Learning about early childhood research has been an enlightening experience. There is so much information that it can be overwhelming. Understanding how research is done was interesting. I never realized how much work there was put into research or how important it is.
Although I really do not plan on doing research, it is nice to know the process and it gives me a better understanding of how to read research and understand the process. The biggest challenge I had was finding a research topic. Ideas that I thought important were not that easy to conduct research. This has given me a new respect for research and I plan to follow research a little more closely than before.
Planning and designing research is so much more complicated than I ever imagined. The subjects, making sure that the study is valid and organizing the research is very important. The different ways to conduct research were also interesting, the use of triangulation, quantitative and qualitative research.
This course has led me to a better understanding of the importance of research and has given me a better respect for researchers.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Saturday, October 6, 2012
week 5
I visited the Early Childhood Australia website. This website had many interesting topics.
The issue of childcare funding was a topic that seems to be international. The information focused on low and middle income families being in need. Although more funding is needed it was noted that there is an "investment of already more than $20 billion that is already being made in early childhood education and care services" (Early Childhood Australia). The amount of money being spent in early childhood is an issue that many countries are re-evaluating. The importance of early education is becoming more popular and necessary across the world. Childcare is expensive and there needs to be more assistance for the low income.
Quality care is also an issue that was discussed on this website. Across the world it is known that the type and quality of care that children receive is important. This in not only a subject that is highly researched, it is being developed across the world. Finding this information is inspirational. I am happy to see that people across the world are beginning the understand that without quality care, our children suffer.
Sometimes it is easy to forget that early childhood is a topic that has become important across the world. Visiting websites from different parts of the world are important to understanding that everyone is recognizing the importance of early childhood care.
References
Early Childhood Australia, retrieved from www.earlychildhoodaustralia.au/
The issue of childcare funding was a topic that seems to be international. The information focused on low and middle income families being in need. Although more funding is needed it was noted that there is an "investment of already more than $20 billion that is already being made in early childhood education and care services" (Early Childhood Australia). The amount of money being spent in early childhood is an issue that many countries are re-evaluating. The importance of early education is becoming more popular and necessary across the world. Childcare is expensive and there needs to be more assistance for the low income.
Quality care is also an issue that was discussed on this website. Across the world it is known that the type and quality of care that children receive is important. This in not only a subject that is highly researched, it is being developed across the world. Finding this information is inspirational. I am happy to see that people across the world are beginning the understand that without quality care, our children suffer.
Sometimes it is easy to forget that early childhood is a topic that has become important across the world. Visiting websites from different parts of the world are important to understanding that everyone is recognizing the importance of early childhood care.
References
Early Childhood Australia, retrieved from www.earlychildhoodaustralia.au/
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Research that benefits Children and Families
If I was conducting research that benefited children and families, I would conduct an observation based research of the interaction of fathers and their children. I would conduct this research because I have seen throughout my years teaching in the early childhood field the lack of involvement many fathers have in their child's day to day life. Observing them will help answer questions such as;
1. Do children that have fathers that are involved or not involved in their life perform better at school?
2. Do children that have fathers that are involved or not involved in their day to day life behave better?
3. How do fathers communicate with their children at home?
4. Do children have better relationships overall with fathers that live with them or without them?
The positive contribution would be to give fathers the information to show how their lack of involvement with their child can hurt them. I would also give these fathers information on how to become involved on a day to day basis.
There are many fathers that for different reasons do not even know the name of their child's teacher. I think that all they need is to have an understanding of the importance of day to day interactions with their child. Giving them resources will point them in the right direction.
1. Do children that have fathers that are involved or not involved in their life perform better at school?
2. Do children that have fathers that are involved or not involved in their day to day life behave better?
3. How do fathers communicate with their children at home?
4. Do children have better relationships overall with fathers that live with them or without them?
The positive contribution would be to give fathers the information to show how their lack of involvement with their child can hurt them. I would also give these fathers information on how to become involved on a day to day basis.
There are many fathers that for different reasons do not even know the name of their child's teacher. I think that all they need is to have an understanding of the importance of day to day interactions with their child. Giving them resources will point them in the right direction.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Personal research journey
Developmentally appropriate pratice is the topic I chose. This is a topic that I have read about for years. Teachers need to understand why and how to teach children. Being able to have a curriculum that is developmenatlly appropriate for every age is extremley important in the field of early childhood education.
My personal expierence with developmentally approrpriate practice has been an interesting one. I have found that depending on which school you teach for and what curriculum they follow they standards seem to change. It is usually decided by a school board as to what curriculum to follow. These differences have left me to question what is developmentally appropriate since there are many different opinions. Constructing the research chart helped me understand the organization I will need to complete this and how much information is out there. I just hope I dont become ovewhelmed by the amount of information I may need to go through.
