Time Well Spent

Three deeply felt learning experiences from this program:

The first profound learning came through reflection. The more I learned who I was through my experience, I could see others perspectives more clearly. Widening the scope is where knowledge is gathered. Microagression was something I was not aware of, yet has such a subtle way of carving a person apart. My awareness has been heightened and my defense against microagression has become a priority.   

The second deep learning is the feeling of connection. I have always felt that with nature, but I feel we have such a strong network between colleagues with so many ways to manifest our passion for young children. Collaboration is the key to action, the statement by Sonia Johnson hits the nail on the head. "We must remember that one determined person can make a significant difference, and that a small group of determined people can change the course of history." (Laureate, 2011). 

The third, although my biggest struggle was learning about how to research credible sources. Because I will be using current research as a part of my professional career, to know what I am looking at and where and how it is based is so important. 

Reference

Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Meeting the Challenge: Merging Passion, Vision and Practice: Practical application in the early childhood field. Baltimore, MD

There has been so many things I have learned with great importance, that I would need another 5 pages to explain. I guess the core is we are in this together, and I gain such inspiration from every experience and person I meet. Below is a bit of my journey through this program through pictures from my trip to Peru last summer.

My journey began with the support of my husband and grown children, my coworkers and friends, I was ready to change the world. 

As I began I said, "wait hold the phone" literally, let me get my phone to take a picture, I'm climbing that!?!

Now that I have crested the summit I see there are many more journeys ahead of me. My challenge is now choosing the first of many, and I intend to work hard and enjoy the view of making a difference for young children and families.

My long term goal is to teach at the community college level, while at the same time implementing natural play spaces as an intricate part of every early childhood program. 

Farewell and Thank You for your input, thoughts, support and lovely perspectives!

Dr. Teri, here is my happy dance! Thank you for your guidance and moving me through my goal of completing my Masters! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_zvipMbSZU

To my colleagues, with whom we have spent many months (some over a year together) of studying, collaborating, and sometimes panicking together. Your presences has been the difference in this program. When I first began I felt this was going to be a solo climb, I quickly realized I couldn't have done it without you. Thanks to all of you, and to you  Mimi, you have been my inspiration! Lets all have tea at 11,000 feet before our next journey, Cheers! 

I would love to hear from any of you and learn about the impact you are making or your next journey in general!! You all have been so inspirational, thank you again.  Here is may home email christinaper@comcast.net

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

#1 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

https://careers.unesco.org/careersection/2/jobdetail.ftl

This position is appeals to me because Education For All (EFA) is a movement to provide all children a basic education. To be a part of a team like this would be amazing and an opportunity for growth. I am not sure I would be fully qualified as far as work experience, and I do not have a second language, but I could learn quickly.

Job opportunity: Director, Education For All (EFA) and Global Agenda Coordination Team.

Education

• Other degrees or short to medium-term training in disciplines relevant to the post would be an advantage.

Work Experience

• Experience in donor relations.
• Experience within national education authorities.
• A proven record of senior management and professional experience at the international and intergovernmental levels.

Skills/Competencies

• Strong global professional network.
• Sound judgment and decision-making skills.
• Ability to identify key strategic issues, objectives, opportunities and risks.
• Ability to interact with a wide range of high-level partners, as well as demonstrated partnership development and fundraising experience.

Languages

• A working knowledge of another official United Nations language (Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish) would be an asset.

#2 Save The Children

https://ch.tbe.taleo.net/CH12/ats/careers/jobSearch.jsp;jsessionid=CB9B60477A23DE602168B7EC4AB0050E.NA10_primary_jvm?org=FHI&cws=1

Save The Children organization works in 120 countries. They advocate for the treatment of children through programs that support health, nutrition, education, protection and child rights. This specific position will make key contributions in global advocacy, along with the breakthrough of children in humanitarian crises have access to quality education (Save The Children, 2014).

Job opportunity: Advocacy Advisor-Humanitarian and Education 

Qualifications:

Education to degree level – an academic background in a directly relevant field s desirable.

·      Advocate for change with key AU policy makers and decision makers on humanitarian, peace and security and education agendas (and on the interface between these issues)

·      Build and maintain advocacy networks with influential allies, within the AU and among civil society, recognizing that we cannot achieve the change we want by ourselves

·      Deliver ambitious plans to engage and influence the AU on humanitarian and education agendas, in line with agreed organizational objectives, and provide strategic insight to help shape wider Save the Children advocacy efforts in these areas

·      Build profile and credibility for Save the Children, by being a convincing spokesperson for the organization, a source of knowledge and analysis, and through personal commitment to our values and mission

·      Be a strong member of the Addis team, actively participating in building a strong global advocacy office that is networked within the wider organization and has strong links to Africa Country Offices, the other advocacy offices and members

Experiences and skills:

·      Proven record of advocacy success and ability to develop and implement strategy, preferably at the regional level in Africa.

