Hello new colleagues!

Hello to my new Walden colleagues!  I am looking forward to learning from you and learning more about diversity and equity in the early childhood field!  I hope I can contribute to your learning as well! :)  Here is a picture of my amazing family in my beautiful southern Utah home - St. George.  I have four children: Josh (20), Jase (18), Brett (15) and Jaymie (11).  They are my greatest joy!

When I Think of Research...

I appreciate all the wonderful insights I have learned from my colleagues throughout this course.  Before beginning this course, I was anxious and timid in reading and conducting research.  I viewed research as a scientific experiment filled with statistical information that I had no desire in reading or writing.  However, the coursework and insights from the past eight weeks has shown me that research is very much a process that can be tailored to meet the needs of the study, participants, and researcher(s).   Research doesn't have to be only quantitative with statistical analysis and scientific experiments.  It also can be qualitative with observations, anecdotal note-taking and interviews, or a mixed-method approach that incorporates many different aspects of research.  The study can change and evolve as the participants and researcher engage with and learn from the data within the study.  

I learned a great deal in how to look for and write research that is valid, ethical and equitable.  The most important insight I gained regarding validity was that multiple methods and perspectives (especially those of the participants) are key in making sure the research reflects a sound representation of what the data is showing.

I really gained valuable insight from the Practical Guide to Reading Research Articles by J.K. Lepuschitz.  This document addresses what parts of a research study to read in-depth, and which parts to skip.  I have already used this technique over and over and it is proving very valuable in saving me much needed time in my coursework, while still giving me the insights that I need to learn from our readings.

I felt more comfortable with the design process and we developed it step-by-step.  I feel that building a research study would be more manageable to me, yet I still feel intimidated by the qualitative study.  I still get nervous about the more structured experimental study and feel I would be a better qualitative researcher.

My perceptions of early childhood professionals have not been modified as a whole, though I feel great gratitude and admiration for those professionals who conduct these research studies because it does offer great insight and added knowledge to the field of early childhood.  Although I do not feel I have enough expertise or confidence to attack a research study on my own just yet, I do see how conducting research plays a key role in helping our field progress.  

Thank you to my online colleagues for your support and insights throughout this course.  You have added to my knowledge and learning and I look forward to continuing to collaborate with you in future courses!  Best wishes with your continued studies!

Research Around the World

This week we have been asked to read and discuss international early childhood research.  I chose to explore the Early Childhood Australia website at:

http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au

The position statements posted on this website were very insightful to me.  Like the United States’ early childhood organization, NAEYC, ECA provides position statements that affirm their stance on issues that affect early childhood education.   The three statements provided on the website discussed ECA’s vision and framework for the education and inclusion of children with disabilities, children of refugee asylum seekers, and children of aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritages.  While the U.S. NAEYC provides position statements that are similar in regards to children with disabilities, the other two position statements are unique to Australia.

This website has great access to research information, as subscribers can view scholarly journals, recent news updates, conference reports, and research topic abstracts using their “Research in Practice Series” links.  While I was not able to view some of the research because I am not a subscriber to this website, I did find the links to the news articles, other websites, and online journal topics very informing.  It seems that many of the current early childhood issues that we face in the United States are similar to those in Australia.  For example, they have news reports on the low wages of early childhood teachers, reforms to make early childhood programs more affordable and better quality, and advocation to increase the investment of government funding for early childhood programs.

Reading through some of the journal articles, this website seems to be a great source of research information for one to gather information on various topics.  Most of the topics coincide to those that early childhood professionals face in the United States, so I will add this website to my resource list for future reference.

Research That Benefits Children - An Uplifting Story

One positive example of the effects of research on children is the progress being made in children’s Leukemia cancer treatments.  According to the Children’s Cancer Research Fund, cutting edge research, such as the use of umbilical cord blood transplants, has decreased the rate of leukemia relapses from 34 to 19 percent. The greatest strides in leukemia research are tailoring treatments to individual children. In the early 80s, researchers found that not all leukemia is the same; therefore researchers look at genetics and environmental factors to find where the leukemia originated, and what types of treatment it will respond to.  I have a work colleague whose nine-year-old son is currently being treated for ALL Leukemia.  He is responding very well to the chemotherapy treatments, but will be required to do these on-going treatments for three years.  The doctor’s told my colleague that the survivability rate for this type of cancer is now over 90% due to research completed in effective treatments.  This colleague’s son wanted to help other kids like him, so he consented to donate his blood and salvia samples to research in ALL Leukemia.  It is because brave children participated in this research before him that my colleague’s son is getting the effective treatments and has a positive prognosis to survive this disease.  Part of the powerless feeling he has at having cancer is made better by the empowerment he feels in providing research samples that can possibly save another child’s life.  He has also been such a motivational example to the community by increasing awareness of this disease.  He and his family have organized blood drives, donor match drives, and 5K races to promote cancer research and aid in the fight to find a cure.  This kids is exceptional and such a fighter!

