Exploring International Research Sites

This week we have been asked to explore a variety of international website devoted to sharing the latest research on early childhood education in their region.  I chose to focus on the European Early Childhood Education Research Association (www.eecera.org).  What I found there was that the research and topics of concerns are similar to that of the United States and align well with my own interests within the field.
The two main topics I found the most information on are inclusion in early childhood education and research around the birth to three age group.  Both of these topics are of interest to me and are ones that I am involved with daily.  In my work in inclusion, I have learned that it is a growing trend and becoming more widely practiced in early learning environments.  We are seeing the value in creating opportunities for children to learn alongside peers that have varying abilities.  I have always been passionate about the youngest age group in our care.  My "career" started in an infant room when I was 16!  It is fascinating to me to see the research and development of theory and programs on an international level.
The EECERA website has journal articles that share the knowledge on each topic.  One such article describes the shift in thinking around the education and care of babies in settings outside the home resulting from the increase in women returning to the workplace (Rayna, S. & Laevers, F., 2011).  The authors seeks to explain the various factors that influence the approach to caring for young children including research on attachment and social and emotional development.  Another article reflects on the idea of embedded instruction for children with special needs in inclusive environments.  The authors found that the use of embedded instruction was beneficial for children with special needs to gain new skills and also generalise them across other areas of development (Rakap, S. & Parlak-Rakap, A., 2011).  Embedded instruction is the practice of identifying natural times and activiites to engage a learner in the instruction of a particular skill or concepts.
While exploring the EECERA website, I found that they accept submissions for journal entries.  This is something that I have considered throughout this master's degree experience.  I am interested in sharing some of the knowledge and research I have gathered with others and I never knew how to go about doing that.  With more experience in writing on a graduate level, I hope to gain the confidence to submit some of my work to a professional organization similar to EECERA.


References:

Rakap, S., & Parlak‐Rakap, A., (2011): Effectiveness of embedded

instruction in early childhood special education: a literature review, European Early Childhood

Education Research Journal, 19:1, 79-96

Rayna, S. & Laevers, F. (2011): Understanding children from 0 to 3 years

of age and its implications for education. What's new on the babies' side? Origins and evolutions,

European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 19:2, 161-172

www.eecera.org

Research Topic

I was recently exploring the ZERO TO THREE website for resources on infant and toddler development and the latest research that is being done to support the work done in that age group.  Social and emotional development is of great interest to me since, in my opinion, it is lays the foundation for successful, healthy children and adults.  Under the "Behavior and Development" tab there is a section on Early Childhood Mental Health.  On that page there is a video clip of an experiment done to show the effects of a responsive caregiver and a non-responsive caregiver.  The reaction of the child is fascinating and it truly shows how important our reactions to children are.  The research and work done in the area of mental health has direct implications on our field.  We all know that the demand for quality early childhood programs is increasing and with the information that is provided by this kind of research, we can begin to understand our role in training and sharing the knowledge with those in the field that are interacting daily with young children.

Here are more details about the video I referenced:

"The Still Face paradigm, designed by Edward Tronick, is an experimental procedure for studying infant social and emotional development. During the experiment, an infant and a parent interact playfully before the parent suddenly stops responding and looks away. After a short period, the parent reengages with the infant. The infant’s reaction to a suddenly unresponsive parent and his or her behavior when the parent resumes interaction, have been used to study many aspects of early social and emotional development."

"This video clip is excerpted from ZERO TO THREE's Helping Babies From the Bench: Using the Science of Early Childhood Development in Court."

References:

http://www.zerotothree.org/child-development/early-childhood-mental-health/

My Personal Research Journey

In this newest course "Building Research Competencies", we've been asked to choose a topic in early childhood that is of interest to us.  I have chosen to study attachment theory and its relationship to healthy social and emotional development in young children.  Recently, I have observed an increase in the number of families that are adopting children from foreign countries and I am interested in learning about the ways those children develop attachments to their new parents and how they adapt to the environment.  I am also very interested in how language development plays a part in that process, particularly if the child is an English language learner.

In evaluating resources and information on the internet, I realize that I need to carefully evaluate each piece for quality and validity.  The discussion this week encouraged us to look for sources that were both valid and non-valid and decide why they should be considered so.  This will help in my search for information on attachment theory and language development and my colleagues have shared many great sites to search.

Social and emotional development is often overlooked in early childhood.  With growing pressures for young children to perform academically, we must keep their emotional health in focus and understand that it is crucial for other areas of development.  I think it is interesting that there is so much in the news these days about bullying in elementary and secondary institutions.  The truth is it begins in early childhood, if you watch very carefully.  And as educators I believe that we MUST partner with parents to ensure that children are acquiring the abilities to empathize and recognize emotion in others and themselves.  In addition to the pressure to ensure academic success for children, teachers and administrators are now looking at having the primary responsibility of monitoring the emotional social treatment of others.  I realize this is a side sub-topic that could be a research simulation in and of itself, but I think there are some similarities.

Do any of you (my colleagues) have experience with working with families that have adopted children, either from the area or from abroad?  I would be interested to hear what services you know of that are available to them and how you think the process of language development affects healthy attachments.  I am looking forward to studying this subtopic and learning from you all about yours as well!