·      A background in influencing African national governments and engaging civil society partners in the region

·      Experience of creating networks of influence, and an ability to manage diverse professional relationships, thereby securing significant new opportunities for the organization

·      Proven ability to speak and communicate effectively, and to tailor messages to different audiences

Experience of successfully operating in an international environment with people from

#3 FHI 360

https://jobs-fhi360.icims.com/jobs/14018/internal-communications-specialist-ii/job

This part time job position appeals to me because the applicant ensures staff is equipped with the information to be fully effective in the organizations vision, mission and goals. Which is FHI 360 sees the world in a way where all communities have the chance to reach their highest potential, improving lives in a lasting way.

Job opportunity: Internal Communications Specialist ll 

Job Responsibilities:

• Design strategies that contribute to measurable increases in staff knowledge of and engagement in organizational goals and activities, with a focus on Human Resources-related content.
• Implement internal communications strategies to ensure that staff have a comprehensive understanding of FHI 360’s goals and work.
• Design and develop internal communications materials that are responsive to the needs of the FHI 360’s domestic and international staff.
• Write, edit and post content to a variety of internal communications vehicles, including but not limited to internal newsletters, the employee intranet, and other print and electronic venues.
• Design and plan a variety of internal events and meetings to ensure successful communication of organizational messages and opportunities for dialogue.
• Provide other communications-related duties as required.

Qualifications:

·      Bachelor’s degree and at least 5 years experience writing, edition and publications.

·      Outstanding written and verbal communication skills.

·      Ability to work independently and manage sensitive work.

·      Strong organization skills, with the ability to work simultaneously on multiple projects to meet short deadline.

·      Sensitive to cultural differences and the political ethical issues.

Week 4 Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

#1 The Division for Early Childhood: Promoting policies, advancing practices

http://www.dec-sped.org/About_DEC/Career_Center

DEC is one of seventeen divisions of the Council for Exceptional Children. They are the largest international organization to improve educational outcomes.

Position: Instructor, Early Education and Family Studies

Full time position.

Masters degree in the subject area and non-teaching work experience in the field (Working with children, families and early childhood care and education professionals with young children and their families.)

Subject area includes “Early Childhood Studies”

#2 Farm to Preschool

http://www.farmtopreschool.org/whatisfarmtopreschool.html

Thanks to Mimi, I have been so excited to investigate the Farm to School organization and found this branch. Farm to Preschool is a program that brings children to local farms, bring in local healthy foods or produce gardens.

Position: There are no job opportunities available, but this is an organization I would love to be a part of, or create my own under their direction.  I will keep searching for job opportunities in this area.

#3 Early Childhood Environmental Education Programs: Guidelines for Excellence.

http://eelinked.naaee.net/n/eelink-jobs/posts/Nature-Clubs-Project-Coordinator

This description is what interested me. I would prefer to work directly with families but this affects children and families in nature play opportunities.

Position: Nature Clubs Project Coordinator

Work with the Director of Conservation Education and an appointed task force to compile the resources needed to develop nature play opportunities at zoos and aquariums and to remove barriers for families to engage with nature in their communities.

Minimum Experience and Trainings:

Bachelor’s degree in education or related field. Minimum 2 years of experience in nonformal education. Experience with environmental or outdoor education preferred.

#4 NAEYC http://www.naeyc.org/about/jobs

Unfortunately I did not find any positions that interest me that were available. Although anyone in the field of Early Childhood uses NAEYC for guidance and resources. I would love to be a part of this organization.  

Exploring Roles in ECE at the State and Local Level

1. My search has led to Colorado Community College Online CCCOnline. This is an online community of all the Colorado community colleges, that offer online classes in every subject including ECE. When you live in a rural area you do not have much of a choice of face-to-face classes. I used this with the current changes to Director Qualification. They offer positions to Colorado residents unless there is no one qualified in a class needed. You submit an application, unofficial transcripts and a Curriculum Vita or resume and a brief statement of your Online Teaching Philosophy. If CCCOnline contacts you for a position, you must complete the Colorado Career and Technical Education (CTE) credential. It is something I would like to try, there are no guarantees of steady employment but I would like to gain the experience this way. The more classes you teach the more CCCOnline uses you.

http://www.ccconline.org/

2. Another search lead me to Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education (CAEE). They are a nonprofit organization whose mission is to teach and empower teachers in formal and non-formal education, public agencies, employees and community members.  I am very familiar with this organization and have my Environmental Education Certification through them. They have recently been very focused on school aged children and meeting the EE standards. The last meeting I had with them, they said they do not have much representation from early childhood professionals, and they would like to reach more young children. This was an informal statement but I feel if I perused this area I could create some link to reaching early childhood teachers in the State. I may need to take more EE classes but I always find classes to be invigorating.