I would like to learn more about research that focus' on play, I am using this term in the broad sense. When I talk about play I am referring to pretend play, outside play, center play. I have read many articles that argue there needs to be more academic time and less play.( Although I dont agree with this I plan on reading all the informtion with an open mind). How can a teacher make sure that all of these activites are developmentally appropriate for the differen age groups. I am also interested in learning more about developmentally appropriate practice for infants and toddlers. There are many centers that simply provide care for this age group, I would like to learn more about what these children need.
I am still in the process of looking for resources and would love any advice anyone can give on finding resources online. Are there any particular websites that are helpful?
Thank you in advance for any advice or tips you can give. I will post any good sites I may find.
My personal expierence with developmentally approrpriate practice has been an interesting one. I have found that depending on which school you teach for and what curriculum they follow they standards seem to change. It is usually decided by a school board as to what curriculum to follow. These differences have left me to question what is developmentally appropriate since there are many different opinions. Constructing the research chart helped me understand the organization I will need to complete this and how much information is out there. I just hope I dont become ovewhelmed by the amount of information I may need to go through.
I would like to learn more about research that focus' on play, I am using this term in the broad sense. When I talk about play I am referring to pretend play, outside play, center play. I have read many articles that argue there needs to be more academic time and less play.( Although I dont agree with this I plan on reading all the informtion with an open mind). How can a teacher make sure that all of these activites are developmentally appropriate for the differen age groups. I am also interested in learning more about developmentally appropriate practice for infants and toddlers. There are many centers that simply provide care for this age group, I would like to learn more about what these children need.
I am still in the process of looking for resources and would love any advice anyone can give on finding resources online. Are there any particular websites that are helpful?
Thank you in advance for any advice or tips you can give. I will post any good sites I may find.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Learning about International Early Childhood
Learning about the International Early Childhood Field made me realize alot. The first thing that I learned was how important the filed of early childhood is around the world. Such as UNESCO, The National Center for Children in Poverty, The Global Chidlrens Initiative. I honestly thought that this was only in the US. There are so many organizations that focus on children and their early learning. This was a surprise to me since I had never really been exposed to it before.
The second is that all across the world early childhood education is very similar. Most educators have the same goals and there seems to be an agreement among everyone of what is important to teach in the early childhood field.
I also learned about poverty, diversity, changing demographics. I realized how important all of these are to teaching children. Having this information has made me understand everything better. I look at every situation different, and I feel that in the short 8 weeks of this course I have started a journey that has led me around the world and given me a wealth of information that will make me better.
Although in the beginning of this course I did not fully understand the point of issues and trends and how it would help me teach, I learned more than I though I would and will follow many of these issues during my career.
The second is that all across the world early childhood education is very similar. Most educators have the same goals and there seems to be an agreement among everyone of what is important to teach in the early childhood field.
I also learned about poverty, diversity, changing demographics. I realized how important all of these are to teaching children. Having this information has made me understand everything better. I look at every situation different, and I feel that in the short 8 weeks of this course I have started a journey that has led me around the world and given me a wealth of information that will make me better.
Although in the beginning of this course I did not fully understand the point of issues and trends and how it would help me teach, I learned more than I though I would and will follow many of these issues during my career.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
UNESCO (wk 7)
The UNESCO is an organization that works to create "the conditions for dialogue among civilizations, cultures and peoples, based upon respect for commonly shared values".
They have 2 global priorities:
*Africa
*Gender Equality
The Issue in Africa is one about a population that is not as educated as they need to be. There are more children now going on to secondary education than ever before. UNESCO wants to continue to make sure that the African government and development partners maintain education among their priorities. The sub Saharan Africa is home to "almost 43% of the worlds out of school children"(UNESCO). They have the worlds largest amount of people with HIV, 90% of the worlds 2 million children are living with the virus in sub Saharan Africa. The UNESCO education mission is to ensure all children receive a free education. "UNESCO is the only United Nations agency with a mandate to cover all aspects of education"(UNESCO).
There are 4 ways that UNESCO supports the right to education:
*Monitoring the implementation of the international normative instruments in this field.
*Building and strengthening capacities and mechanisms and reporting
*Assisting Member States in reviewing and developing their national frameworks
*Mobilizing, developing and fostering global partnerships to raise awareness on key issues relating to the implementation of international normative instrument's on the right to education.
This web page had so many different links to many different topics. Definitely an organization to follow.
