WK8 When I think of Research.......

What insights have you gained about research from taking this course?

I have learned that doing research is very demanding and confusing if your not familiar with the in's and outs of research. I also learned that there are many components to research that can be helpful and not make it so difficult.

In what ways have your ideas about the nature of doing research changed?

I never really thought about research before this class, except I wanted to stay clear of it. Well to be honest, this course has proven to me why I don't do research.

What lessons about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood did you learn?

I learned that planning is a very important process in research, much like an educator planning their curriculum. Designing a research takes a lot and much focus; a researcher needs to be very familiar with the parts to needed to design a research. One thing I think I could do is conduct the research; the observation and interview portion of it at least.

What were some of the challenges you encountered—and in what ways did you meet them?

What challenges didn't I encounter should be the question, lol. No really, at first I was a little hesitant to do some of the assignments, because I knew I really didn't understand research and what it really took to understand it fully. What helped me to overcome these challenges is reading and reading over the different parts of a research.

What are some of the ways your perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course?

I don't want to have to do another research class or research in my profession.

Research around the world

I choose the Early Childhood Australia: This is the Australian equivalent to the U.S. based NAEYC. You can access several links to early childhood research from the menu on the left side of the home page.
http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

What are some of the current international research topics?

• 'Stories from the Heart' Connecting children and families with out Earth
• Respecting diversity: Articulating early childhood practice
• Nurturing the spiritual child: Compassion, connection and a sense of self
• Meaningful planning: Rethinking teaching and learning relationships
• Understanding children's feelings: Emotional literacy in early childhood
• (http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/)

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

• Their mission statement and their values caught my eye. They are totally dedicated to their children and want to make sure they receive the best, not just in education, but in life.
• Their Every Child magazine is informative, from education to politics. A whole magazine dedicated to children's lives, with real life stories.
• They have a newletter called the voice, where it advocates for children, allowing people in the community voices be heard, that normally wouldn't be heard.
• They have been advocating and advancing children since 1938

Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

I found an article dealing with parents who share too much information about their children and their lives, the article called it "Parental Overshare". They are calling it the new genre out today. One of the stories is stemmed from the tragedy in Newtown and the others are from blogs. As I was reading these stories, I was disheartened. These parents didn't seem to care about their child's feelings or their social life. Young children have it hard, but teenagers are in a whole different ball game, when it comes to things like this. Here are some of the stories in the article http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/01/the-ethical-implications-of-parents-writing-about-their-kids/267170/

• Shortly after the tragedy in Newtown, Liza Long, an "author, musician, and erstwhile classicist," published a viral essay with the provocative title, "I am Adam Lanza's Mother," comparing her own mentally-ill teen son to the alleged Newtown killer, and herself to Lanza's first victim: "A few weeks ago, Michael pulled a knife and threatened to kill me and then himself after I asked him to return his overdue library books," Long wrote, concluding from this and other troubling incidents that her son is likely on his way to opening fire in "a fast food restaurant. A mall. A kindergarten classroom."
• In July, for example, on a New York Times opinion blog, Beth Boyle Machlan, "at work on a memoir about mothering and mental illness," described her daughter's O.C.D. Despite the lack of violence, Machlan's essay may be more disturbing than Long's—we get an account of the girl's therapy session, and hear Machlan calling her daughter "bunny" and "sweetie." Private scenes the reader should not have had access to.

This is what the article had to say about stories such as these and about parental overshare, "Still, anyone looking to question the ethics of parental overshare faces a tough audience" (Bovy, 2013). "The ubiquity of confessional writing has spilled over into confessions that implicate not so much the author as the author's still-underage offspring" (Bovy, 2013). "Parental overshare, as I define it, does not refer to parents discussing their kids with friends and family" (Bovy, 2013). "Parental overshare does not always deal with tragic circumstances; it ranges from family secrets to lighthearted anecdotes" (Bovy, 2013).