Children’s Cancer Research Fund website: http://www.childrenscancer.org

My Personal Research Journey

I am the director of a child development center serving young children ages 6 weeks to 6 years old.  I have been saddened to see many early childhood care and education facilities lessen the value of social-emotional learning to accommodate greater amounts of academic-based curriculum.  Earlier in my Walden coursework, I was contemplating how to advocate the importance of social-emotional learning to our parents, and promote an overall culture of prosocial behavior throughout my center.  I came across an article that deeply resonated with me because I realized that prosocial development wasn’t something that only belonged as part of the preschool curriculum, but should be implemented as early as infancy.  Quann & Wien (2006), along with other contemporary researchers, now prove that infants and toddlers seem fine-tuned to one another’s feelings and able to put themselves in the position of others long before researchers in moral reasoning expect to observe empathy and prosocial behaviors.  Therefore, I want to research specific ways early childhood professionals can help infants and toddlers develop prosocial skills (kindness, sharing, cooperation, empathy) to build a strong foundation for continued healthy social-emotional learning. 

I have gained several insights thus far in this course:

1. How to read research papers following the “Practical Guide to Reading Research Articles”.  This empowered me and helped me to feel less overwhelmed at the thought of reading and trying to make sense of all the statistical information that is usually found in these studies! 

2. The “Understanding Research Chart” helped me to make better sense of the text definitions because I had to put in my own words what they meant.  I chose the literary review as my topic to summarize, because I needed more guidance in understanding how to write our application literature review.  The key take-aways I got from synthesizing this information was to not get overwhelmed by the massive amounts of research and information that is available on my research topic.  Applying what I learned about literature reviews, I have started specifying my reading to identify the key issues, themes and arguments made in each of these papers.  One great suggestion that I have implemented early on in my coursework has helped me tremendously while reading various resources.  It is to use different colored highlighters to mark each area of study.  For example, I want to know specific curriculum strategies teachers are using to promote prosocial behavior, so anything to do with this I will highlight yellow.  I also want to find out how each author defines prosocial behavior, so this might be pink.  Any challenges or conflicting viewpoints might be green, etc.… This has helped me keep organized in doing past research, so hopefully it is a suggestion that can help my fellow classmates!

        3. I have appreciated the links that everyone posted in the Discussion this week.  I actually used several of the sites suggested as quality sites to find sources for my research so…thank you!  I am open to any additional advice/sources you have to offer that might help me in my research, and hopefully I can be a good resource for you too!  Happy researching!

Quann, V., & Wien, C. A. (2006). The visible empathy of infants and toddlers. YC Young             Children, 61(4), 22-26,28-29.

EDUC 6163: Building Research Competencies

After taking the summer off to enjoy my kids and attend to family responsibilities, I am excited to return to my Master's program and learn from all my colleagues at Walden University!  I hope to become a better researcher of children, and be able to apply this research to my career in the Early Childhood field!  Best wishes to you all!

My Learning Regarding the International Child Development Field

As I reflect on what I have learned about the international child development field from my international contacts, organizations, and colleagues, I can't help but feel blessed to have the freedoms and basic supports that we have here in America, which many other countries are lacking.  Yes we see poverty, inequities in education, child abuse, neglectful parenting, and other atrocities that should never be a part of a child's life.  However, we are making tremendous strides in overcoming these issues and have an increasing amount of support that is becoming available to us (politically/financially) with the added knowledge and attention to professionalize the field of early childhood education.  Other countries, such as Romania, are struggling to provide basic human rights and dignities for their children.

Although strides are being made, we will continue to have consequences to all issues and trends in the early childhood field.  No one person can influence change in all areas of the many diverse needs in the early childhood field.  Yet our voices can be powerful and even the smallest of contributions matter.  Simply advocating for the right of children's play in our program matters.  Giving added love and attention to children matters.  Reaching out to and keeping parents involved in an early childhood program matters.  Using self-reflection and seeking opportunities to learn from others matters.  We can make a change, starting with our own scope of practice, and then expanding that scope to include others in our communities, state, country and globally.

We must recognize that the state of early childhood really is a global issue.  There are many organizations out there that provide amazing access to research and advocacy opportunities if we desire to seek them.  There are so many ways to become informed and involved in this field of study.  The more I have learned about early childhood issues in Romania and other countries, the more I want to increase my own skills and knowledge so I can become an effective advocate on behalf of the children. I have been inspired by their stories and by the amazing show of humanity in the early childhood advocates around the world.  We all have the potential to positively change the lives of these children forever.  What an amazing gift and opportunity!