AN EXAMPLE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH IN THE EARLY CHILDHOOD FIELD OF EDUCATION

Personally and professionally, the importance of research being conducted as well as having access to this research is really important.  As a licensed child care educator since June, 1990, I have seen many changes in both the licensing standards/regulations as well as what is expected of the child care field professionally.  I have also learned how important it is to view situations from a variety of viewpoints as well as being a neutral third-party when it is needed.  It is very important to keep our minds open in order to learn a greater variety of tools which can be used personally, professionally, and in a local context.  In order for me to run a high-quality child care it is important for me to understand and keep myself apprised of the newest research as well as the conclusions this research has found.  Research, in my opinion, is one of the greatest tools I have available to me.

Further understanding of tools such as awareness viewpoints are beneficial in many situations, including but not limited to, situations working with families, when conducting research, and when advocating.  Becoming aware of factors such as the importance of respecting that each student and their family have a culture that is to be valued and affirmed; allowing students and families to fully participate in the educational process – keep communication open in both directions; reflection periodically on our own definition of diversity and educating ourselves in any areas in which we, as educators, need more information in, are also very important (Salend, 2008).

As I have written in previous assignments, there is no doubt how important the early years are to children’s lives. A positive beginning to life means a positive foundation for future development, health and general well-being throughout a child’s life. However, policy and practice in early education and care still lacks focus in many areas of the United States as well as Internationally (Elliott, 2006).

Quality/effectiveness as it relates to early childhood programs, regardless of the programs being center-based, family home based, nursery school, or learning centers, require the same components to be present in order to be considered as a quality/effective program. Examples of what a quality/effective program should include are, but not limited to: The relationship between the educator and the child; a rich curriculum; and the presence of a responsive/well-educated staff/educator-child ratios.

Research has shown the ongoing relationship which the educator has developed with each of the children is very important to the child’s learning. Research on brain development of young children, according to Galinsky (2006), shows that human relationships are the building blocks of human development (Galinsky, 2006). High-quality programs place an emphasis a curriculum with a focus on language; emergent literacy; early mathematics skills; motor; social/emotional development; health; nutrition; structured/unstructured play; and a curriculum which allows for the involvement of parents/guardians in the curriculum itself as well as educational opportunities for the parents/guardians (Olson, 2005). High-quality early learning programs will be the strongest if the educator-child ratios allow for the best responsiveness/sensitivity to the children. Recommendations by the National Research Council include assigning at least one educator with a minimum bachelor’s degree and specialized education in early childhood to each group of children (Olson, 2005). The preparation and compensation of educators is also very important (Olson, 2005).  These components should include focuses (as referenced above) on a combination of nurturing relationships, a focus on the children’s health and safety, and making sure a developmentally-appropriate curriculum is provided for all of the children’s developmental needs regardless of their abilities.

Plainly speaking, without research, none of these facts would be known.  In the long-run this helps all of us in one capacity or another.  But it is our job to make sure the research we are basing our decisions on has been done both ethically and has met the proper standards.

Reference

Galinsky, E. (2006). The economic benefits of high quality preschool: What makes the difference? Retrieved from http://familiesandwork.org/site/research/reports/ced.pdf

Olson, L. (2005). Early childhood education: Investing in quality makes sense. Research Points, 3(2). Retrieved from http://www.aera.net/uploadedFiles/Journals_and_Publications/Research_Points/RPFall05 .pdf

Salend, S. J. (2008). Creating inclusive classrooms: effective and reflective practices. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall.

MY PERSONAL RESEARCH JOURNEY

First I wanted to start off with letting everyone know how happy I am to be working/learning with everyone.  These past two weeks have been full of so much information and advice that I am really looking forward to seeing where the next six weeks bring.

My chosen topic for this research simulation is poverty and its affect on a child’s cognitive development.  Specifically, what are the affects of a child’s home environment which falls into the socio-economic level considered at or below the poverty line when said children are all in a high quality early childhood learning environment at least part time?  This topic and question were chosen as the effects of poverty involve a complex amount of risk factors which can/will adversely affect the community population in many ways.  According to Jensen (2009), there are four primary risk factors which afflict families who are living in poverty.  The risk factors are:  emotional and social challenges; acute and chronic stressors; cognitive lags; and health and safety issues.  These risk factors can and do make everyday living a struggle for individuals in poverty.  Each of these factors builds and plays off one another.  Which simply stated means one problem created by poverty contributes to another problem, which in turn contributes to another? 

During a previous class taken (Issues and Trends in the Early Childhood Field) the issue of poverty was studied.  As I was doing research for this issue, it became apparent to me that I needed to research more about this particular issue within my own community and see what its affects are on the children I work with in my child care.  Working in the child care field for the last twenty-two years has given me some insight as to the state of poverty in my town as well as the surrounding areas as I work with different programs and families.  My work has also exposed me to various programs which are present to assist those in need.  However, through researching the subject of poverty in a more in-depth manner, I have gained the knowledge of just how many programs are in my community as well as the different types of poverty in general.  Now it is important for me, both professionally and personally, to bring my knowledge to the next level in order to improve the quality of my child care.  I am expecting a very informative learning experience now and in the future.