I suggest you go to the website and read for yourself, who knows maybe this is a start of a new genre, as author puts it.

Reference
Bovy, P.M. (2013). The Ethical Implications of Parents Writing about their kids. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/01/the-ethical-implications-of-parents-writing-about-their-kids/267170/

Your Personal Research Journey

The topic I choose is The economic effects on preschoolers living in poverty. I choose this topic for one because I am an African American and our culture suffers a great deal with poverty and second because I see so many children (not just African  American) living in poverty and struggling with the effects of economics in their life. I want to furture look into how much it effects them and not just what I see in some, but in different areas of the United States and countries. In doing my research on finding articles dealing with this, I have come across many articles dealing with poverty, preschoolers, economics, families, and health. I would love for you to give me advice, your experiences, and articles you have or seen dealing with this topic. I encourage you all to take time and see the children around you, especially the younger children, who suffer a greater deal with economics and poverty. Lend a helping hand or direct someone to them who can, these children are our future, literally. This world is going down fast and unfortunately our children are going down just as quick.

Week 8 Reflection

Three consequences of learning about the international early childhood field for your professional and personal development. Well let me first say, I couldn't get into contact with any international early childhood professionals, the one that did finally send me an e-mail was already contacted by another student. That was very frustrating for me, but that didn't stop me from learning.

1. My knowledge about international education and professionals has been enhanced.
2. Learning about other countries and how they handle education, poverty, and diversity has been life changing.
3.  No matter the country or state there are issues in education, community, and families dealing with how to or what to do regarding children, resources, and learning.

Post one goal for the field related to international awareness of issues and trends and the spirit of collegial relations

• My goal for international awareness is to keep track of what's going on in other countries and seeing how I can help.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3

The following information was taken from the following website: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/education_of_roma_children_among_the_subjects_of_world_conference_on_early_childhood_care_and_education/

Education of Roma children among the subjects of World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education

• With more than 10 million members, the Roma are the largest ethnic minority in Europe. Despite the efforts to expand and improve education for Roma children, as many as 50 per cent of those in Europe fail to complete primary education.

• Children are our most precious resource, and education is a basic right” said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova prior to the Moscow meeting. “The denial of this right leaves everybody much poorer. It creates exclusion. It creates unacceptable inequality. It nurtures social tensions. Let us seize the opportunity this conference offers to renew and expand our commitment to a healthy, happy start for all children – including and especially those who are currently being left behind. Everybody will reap the benefit.”
• According to the Regional report for Europe and North America, “among all the European populations, the Roma are at greatest risk of being poor, uneducated and unemployed.” It points to European and national opinion surveys that show many European citizens have negative views about this group that are often based on stereotypes and prejudice dating back several centuries.
• To meet the challenge of Roma exclusion and continuing deprivation,” the Report states, “governments need to employ upstream fiscal, social and labour policies to reduce family poverty and give young children a fair start in life.”

Reference
UNESCO.org (2012). Education of Roma children among the subjects of World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education. Retrieved fromhttp://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/education_of_roma_children_among_the_subjects_of_world_conference_on_early_childhood_care_and_education/

 

Harvard's Children's Global fund

From the Harvard website

3 new ideas or insights
1) To address the knowledge gap, the Zambian Ministry of Education, the Examination Council of Zambia, UNICEF, the University of Zambia, and the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University launched the Zambian Early Childhood Development Project (ZECDP) in 2009, a collaborative effort to measure the effects of an ongoing anti-malaria initiative on children’s development in Zambia (developing child, 2012).
2) In order to measure the full impact of the anti-malaria campaign on Zambia’s human capital development, the ZECDP created a new comprehensive instrument for assessing children’s physical, socio-emotional, and cognitive development before and throughout their schooling careers—the first assessment tool of its kind in Zambia (developing child, 2012).
3) The early stages of the project demonstrate that comprehensive child assessments are feasible within standard population-based household surveys (developing child, 2012).




Reference
http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/