References:
UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education” web page (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/)
They have 2 global priorities:
*Africa
*Gender Equality
The Issue in Africa is one about a population that is not as educated as they need to be. There are more children now going on to secondary education than ever before. UNESCO wants to continue to make sure that the African government and development partners maintain education among their priorities. The sub Saharan Africa is home to "almost 43% of the worlds out of school children"(UNESCO). They have the worlds largest amount of people with HIV, 90% of the worlds 2 million children are living with the virus in sub Saharan Africa. The UNESCO education mission is to ensure all children receive a free education. "UNESCO is the only United Nations agency with a mandate to cover all aspects of education"(UNESCO).
There are 4 ways that UNESCO supports the right to education:
*Monitoring the implementation of the international normative instruments in this field.
*Building and strengthening capacities and mechanisms and reporting
*Assisting Member States in reviewing and developing their national frameworks
*Mobilizing, developing and fostering global partnerships to raise awareness on key issues relating to the implementation of international normative instrument's on the right to education.
This web page had so many different links to many different topics. Definitely an organization to follow.
References:
UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education” web page (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/)
Four ways UNESCO supports the right to education
There sSaturday, August 4, 2012
I explored the site titled National Center for Children in Poverty, www.nccp.org I had never visited this site, and found the information to be relative to our current topic and very interesting to me. I was surprised by what I read and would like to share it with everyone.
The article I read was titled, "More White Chilren in low income families than any other racial group". After reading this article I learned that "America has more white chldren living in low income families than any other race"(NCCP). This surprised me greatly because all you ever hear about is povety in neighborhoods that are mosly black and hispanic (at least where I live). This information on this website opened my eyes the huge problem of not just poverty but the affects of low income families as well. These families seem o.k on the outside but are actually living within a low income society. I wonder why these statistics surprise me. Do white families hide it more than other races?
Some statistics I would like to note are amazing to me these were from the National Center for Children in Poverty, they are:
21 million white children live in low income families
10.7 million hispanic chilren live in low income families
6.5 million black children live in low income families
1 million asian children live in low income families
400,000 american indain children live in low income families
Another statistic is "among all children under 18, 44 % live in low income families and approximatley one in every 5 live in poor families"(NCCP).
This percentage is rising, "40% in 2005 to 44% in 2010"(NCCP).
The Federal poverty levels according to the NCCP are:
$22,350 for a family of 4
$18,530 for a family of 3
$14,710 for a family of 2
Although I understood that poverty was an issue, I honestly had no idea how severe it was. It saddens me to realize how many children do not have what my childre have taken for granted. The NCCP recommends helping parents succeed in the labor force will help with jobs. This will help, but will not solve the problem. Our unstable work environement has lead to many people losing there jobs due to the economy.
The only solution to this, is jobs!!! Our country and many other countrys are struggling and our people and children are suffering. We need to pay attention to politics and our current leaders and make educated decisins to help everyone live comfortably. The only way to do this is to make changes in our government and althoug I have always voted, but have never really followed politics closely, I have gained a new understanding of the power of voting!!!!!
References
National Center for Children in Poverty; retrieved from www.nccp.org
The article I read was titled, "More White Chilren in low income families than any other racial group". After reading this article I learned that "America has more white chldren living in low income families than any other race"(NCCP). This surprised me greatly because all you ever hear about is povety in neighborhoods that are mosly black and hispanic (at least where I live). This information on this website opened my eyes the huge problem of not just poverty but the affects of low income families as well. These families seem o.k on the outside but are actually living within a low income society. I wonder why these statistics surprise me. Do white families hide it more than other races?
Some statistics I would like to note are amazing to me these were from the National Center for Children in Poverty, they are:
21 million white children live in low income families
10.7 million hispanic chilren live in low income families
6.5 million black children live in low income families
1 million asian children live in low income families
400,000 american indain children live in low income families
Another statistic is "among all children under 18, 44 % live in low income families and approximatley one in every 5 live in poor families"(NCCP).
This percentage is rising, "40% in 2005 to 44% in 2010"(NCCP).
The Federal poverty levels according to the NCCP are:
$22,350 for a family of 4
$18,530 for a family of 3
$14,710 for a family of 2
Although I understood that poverty was an issue, I honestly had no idea how severe it was. It saddens me to realize how many children do not have what my childre have taken for granted. The NCCP recommends helping parents succeed in the labor force will help with jobs. This will help, but will not solve the problem. Our unstable work environement has lead to many people losing there jobs due to the economy.
The only solution to this, is jobs!!! Our country and many other countrys are struggling and our people and children are suffering. We need to pay attention to politics and our current leaders and make educated decisins to help everyone live comfortably. The only way to do this is to make changes in our government and althoug I have always voted, but have never really followed politics closely, I have gained a new understanding of the power of voting!!!!!
References
National Center for Children in Poverty; retrieved from www.nccp.org
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