Working on this particular research simulation so far has been very interesting.  I love how everything is broken down into little sections in order to better understand the process of conducting research.  I sometimes forget that the process can be broken down in order to save so much time in the future.  I personally struggle with taking a topic and finding a way to narrow it down into a subject that is not too broad of a subject.  I tend to start big and use unnecessary time in order to narrow the topic down to a specific question which needs to be researched.

If anyone has any ideas or advice on narrowing topics down, I would appreciate the input. 

Good luck to everyone!  Once again I am happy to be working/learning with everyone.

Reference

Jensen, E. (2009). Teaching with poverty in mind: what being poor does to kids' brains and what schools can do about it. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

EDUC - 6162-6: EFFECTIVE PROGRAMS AND PRACTICES - FINAL BLOG ASSIGNMENT

Even though I have hosted many international exchange students, been a regional manager for international exchange students, and currently still am an area representative for international exchange students in my little corner of the world, this course was still full of information I feel can only be obtained from a collaborative learning community in which we are currently involved in.  Each individual has contributed in some way to the learning process these last eight weeks and I would like to thank everyone for all their advice, suggestions, and solutions that they shared.

The privilege I had by being welcomed into the professional lives of two international contacts this past eight weeks has definitely opened my eyes to further understanding about the early childhood field of education outside of the US.

Consequences of learning about the international early childhood field (both for professional and personal development) are, but not limited to:

- Strengthening my knowledge and practice in regards to culturally responsive and individually appropriate practice. 

- A greater respect that each students and their family have a culture that is to be valued and affirmed; allow students and families to fully participate in the educational process by keeping communication open in both directions.

- Was given an opportunity to reflect on my own definition of diversity and educate myself in any areas in which I needed more information.  As well as continuing to periodically reflect.

- Broadening my network of peers in the early childhood field.

One of the goals I have set for myself is to grow my own program, as well as become more involved in the community, in order to advocate for other high quality early childhood education programs, childcares, etc…  In an ideal world, it would be easy to have a classroom which can meet the needs of the increasingly changing demographics in the classroom.  Until then, the best teaching practices are those that consider all learners in a classroom setting which pays close attention to the differences inherent to academic, cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic diversity (Santamaria, 2009).

Once again, thank you to all my classmates, Dr. Longo and my new international contacts for all their help, advice, and suggestions this past eight weeks. I look forward to continuing our collaborative learning community in the future. The best of luck to everyone in their future endeavors!

Reference

Santamaria, L. J. (2009). Culturally Responsive Differentiated Instruction: Narrowing Gaps between Best Pedagogical Practices Benefiting All Learners. Teachers College Record, 111(1), 214-247.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR INTERNATIONAL CONTACTS CON'T

First I wanted to share some good news I received in my email today.  The announcement read:

“BOSTON - Friday, December 16, 2011:  The Patrick-Murray Administration today announced that Massachusetts is one of nine grant award winners in President Obama's Early Learning Challenge (ELC) competition and will receive significant funding over the next four years to expand high quality early education services and close achievement gaps in education.

Massachusetts is eligible for $50 million under the ELC and the U.S. Department of Education will announce final grant amounts to each winner in the coming days. Other winners of the ELC competition include California, Delaware, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island and the state of Washington. 

Today’s announcement demonstrates our place as a national leader in education reform and achievement, said Governor Deval Patrick.  These resources will help us reach kids at an early age, before achievement gaps form, to ensure they are prepared for lifelong success in school and beyond.””

It was really nice to see some positive news about funding for a change.   

Now for this week’s assigned posting. . . . . .

In the last seven weeks of correspondence with Siddig from Pakistan, I have discovered a person with a lot of the same goals as myself.  He is currently a social worker, but his master degree is in Economics since his parents did not feel that a career in social work was worthy of a good future.  He went ahead and did as they wished but his heart has stayed with the children who are in need of his assistance. 

His future goal is to do what he can for the children of his country.  He is very interested in the psychological aspects pertaining to children and their early learning as well.  During our correspondence he has stated that Pakistan will be the best place for my true cause of helping children as the situation there with the government run schools is not very positive.  The more I look into the link understand (as previously posted - www.cfr.org) he suggested to me, the more I really understand how great his challenge is going to be.  I look forward to keeping our communication open for many years to come.

EXPLORING OUR WEB RESOURCES

For this posting I decided to look even further into the website for Early Childhood Australia:  The Australian Early Childhood Advocacy Organization (http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/) that I had previously posted as one of my new resources.  The link I chose to investigate further was the QIAS/QA support link.  This link allows you to choose further information on family day care, long day care, or outside school hours care.  Since I am in the family child care business, I chose to delve further into the family day care link.  I find it to be really interesting to find out what standards different countries have in common and which ones sound like great ideas to implement in our own country.

