When I think of research...

When I think of research…

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

I have come to realize that research is hard and timely.  It takes a lot of patience, planning, and dedication in order to provide quality and useful research information.

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

I honestly had never really thought much about how research was done in this manner before.  I remember studying about certain types of research and wondering why they only focused on children in certain areas or why it was only men doing the research?  From this course I have learned that you have to search with an open mind and you have to look at more than just one group of anything in order for your information to be accurate.

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

The lessons that I learned from these topics are that you have to fair, mindful of the information that you are about to receive, and you have to be willing to run the long race in order to complete the study.  I think that planning and preparing is crucial to receiving accurate information.  You have to know what you are looking for and how to obtain that information.  You also have to be willing to prepare the information in a non-biased manner.

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

Some of the challenges that I encountered in this class were trying to fully understanding the information and how to apply it.  I was not always sure of what the terminology meant and which plans would work best for my study.  I also felt myself questioning my study and if it was going to be something that was needed by the parents and teachers.  My study was on the types of concerns parents had regarding the schools and education that their children were receiving and how those concerns would benefit the education of their children. I had to rewrite and reprocess this information a couple of times until I got it right.  In order to meet my challenges I had to be willing to take constructive criticism from my teachers and listen to the questions that my peers asked and apply it to the work I was doing.  This helped me better prepare for my challenges.

• 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 think that my perception of early childhood professionals has changed.  If anything I am more respectful and appreciative of the time and effort that they have to give in order to manage a quality program with quality curriculums.  It is a thankless job at times and it is important to keep encouraging teachers and administrators to the best of our abilities.

I would like to thank all of my peers for your encouragements and dedication.  This was a tough course for me and I leaned on some of you to make it through.  I hope that your road to success will be a success as we continue to go on this journey together to reach our goals.  Thank you.

Research around the world

The article that I read was called Building Community Leadership for Quality Sustainability in Madrasa Preschools: The Case of Madrasa Preschools Post Graduation Support. This article was very interesting because it allowed me to see that people all over the world have some of the same issues of education that we have here.  These children in Africa are often forgotten about and often don’t receive the same day to day necessities that our children get here without a second thought and one of those is a good education. 

The Madrasa Preschools Post Graduation Support Program (MPP) that tries to assist community owned preschools.  They want to make sure that the preschools in those areas don’t vanish and that they continue to serve the children there with quality teachers and support systems for the families.  This program tries to offer teacher training and develop relationships with the families so that they can assist their children in developing positive learning skills.

At first training of the teachers didn’t have follow up support so the outcome was not as successful as the Community Resource Team (CRT) would have liked.  They have since put into place continuous support teams that reach out to the teachers and the families.  They partner with the parents to make sure that they understand what is going on in the program and how to be better resources for them.  They teach the families about health (AIDS) and nutrition awareness.  The teachers are trained in the development of the children, how the children learn, active learning, and communication skills.

Like I stated earlier it was interesting to find that there was a program set in place in Africa.  I wasn’t aware that there was much being done about the children and their education there.  I am very pleased.  I found that this website had many other areas that you can look into all over the globe that would provide insights on what other educators and community workers are facing in this field.  It is important to understand that the fight on education is not ours alone and that we can band together to make sure that all children receive quality educations and support systems.  If we can fix our roads we should be able to educate our children.

References:

Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): Retrieved: March 28, 2012.  http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/index.php 

Research that benefits children and families

One example of research that affected my family was when my daughter suffered severe stomach pain.  Doctors couldn’t figure out why she was in so much pain.  They did several tests and found that she was holding her bowels.  They asked me if she had suffered any trauma in her life recently.  I told them that her grandmother had just passed away several weeks ago.  Apparently, this was something that she felt that she could control since she couldn’t control the lost that had affected her so deeply.

They did a study test on her to see how she dealt with sadness and tragedy.  At the end of the test it was found that she was otherwise happy but didn’t want to leave her dad and me to go potty.  After the study was done we found different ways to let her know that we would still be there when she came out of the potty.

This study was needed and affective because children deal with tragedy in different ways.  They are just like adults and they try to find ways to take control of their lives when they feel that they have lost control.  This was a very non-evasive study in the sense that it didn’t require overnight visits to the doctors or long observations.  There was a lot of talking and drawing.  My daughter actually thought it was fun.

Personal Research Journey

I decided to research how to be a better resource to the families that I work with and to my community.  I have found that parents are stumped when it comes to certain areas of their children's lives.  They often find it difficult to locate other parents or teachers that can share their compassion for situations that they are going through.  What they don't realize is that their child didn't break the mold and there are plenty of other parents sharing the same issues. 

Through the Walden University website I was able to type in "Parent Resources" and I found lots of different topics that were helpful not only to parents but to me as a teacher as well.  Some of the article that I read are:

A Wealth of Reading Resources.  Retrieved: March 8, 2012.  Full Text Available By: Steward, Frances; Goff, Diana. Illinois Reading Council Journal, Spring2006, Vol. 34 Issue 2, p61-64, 4p.

