When I Think of Research

Research can be used for many good things, and seen from many different view points.  There are standards that are in place to make sure that the participants are protected and that privacy is to be taken seriously.  There are all kinds of way to carry out studies and do research programs, but the goal is to help paint a clear picture and help someone out on the other end.  I learned that all studies should be able to pass a test of feasibility, reflexivity, and validity(Mac Naughton,Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford,2010). The test can be carried out from different forms of triangulation.

I have learned that I must know myself and my subject I order to give a true picture of the study and how I have come to the conclusion that I have reached, I also know that from step one you must make sure that you keep true to the participants and the method(s) in which you have chosen to go with. Follow the path that you set out to do and don't get caught in extraneous variables.

A challenge for me was getting my research question stated correctly.  It takes some fine tuning to get that stated correctly.  We as early childhood educators can sever our children in many different ways and to do the research to help them out is just another avenue to do so.

Good Luck with your future studies!  It has been a pleasure to read your post and hope that we met again.  Thank you for the feed back during this class.

Research Around the World

The Early Childhood Australia website was interesting to look at.  I wanted to read an article about Tony Abbott who is the Leader of the Opposition in the Australian House of Representatives, the article was Tony Abbott misses the point on early childhood education and care reform.  I wanted to know what his stand was on early childhood education and care reform.  Another topic that was covered was challenges of implementing primary arts education and what the teachers had to say.  The topic that I thought would be of interest was Early childhood teachers misconception about mathematics education for young children in the United States.  I thought that it would be interesting to see how I can see this from a different point of view.  Looking at it as a student and then as an American looking at what Australians think about American students and teachers. The article talks about 9 misconceptions about teaching children math here in the United States.  I was surprised by some of the ideals that they listed.  There were many questions that came to mind from taking this course, who were the participates and how did they gather their data.  To briefly tell you about the misconception I will just run down the list.  1. young children are not ready for math education, 2. math is for some bright kids, 3. simple numbers and shapes are enough, 4. language and literacy are more important than math, 5. teachers should provide an enriched physical environment, step back and let the children play, 6. math should not be taught as a stand-alone subject matter, 7. assessment in math is irrelevant, 8. children learn math only by interacting with concrete objects, and the last 9. computers are inappropriate for teaching and learning of math. As I was reading I could see where these ideals came from, it was stated that they did research in different way, interviews, and workshops, it did not say where the teachers where from.  I admit I am one of those people that does not like math and there seems to be a larger number of teachers that math is not their favorite subject either. One thing that I read that really caught my eye was " Teacher's were cautioned that purposefully teaching mathematics was unnecessary, inappropriate, or even harmful to young children(e.g. Elkind, 1981, 1998)".  Is that a true statement?

Politics is the same everywhere. I had to go to Google and read about Tony Abbott I did not find the article about what his views are on early childhood education,  I just found out that his wife had to defend him about his view on women and their issues.  Sound familiar?  The issues seem to be the same the world over.      

Research that Benefits Children and Families

When I was expecting my first child I received  the book" What to expect when you are expecting".  I didn't think that I would read it, but finally picked the book up to read it.  What was helpful for my family was to find out there are many different ways that women experience pregnancy.  We had a great time comparing what I was going through and what other women had gone through.  I had friends that were expecting at the same time and we would search for the stories that were like ours.  I think it helped us to have healthy children and a healthy attitude about the whole experience.  Pooling many experiences of different people can be a good thing,  sharing what to expect and how to handle different things as they come along is very helpful.  We all probably spent a little less time on the phone and in the doctor's office knowing what we were going through was not an unusual   

Personal Research Journey

My topic of simulation is developing social skills of young children.  When I look at children I see that they are many things, especially when you see them with their families.  you see that they got this trait from this person or another.  You may ask do you know who that is like?  When I look over my family ( this time meaning sisters and brothers, aunts, uncles, etc.) I wonder where certain personality traits come from.  My sister sometimes laughs like my Grandmother who she probably has little memories of( she also has feet like her). we often say you are like this person or another and this course has made me see that who we present to the world is a true summation of all that we come into contact with in some form or another. Then we go to school and we are subject to the view and the power of a teacher.  A teacher can make a great powerful positive influence on a child's life or a great negative influence on a child's life.  But does that teacher see that the child is a combination of many things and many influences including their own?