For this website I compared the Quality Assurance (QA) systems which are an initiative of the Australian Government whose aim is to ensure that children in care have stimulating, positive experiences and interactions.  I liken this system to the QRIS system I am currently working with in my own state.

The link gives other links such as:  www.ncac.gov.au – This is for the National Childcare Accreditation Council who is responsible for the implementation and administration of the Quality Assurance (QA) systems for family day care, outside school hours care and long day care across Australia.  I could be mistaken but I compare this agency to NAEYC (naeyc.org). (Another organization I spend a lot of time using as a major resource for my studies.)

There is also a free copy of Early Childhood Australia’s latest book catalogue, which contains quality-assured early childhood books.  Books on this list must meet the following criteria:  is in the best interests of children; is evidence-based; is appropriately inclusive; uses accessible language; addresses the appropriate age range; is dated and authored; is referenced where appropriate; is attractively designed and presented; and clearly acknowledges any commercial interests and/or biases.  The list of titles is extensive and I found a lot of interesting titles on specific issues that I have never seen before in print.  I would highly recommend viewing this list if anyone likes to read extensively about issues, including, but not limited to understanding excellence and equity in early childhood care.  Some of the titles are a bit pricey but I hope to be able to find the titles I would like to read here in the United States.

The more I follow links and view this website, the more information I find that is so helpful for my resource file.  I highly recommend spending some time looking around this website if this type of content is of interest to any educators and/or parents.

Reference

August 2011 Catalogue Page 1 - Early Childhood Australia Catalogue. (n.d.). Home - Early Childhood Australia. Retrieved December 09, 2011, from http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/shop/results.cfm?category=33

GETTING TO KNOW MY INTERNATIONAL CONTACTS

First I need to once again thank Siddig Barech from Pakistan for keeping the line of communication open with me during these last weeks.  I gain so much information about global issues/trends from our conversations.  Beside email we have chatted quite a few times on Facebook about many issues/trends.

When I first brought the topic of the issues of equity/inequity in the early childhood field he did not quite understand my views but was willing to allow me to explain and I in turn allowed him to explain what his thoughts are.  As educators we are aware that there is a definite global inequity but it really brings it home when you actually are corresponding with an individual who lives these inequities.  During our conversation Siddig told me that he wished I could visit Pakistan for a week and see for myself what the government schools are like.  He further explained that it might change my views on a child-centered curriculum as he sees the need for a system of strict standards with no give.

He said that such ideas, such as what I expressed, might never be known in Pakistan for those who are not considered in an elite group with wealth.  He stated that about 99% of their teachers or about 1% of the schools are run by any International standards.  He went on to state that their curriculum is about 64 years old and is practiced in most of the disciplines.  He also said that the arts and history varies a lot but is still practiced.  Our conversation brought to light how easy it is to misconstrue what one person is saying.  In this instance one of his concerns was that I saw no value in history or the arts.  It was nice to talk it out and end up on the same page so to speak.

I also asked if Siddig knew of any websites that I could go on to find out further information about the Pakistan government schools.  He told me that I could search on Google under educational system of Pakistan.  Of course being the type of person who loves to research, I did just that.  The website I chose to further research was http://www.cfr.org.  This was a real eye opener for me.  If anyone is interested in viewing this website for further information, I would highly recommend it even though the information was from 2009; I feel it is still relevant.

Reference

Pakistan's education system and links to extremism. (2009). Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved from http://www.cfr.org/pakistan/pakistans-education-system-links-extremism/p20364

SHARING WEB RESOURCES CON'T

For this posting I decided to look further into the organization Early Childhood Australia:  The Australian Early Childhood Advocacy Organization (http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/) that I had previously posted as one of my new resources.

I began to look through previous articles in the website’s “Every Child magazine” and found a great article on titled “Cultural Competence – Ensuring Individuality is Integral to Equity, Fairness and Social Justice.”  I felt this article was relevant to my current professional development because it gives great information on the need to recognize the strengths of diverse knowledge, languages, cultures and ways of becoming involved in a positive way into our communities from the viewpoint from another country.  This information also was helpful as it does add to my understanding of unintentional consequences when children are defined as commodities in the views of economists with the concern of CORE standards.

This article shows the need to remember and embrace the diversity of the children, their families and their communities.  The information is there about the need for quality early childhood education and care but also for the need to promote positive relationships with and between children, families, educators and their communities.

I found nothing on this website to be controversial in my beliefs of EEC but I am sure the more I explore the website, the more I will read about other new insights about issues and trends in the early childhood field of education.  I highly recommend this website as it is a wealth of information.  Especially for those like me who like to read and research everything of interest to them.

Reference

Cultural competence - ensuring individuality is integral to equity, fairness and social justice - Early Childhood Australia. (n.d.). Home - Early Childhood Australia. Retrieved November 26, 2011, from http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/every_child_magazine/every_child_index/cultural_competence_ensuring_individuality_is_integral_to_equity_fairness_and_social_justice.html