Research

"Play is the highest form of research." Albert Einstein 

After this course, play is the furthest thing from my mind when I think of research, although Einstein's saying is very true. First I must thank my colleagues for your thoughtful perspective and great questions, Tammy your patients and extension of thought has been very valuable, I'll be honest, not easy! 

• This class has helped me be efficient when looking through research with tips to find just what I'm looking for. It has given me a great appreciation for research and all that goes into it. I have tools that help me discern what type of research (qualitative, quantitative or both), the validity and how ethical it is and the importance of that.

• I never thought I would be interested in conducting research, the more I learned the more my curiosity was peaked and I wish all of us were able to conduct our studies and share the result. I would really love to do a very small scale version of my research simulation because curiosity killed the cat, but the cat died happy. I have the utmost respect for researchers and I feel I have the tools to discriminate ethical and valid studies. 

• The lessons were many in planning, designing and conducting research with young children. First I felt I had narrowed down my design, as I was writing the outline I came up with so many extraneous variables. This caused me to go back and alter and change many of the pieces, such as the participants, the questionnaires, the interview method, and how many programs would participate, giving new meaning to flexibility. It comes down to relationships, whether it is with the participants or designing questionnaires or interview questions to research relationship.

• The biggest challenged was narrowing down the topic, we were all warned to keep it simple. Because I didn't heed the warning as I was picking what methods I would use it was overwhelming and would not be feasible. I choose some simpler quantitative methods to collect data and analyse then the meat of the research is the informal interview. This is where I felt the real relationship to cultivate learning would be reviled.  

• In the research process I feel a gentleness towards early childhood workers. Its funny, I haven't even conducted the research but by thinking of every angle I could and the challenges each situation brings, I can no longer blame anyone for not doing or knowing what is the best for children. The erge to cultivate a relationship with anyone in the early childhood field has become my new focus.  

Thank you again to everyone for this insite and learning. 

Research Around the World

                     Early Childhood Australia http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

                                      The ECA is equivalent to the U.S. NAEYC

One issue I was very interested was the National Quality Reform that took place about a year a go with the Australian federal government, where they are willing to invest in early childhood. “The benefits to children of good quality education and care in their early years cannot be overstated: they are immediate and lifelong.” This has spurred a $300 Million dollar investment in services and wages, very inspirational.

Some new insights I learned from this website is the focus on Intentional teachers, in comparison to explicit teaching, which is necessary for example in teaching kids how to use scissors. There are three parts that go in-depth on how teachers can use intentional teaching by following the lead of children, or initially teacher directed.  This is a great example how all forms of teaching follow the early childhood pedagogical philosophy. Below is the link to the video of the 3 part series.

http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/nqsplp/e-learning-videos/talking-about-practice/intentional-teaching/

It is very interesting that ECA has been in existence since 1938, they were formerly called Formerly the Australian Pre-School Association. They have been producing professional research and documentation supporting early childhood for over 50 years. Because of their longevity I understand the investment the government is willing to put forth because they recognize the importance with such a long history.