I guess I have to put on my big girl panties and face the issues of picking a topic this week to reflect on as a simulation.  I have and am still afraid that I am going to get off track in doing research for this project.  The choice of topic has overshadowed the issue of what method I will have to use. I guess that is for another day. 

Have  any of you run across any studies that may talk about how the order of a child's birth influence how they develop?  

Issues and Trends Closure

It has been a touching and eye opening experience for me to read about the children of the world and the very had times that children have to live through.  I have been aware of the struggles of children across the global just not getting that up close view of how bad it really can be.  As a result I will pay closer attention to what is going on in the international world of helping children.  I will do what I can to help out the children of the world.  I will help the children that I come into contact with understand the challenges of living in totally different kind of poverty.  And just as a start I will be more aware of issues that I can help international children get excellence care and education.

The issues that we fight for here in the US are also issues that we can fight for on the global front.  All children should receive an excellence education and care, and the chance to live a real childhood. I hope that we can help the children of the world out without moving in and changing the culture that they live in.

I t has been a joy and very interesting reading these 8 weeks!  I hope that we all can continue on and use the new knowledge that we have attained.  Thank you for sharing!

Carmellia  

Getting to Know Your International Contacts -Part 3

I read a very interesting article written by Jessica Bell called Enhancing learning of children from diverse language backgrounds: Mother tongue-based bilingual or multilingual education in the early years.   Long title and a little bit of a long article, but worth the read. 

Children that have the opportunity to learn in an environment that the mother-tongue is used are more likely to enroll and succeed in school, and parents are more likely to communicate with teachers. There is a need for the children to stay connected with their communities and the family pass the usual household use of the language, formal education and exposure to positive attitudes should be used to encourage the use of mother-tongue language.

I find it very interesting that the definition of mother tongue instruction is not the same as mother tongue-based instruction.  Mother tongue instruction includes 1-2 hours of formal instruction.  Mother tongue-based instruction goes across the curriculum and throughout the school day.   The little that I know of different cultures from friendships and reading, I know that women across the country can have it hard, it is the same when it comes to language.  I had not seen it as clearly as I do now,, women are more likely to be exposed to scholarly information, be a part of a salaried labor force, and are usually migrated to the national language. 

A few interesting facts that I ran across are that children with learning disabilities (or low general intelligence) have the capacity to learn more than one language.  I think that all children can learn and at different paces and different ways, but I found it interesting that the author would use low general intelligence.  Children can learn 3 or more languages starting at an early age, and their cognitive and metalinguistic awareness shows up earlier.    The support to keep the languages up stills needs to be ongoing.  The article also states that languages don’t compete for mental space. 

I want to help children that I come into contact with to reach their optimal development- and like the UNESCO’s it means to help children to be effective in their own current context and be ready for changes that are coming, and to learn different cultures and skills that will allow that to happen.    

Sharing Web Resources

I have really enjoyed reading the National Black Child Development Site.  This week I read some of the Head Start’s Eleventh National Research Conference objectives, I read a little bit about the Pre-K program, but what I really took the time to look into this week was the Parent Empowerment Project (PEP).  PEP wants to educate and motivate and inspire parent to reach for excellence.  One of the things that we are now learning more about, so it was interesting to read about PEP even more. The program is to help lower-income African Americans it has been useful for others also.  PEP really involves its parents in many facets of the program it was designed by them and they are part of choosing what is to be studied, they do role-playing, and brainstorming among other things.  Parents are assisted by a facilitator so that they are being guided in manners of child development, parenting skills, and things that help to stimulate the growth and development of their children. As we have learned it is important to keep the children at appropriate developmental levels and the facilitator helps with that also.  Parents are informed of community resources, how to gain access to them, and teach parent to develop confidence and have a positive self- esteem.     

PEP uses educational publications and training conferences, direct services, public education programs, and training in leadership and research, to get their information out.  The curriculum uses affirmations as a base.  The affirmations are mostly African proverbs that are used to stimulate discussions and to inspire and be thought provoking.  Another part of the curriculum is Weaving the Story talks about history and culture, and then they have My Vision for the Future the focus of that is to teach self-sufficiency and how to balance home and work.

The website is changing and growing I am happy to see it!