Parental information and resource centers.  Retrieved: March 8, 2012.  Report by: U.S. Department of Education. ED.gov, 2005. p359. Word Count: 498.Also Known as PIRCs CFDA # (or ED #) 84.310A Administering Office Office of Innovation and Improvement.

Radey, M., & Randolph, K. A. (2009). Parenting Sources: How Do Parents Differ in Their Efforts to Learn About Parenting?  Retrieved: March 8, 2012.   Family Relations, 58(5), 536-548. doi:10.1111/j.1741-

I think these would be helpful to anyone that has these same situations.  Please let me know if you have any further information that would help me in my research journey.

Issues and Trends final blog assignment

Three consequences of learning about the international early childhood field are:

-We all want the best education for our children and we have to fight and make it happen.

-Most of us have to battle living conditions, politics, finances and other issues in live to provide quality care.  We have to come together and make sure that no child is left without the education, health care, and home life that they deserve.

-The communities have to make a difference with the children in order to provide equal and quality care.  We have to put aside our differences and come together to makes sure that our children are safe, educated, and well taken care of.  We cannot have a blind eye.

One goal that I think we should share with our international friends is to continue to share information and to create a bond that will allow us to continue to fight for equality in schools, proper living conditions for us all, and government awareness of the importance of education.

This course has been great for me because it opened up my eyes to issues that I knew were out there but I didn’t have to deal directly with at this time.  The children that I currently teach are not poor and they come from family friendly backgrounds.  I do try to get them to understand that there are other children and people that are less fortunate but it becomes hard for them if they don’t see those kids and their life styles.  I take them to the senior citizens homes, we donate food for people at Thanksgiving, give to homeless people, work for money so that we can buy toys for tots, write letters to soldiers that are in battle, and we give toys and clothes to children that are in need throughout the year but again they don’t get to see those children. 

This class has also gotten me to realize the importance of making sure that every child receives quality and equal education regardless of where they live.  My children are in private school because the schools in my area aren’t up to standard.  My living area is beautiful but they don’t invest in their schools.  It is hurting us financially to have them in private schools and I would much rather have them in schools within our community.  I will continue to fight for this and the other causes that we have discussed in this class.  It has been a great experience.

International Contacts part 3

I was not able to get in contact with the teacher that I had emailed before so I decided to do the alternative assignment.  I looked into the UNESCO site and clicked on the story about children that live in Viet Nam.  The title of the article is called  The role of education in a world of 7 billion people.  While reading the information the 3 insights that I found were:
-By helping to educate the women in this country they would strive to make sure that their children were educated as well.
-By educating women about contraceptives this helped cut down on unwanted pregnancies and helped women take better care of themselves physically.
-Populations ,in this area, will affect how many children can get a quality education. 

All of these issues were similar yet different to what is going on here in the US.  We continuously strive to make sure that young mothers are educated so that they can provide for their children and teach their children to desire an education as well.  We also have the on going battle of birth control and how we should educate people about using it.  Some of us believe the earlier we start educating about birth control the better the chances are that young girls won't have unwanted pregnancies and protection of their bodies.  While others of us feel that educating girls too quickly will give them the desire to have sex instead of waiting until they get married.  Our issue here is not the population that stands in the way of quality education but zoning laws and finances.  We have to work with the schools that are in our living areas and we have to deal with the abundance or lack of finances that make these schools work.

Again I feel that it is amazing how no matter where you look people are having the same discussions about quality education.  We are all in a fight to make sure that our children receive the best that they can and as teachers we want to offer the best.  With the recent drop in the economy people of all backgrounds have decided to teach in order to maintain a job.  This situation makes it hard for those of us that really have the backgrounds to teach to find good jobs.  Young adults that were graduating college were finding it hard to find teaching jobs.  This is something that I hope will change once our country levels out with it's financial situation.  Hopefully everyone will be able to find work within their given talents and young teachers can start reaching for their dreams.

References:
UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education”.  Retrieved: Feb. 16, 2012.  (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/).

Sharing resources week 6

NC Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development

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 This is a great link because it has information about all aspects of teaching and where teachers can receive training, help with college tuition, community support, etc.  The link that I liked is the community support.  Through this link you are connected with others so that you can discuss and experience issues that children and their families have around your area.  There are workshops, classes, and additional sites to explore if help is needed.

I felt like this site was great in developing equity because it allowed teachers to understand what children and their families might be going through in different communities.  I think that we can get comfortable within our teaching environment and we don’t realize what else is going on outside.  I know that has happened to me and it is important for me to be able to reach out to those that are in need and help if needed and have the resources to do that.

Other information that this site has is information about licensure and certification.  This is a must for any educator so that we will know the rules of the game.  At any time we have to know what changes are being made so that we can make the appropriate adjustments.  This will allow us to build classes that are efficient and that provide quality care. 

Some other links are:

NC Early Childhood EE Resources

www.ee.enr.state.nc.us/edresources/earlychildhood.htmlCached - Similar

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All of North Carolina's EE Resources in

One Place

! ... Books Click on one of the categories below for books that are recommended for early childhood educators.

North Carolina Needs and Resources Assessment - FPG Child ...

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This web site includes the components of the 2003 NC Early Childhood Needs and Resources Assessment that have been completed to date. The Statewide ...