Katherine

Final thoughts on issues and trends in early childhood

In this last week of our course "Issues and Trends", we have been asked to reflect on the various issues we've studied and the various lenses we used to study them.  In addition, we have been asked to reflect on the international early childhood community and how learning about it has influenced us as professionals.  One of the consequences we face in learning about practices in the international arena is that we are forced to examine our own practices with a magnifying glass, looking for ways to improve, change, or match what our colleagues are doing worldwide.  Personally, I have been stretched to think more globally about the field and not just focus on my own individual work.  When I say "globally", I am referring not only to the international community, but also my own local community outside of my school.  Another consequence is that we see that there are thriving programs in the most rural communities and in affluent areas there are children living in poverty.  The same holds true for America and so we must look at the ramifications of economics on learning and the success of children and families.  Finally, a personal consequence for myself is that, as I study the various programs and organizations that are working to support children and families worldwide, the desire to travel is stirred.  One of my long-term goals is to work for an organization on a global level, allowing me to see the world and do the work I have chosen (or that has chosen me).  In my very first blog entry you will see that it is titled "My Part Yet to Be Played".  I do believe that I am in the right field and my desire to travel to various parts of the world to study and support children strengthens as I continue through this master's program.  I appreciate my colleagues and the insights they have lent to my discussions and presented on their own.
I will continue to attempt to contact professionals in the international community.  My goal is to create an exchange of information that will allow me to better understand the most pressing issues in various places and gather insight into how to improve practices in my own work and in my own community.
Thank you all and best of luck in future courses and your work!
Katherine 

Another informative online resource

I continue to be  amazed at the wealth of information that is available to us in the field of education.  This week, we have been studying the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) website.  Founded in 1945, after the second world war, its purpose was and is to create and maintain successful development of programs and policies that cultivate peace.

Specific to education, UNESCO has initiatives, internships, and programs around the world.  I was most interested in the work they are doing in Africa.  After my trip to South Africa, I tend to track progress in that area of the world more than others.  UNESCO's work focuses on integrating native African languages in to lifelong learning promotion.  I was also interested to read that UNESCO offers internships for graduate students, specifically on literacy.  "They are engaged in UIL activities in support of literacy initiatives, lifelong learning policies and information provision in the field of adult learning and education." (UNESCO, 2011).
Finally, I was interested to learn that the founders of this organization included well-known pioneers in educations like Maria Montessori and Jean Piaget.

As I review my professional goals this week, I am encouraged by all of the information and opportunities that are available to me in the field of early childhood education.  I am no longer required to remain tied to direct instruction and can begin to see the scope of influence that I could have unfold in front of me through this course of study, my part yet to be played.

www.unesco.org

Exploring the Zero To Three website

There are two additional links that I have found on the site.  They lead to the National Infant and Toddler Care Initiative and Early Head Start.  In addition, there are links to a funded project for military families and to their national training institute, listing the upcoming conference they are having in December.

After exploring the project that supports military families, I am excited about the work they are doing.  Here is a description of one of the projects:

ZERO TO THREE is committed to supporting young children and families within the military community. Coming Together Around Military Families® (CTAMF), an initiative at ZERO TO THREE supporting military families, strengthens the resilience of young children and families across all military service by increasing awareness and collaboration throughout the military community. In turn this knowledge allows parents and professionals to more effectively care for very young children and their families.
One newsletter I receive from the site is like an "ages and stages" informative newsletter for families.  In the most recent, "From Baby to Big Kid: Month 8", it has various links back to the website for information on what to expect from your 8 month old.  It gives specific examples of milestones and what to do to support the child.

Though this newsletter does not offer specific information on the current study we are doing on equity and excellence in early childhood, I was impacted by the link on the site to the projects they are doing to support military families.  I think this is often an overlooked community of people that are looking for ways to maintain consistency in their lives when one or both primary caregivers are away on duty.

www.zerotothree.org

 

Global Children's Initiative

This week, we explored the Global Children's Initiative's website, which is part of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University.  The goal of the initiative is to educate and inform policy makers about the science behind development, to support the science and research that drives the work we do in early childhood, and define a leadership role in global development of systems and policies for early childhood.  They are focusing on three arenas: child development, child mental health, and children in crisis and conflict.   Some of the activities the initiative has begun to engage in are improving preschool quality in Chile through effective interventions, measuring outcomes linked to malaria control in Zambia, and establishing child and family-based strategies to address mental health issues related to the HIV/AIDS crisis in Rwanda.

In addition, I reviewed a podcast from the World Forum Radio featuring George Forman.  He has worked intensively in the area of how children think and has authored several books on Piaget.  He states that it is important to think about the development of children's thought processes in terms of how things in their environment change and the ways they notice and adapt to those changes.  Instead of teaching children concepts in one state only, such as "What color or shape is this?", we should allow children to explore and investigate the changing state of concepts, such as how colors change.  In his experience with the Reggio Emilia model, he was impressed by the idea that even fantasy play could help children reflect on their thinking and that symbolization allows their thinking to become visible.  I so appreciate this way of thinking when it comes to early learning.  In our recent studies about the state of our programs in the U.S. and how we are moving toward a universal, standards-based approach, I fear that we will lose sight of the importance of play and exploration in our field.  Children learn through playing and no matter how strict the standards or how much time we devote to direct instruction, nothing will replace the role of play and the valuable lesson it alone can teach.

References

http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/

http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/current-work/world-forum-radio