. By consuming breakfast, children are getting the required nutrients needed and often time have a lower BMI (Adolphus, Lawton, & Dye. 2013). Those who don't eat breakfast or often less likely to be physically active and have a lower cardio-respiratory fitness level (Adolphus, Lawton, & Dye. 2013). Further, there is evidence that breakfast can positively affect learning in children in terms of behavior, cognitive, and school performance (Adolphus, Lawton, & Dye. 2013). The study look at children who didn't eat breakfast vs. the students that did. The findings of the study concluded that children paid better attention and did better in classes then those who didn't have breakfast (Adolphus, Lawton, & Dye. 2013). This study has a positive effect because it shows parents and families the importance of their children having breakfast, and how it can help improve behavior and on-task in the classroom.

Reference
Adolphus, K., Lawton, C., & Dye, L. (8 Aug 2013). The effects of breakfast on behavior and academic performance in children and adolescents. Human Neuroscience. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3737458/.

My Personal Research Journey

For my research stimulation, I am looking at how math assessment scores varying among students in different kindergarten program. I am more specifically looking at programs that are full-time everyday programs versus half-time everyday programs. I chose this topic because in the last 20 years, the school district I attended and currently live in has changed their program numerous of time. First it was half-time everyday, then it was full-time every other day, and now starting this year it is full-time everyday. The last change was because the State of Ohio mandated that all kindergarten programs are to be full-time everyday programs. This started getting me thinking about whether the change was a good change or not, and is it really benefiting our children. So I decided to focus one one subject, and I chose math. Are are students really scoring better in math related assessments because of this extra time, or are the score remaining the same? If scores are remaining the same, they why are we in a full-time everyday program? These are just a few questions of mine I hope to answer throughout the next six weeks, as I conduct this research stimulation.

I ask from my colleagues if you could share any information you have on this topic, that would be great. What type of program did you attend in kindergarten, or maybe what type of programs your children have attended? How do you think kindergarten has changed over the years? Do you think a full-time everyday program is the more efficient? Why or why not? I hope to share resources as I find them! Thanks!

Consequences and Goal

Looking at the consequences of learning about international early childhood field for my professional and personal development are:

#1: Finding people to communicate with. I only heard back from one of my contacts, and when I responded back asking more questions I didn't get any. I was disappointed by this because I was really excited to learn more about how early childhood education was different from the United States.

#2: The language barrier. I think this could complicate communication and learning about the international early childhood field because there is no direct translation of a language, and thus making contacts difficult between two people.

#3: Realizing that every country has different policies. I find this a consequence because if we are trying to advocate for all the children in our world, we have to realize that early childhood policies are different in every country. This could make advocating difficult because we will have to be aware of all the  different policies.  

Through all the blog posts I read throughout this class, I think a goal for the field related to international awareness and trends is to be supportive, not for our country's children, but for children all over the world. All children should be given the chance to be successful, not just certain countries. We have to realize that some countries have better programs than others, and we have to be supportive to all of them, no matter what.

I want to thank my colleagues for everything I have learned throughout this class. I really enjoyed reading about what your international contacts had to say about early childhood education in their country, and how it is similar and different compared to the United States program. Best of luck as we continue on this journey!

International Contacts-Part 3

I haven't heard from my international contacts in the past couple of weeks, so I chose to look at the UNESCO's Early Childhood Care and Education website. One insight I gain this week that is governments that participate in UNESCO are committing themselves to expanding childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantage children. Governments are being urged to expand equitable access to quality early childhood services to help the poo (UNESCO, 2014)r. Another insight I gained from the website is that they support early childhood care and education programs should emphasis the child's development and extend beyond assisting the child's transitions to formal schooling. By advocating for high quality childcare it is going to promote motivation, confidence, good cognitive and linguistic development and school readiness (UNESCO, 2014). The last insight I gained from the UNESCO is that many governments are partnering with private sectors in order to help fund early childhood care and education for those who are at risk are disadvantaged (UNESCO, 20014).

This insights relate to my professional goals because one of my goals is to advocate for the importance of early childhood education. The information I learned from the UNESCO website showed me that we need to advocate for our children not just in the United States, but worldwide. The website also showed me that there are many organizations out there that support early childhood education, and advocate for our children so they can get high-quality education to help their development and succeed.

Resources:
UNESCO, (2014). Early childhood care and education. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/

Sharing Web Resources #3

When explore the Save our Children website, one of the outside links I explored was to the giving page of the organization. I found this very interesting because you can choose what gift you want to donate. You aren't just donating money and the organization decides what to do with it, you get to decide what you want to with it. For example, for $30 you can choose to donate/sponsor art and music supplies and for $120 you can donate/sponsor 2 goats. You could also sponsor a child for only $28 a month, and the child can be someone in the United States or in another country. 

While searching the site, I came across one of the Save the Children's initiative to advocate for better funding for our children and early childhood program. Something new I found was the letter below that people can send to our government in order to address the concerns of lack of high-quality programs for low-income families (one of our big topics this week).  

Subject: Support the Strong Start for America's Children Act

As a citizen concerned about the well-being of our nation’s children, I ask for your support of H.R. 3461 / S. 1697, the Strong Start for America's Children Act.

Every child deserves a strong start in life -- and that includes quality early education. Yet many babies and young children lack the early opportunities they need to support their development from birth to kindergarten. In the United States, nearly one in four children live in poverty, and millions of low-income families lack access to high-quality, affordable preschool programs. Research shows that four-year-olds from poor families are an average of 18 months behind other children their age -- the developmental equivalent of middle-income two-and-a-half year-olds.

Studies have found that high-quality preschool leads to a wide range of short- and long-term benefits, including better educational outcomes, stronger job earnings, and lower levels of crime and delinquency. In fact, a Brookings Institution study found that a comprehensive national early childhood education program would add $2 trillion to the country’ annual GDP within a generation.

That is why I support the Strong Start for America's Children Act. It is a bold, 10-year innovative federal-state partnership to expand and improve early learning opportunities for children from birth to five. The legislation would also create a new Early Head Start partnership with child care to improve the quality of care for infants and toddlers.

I urge you to cosponsor this commonsense bill. I look forward to your response on this important issue.

This helped add to my understand that there is a professional organization that is lobbying and advocating for our children and their right of having equal opportunities to attend a high quality early childhood program regardless of the income. this initiative will also have a long term plan in helping our children expand early learning opportunities for our children. It also gave me the insight of that as early childhood professionals, we aren't alone in this field, and that there are organizations out there that are in this fight with us to improve the quality of early childhood education.

Save the Children. (2015). Advocate for our Children. Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org/