When I Think of Research...

I am just two months away from being done my first year of grad school, it is crazy to think about that!  Here's how I have changed my perception of research throughout this last course:

• What insights have you gained about research from taking this course?
• I learned a great deal about the research process in regards to early childhood education.  It is by no means an easy task and you must be so very careful to take in all ethical considerations, be aware of who you are researching and who is participating, and most importantly keep in focus why you are researching your topic.  
• In what ways have your ideas about the nature of doing research changed?
• I have always known research to be important, I knew that it was time consuming, but I didn't realize how rewarding and energizing research could be.  
• What lessons about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood did you learn?
• There is a lot to take into consideration!  You can not just rush through the process or do it halfheartedly.  It takes hard work and patience to effectively plan, design, and conduct a research project.  
• What were some of the challenges you encountered—and in what ways did you meet them?
• The repetitive nature of the research design process was sometimes a barrier for me, but I always found something new to learn and that helped me jump that hurdle.  
• What are some of the ways your perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course?
• My perceptions of an early childhood professional have not been modified necessarily, but my perceptions of researchers within the field of early childhood have been altered.  I give researchers a great deal of respect and credit for the work they do, it benefits all ECE professionals and the families and children we serve.  

Research Around the World

I explored the website for the European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA) located at http://www.eecera.org/.  On this website I discovered that current international research topics range from the importance of play in early childhood development and learning, supporting early childhood education and care, leadership and diversity in the field, transitioning children from home to school, and social support and dispositions of early childhood education and care.  
This association has one large international conference per year, hosted by a different country.  The conferences works to bring together local, federal, public, and private early childhood sectors to learn and discuss current initiatives.  Within the association there are Special Interest Groups (SIG) ranging from gender balance in the field, learning and participation, professionalism, and birth to three.  I really enjoyed that each journal issue focused on one central theme, for example, the most current issue focuses on play and the current research initiatives of participating European, Asian, and African countries. 

Research that Benefits Children and Families

I found a really interesting research study called the "Spongebob Study".  This study evaluated preschoolers' attention spans after watching "Spongebob Square Pants" for several minutes.  The study did showed that after watching even just a portion of the show the children had "that the immediate effects of viewing very fast-paced programming could potentially affect how children learn, a conclusion consistent with other research showing a long-term effect of television viewing during early childhood and later attention problems and academic outcomes" (Kyle Snow, Ph.D., n.d.).  The study consisted of 60 children, all Caucasian from middle class families.  The kids were randomly assigned to three different groups, one group watched "Spongebob", another "Caillou", or draw with crayons and markers (Kyle Snow, Ph.D., n.d.).

I really liked this study because  of the reflection parents and educational professionals engage in.  Children's cartoons and t.v. shows today always make me feel uneasy in the sense that it just goes too fast, nothing is developed (in regards to a child's idea of "plot"), and most of the shows are plain ridiculous.  It also reminds us adults to monitor what children watch and take the time to watch the shows with them and to talk about the content afterwards.  

Resource

Snow, Ph. D, Kyle.  (n.d.).  Research news you can use: Dissecting the "Spongebob Study".  

           Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/content/research-review-dissecting-%E2%80

           %9Cspongebob-study%E2%80%9D.  

My Personal Research Journey

I have chosen to look at recruiting, training, and retaining high quality teachers in early childhood facilities.  This topic relates closely with my personal and professional life.  Personally, I have struggled with my love of working in the early childhood field solely because of the pay.  I know I can get a higher paying job, but do not want to leave the environment or people I work with.  Professionally, I struggle every day to recruit and retain high quality teachers for my center. 
So far, in this research process, I have learned a great deal.  I am now more attuned at looking closely at the sources I chose for my research and am more aware of the actual research process.  While, I have a lot of background doing research papers and the actual task of "researching" I never really embraced the process.  The chart I completed for this week's assignment helped me narrow down my focus and will be extremely helpful through the rest of this simulation.  I look forward to sharing new insights and suggestions with my colleagues. 

Sharing Web Resources

This week I explored the Take Action portion of the Child Care Aware of America website.  I was nativagated to the Legislative Action Center.  I could view child care standards for all 50 states and there were several links pertaining to every issue we have covered thus far in our programs and this course.  I could also put in my zip code and find the officials in my area, contacts for the media, and election information.  Right now Child Are Aware of America is urging everyone to contact their officials to urge them to cosponsor the Child Care and Development Block Grant of 2013.  

The website has a whole section dedicated to equity and accessibility of child care for children.  The website has a ton of valuable information including stories behind the issues, the reasons why these issues are relevant and what the next step is to reduce or eliminate it.  

I am really excited that they provided direct emails for their Public Policy and Advocacy staff.  I will be contacting their staff to gain more insight on their job and how I can become more involved in my area.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 2

I have not heard from my contact in London this week and when I did hear back from UNICEF in the Netherlands, I was not happy with their response, so I have reached out to other contacts and hopefully will hear something soon!

For this week, I reviewed Harvard's website, Global Children's Initiative.

Three new insights I gained this week:
- The economic boom and societal gaps currently happening in Brazil.  It is refreshing to know that Brazilian politicians, doctors, educators, etc are coming together and working with international contacts to better their early childhood policies and practices.
-New assessment tools in Zambia, that tract child development in malaria zones while preschool aged children are attending school. 
-Having the knowledge of early childhood development in other countries in conjunction with crisis or emergency situations those children are experiencing, gives me more respect for the early childhood policies and practices in our country. 

Getting to Know International Contacts

I finally was able to make contact with a Nursery Manager in London.  Her name is Lindsey Barrett and has been a manager for Busy Bees child care center for 18 years and has been with Busy Bees since the center opened 20 years ago.  Their center is open for children aged 12 weeks to 5 years old, with 76 children enrolled.  I did not have the chance to directly discuss poverty in her community (I will have a response early next week) but I did do research on poverty levels in London in preparation for our conversation.  Over the last two decades London has seen a rise in poverty levels, particulary in working adults, boroughs are becoming overcrowded and children in Southwark, Enfield, Lambeth and Harrow are more likely to pass away before their first birthday than children born elsewhere in London (http://www.londonspovertyprofile.org.uk/key-facts/).  I learned that Busy Bee child care centers have taken the initiative to "adopt" a charity each year and they spend the year fundraising for the charity.  I think this is a great!  I will update this post once I hear back from Lindsey, she said it has been a really busy week at her center!