https://www.caee.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=136

3. Another local search lead me to The City of Aspen’s Childcare Resource Center, called Kids First. I have worked with the Director for several years, conducting workshops, and writing articles for the Providers Newsletter on a bimonthly basis for over 4 years. They provide funding for programs to higher a coach in specific areas of need, typically areas relating to low scores in the quality rating scale. This would be exciting to work with programs I am familiar with. The one draw back I see is Kids First continually wants programs to do new trainings, such as DECA, Pyramid, Mind Up, and many more. I don’t feel these programs are negative in any way, but each year they push for the latest and greatest training, which the coaches teach. Because of the turnover rate in childcares I feel it is appropriate to continue with 1 training that fits the program.  But this does give a coach great exposure to a variety of methods of teaching adults.

http://www.aspenpitkin.com/Departments/Kids-First

"My Passion" Wordle

http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/7425478/My_Passion

Good luck to everyone on the last leg of our journey, or is it the beginning?

Collaboration in the Learning Community

This is always one of my favorite posts, a chance to acknowledge my colleagues in our learning community. I have learned from different perspectives in culture and personal experiences I plan on taking with me in my personal life and professional communication as well.

I just found out I was invited to present at a workshop after two of my hero's in the environmental education world, Dr. Nilda Cosco and Dr. Robin Moore who founded the Natural Learning Initiative. I will use every tool in the book and insights from colleagues so I don't just scream when I meet them. I typically look forward to presentations although with this one my knees are knocking, so any suggestion are welcome. I respect everyone from all of my classes any input you have means so much to me. Thank you everyone and best of luck on the final stretch.

Adjournment

Throughout my life there have been many teams I have been a part of some easier to part with and others not. In my younger years, I would audition for our community theater musicals (I was a dancer not a singer!). The process of auditioning, being chosen and working together for the performance was the team’s goal. The director had a lot to do with how the team gelled; we worked closely together having our own parts that depended on the whole for the show. It was very difficult to adjourn after closing night, we weren’t sure if we would see the same people in the next performance and we typically ended with a cast party. These teams were so successful and we felt such a rush of adrenalin after each performance and a great feeling of success. I have really connected with people in these online courses, not all personally but I value everything people bring to my learning. I would love to have casual conversations with my colleagues that don’t require citing resources and learning about their work and direction after our classes. I think all of us will be somewhat relieved to adjourn, but for over a year I’ve checked my computer and will miss sharing the intellectual insights about our field. I think all experiences needs closure whether it is in sadness or celebration, but reflecting on the relationships and lessons learned.

Conflict Resolution

This is perfect timing, I am in the midst of a conflict between one of my teachers and a parent. I am taking the “third side”. The parent does not want to leave her 4 year old with us if she is crying; she has brought her child to the bus with great success of a quick kiss goodbye. One day this parent flagged the bus down as it was pulling away to get her daughter on. One of the teachers went to help the child on who started to cry. The mother was talking to the teacher wavering back and forth as 30 kids were waiting on the bus. The teacher was frustrated, the parent was frustrated and the child hasn’t been at summer camp since (one week).

The first strategy is empathetic listening to each individual involved. I will check back with each one to make sure I accurately understand their perspective. With empathetic seeing, listening and speaking I hope to make the parent comfortable in what ever her decision and support the teacher in respecting the parents parenting style.

The second strategy is to have a meeting with the parent and teacher so we are clear on how the family culture works. And explain our school culture and how it works in a group situation. All the while having the utmost respect for the family culture with open and honest communication.

This is an interesting explanation of empathy by Alan Seid. http://www.cnvc.org/how-do-empathy

Results of Communication Scales

This was an interesting insight for me I asked a coworker to evaluate me and my 23 year old son. The most interesting was the anxiety of communication, when I enter a conversation that deals with uncomfortable issues I am very nervous, often times I will write down different responses so I can self monitor my response. I don't always have time for that so I was pleased to hear that others perceive me as comfortable in those situations. This does however point out that I often enter communication of a sensitive nature with a goal in mind, therefore I am not truly actively listening because I have an agenda.

A comparison where my evaluators and I had the same score was what type of listener I am, I was grouped in #1 people-oriented. I really thought I was more action oriented in my work because the days are so busy and there is not often time for empathic listening. The description for group one is that I have clouded judgment because I am very trusting of others, this is right on.

As a director and teacher I need to be able to listen to others and trust in myself that I do not have to prove that I know what I am talking about by interjecting my own experience and knowledge. Often in early childhood education we are struggling to prove this is a viable, worthy field. I have gotten in the habit of making sure others know that I know what I am talking about, which has clouded my listening skills.

Many lessons to be learned!

Strategies for Cultural Communication

I find myself drawn to people of different races, religion, sexual orientation, varying abilities etc. I look forward to using the information and looking for the culturally specific nonverbal communication as well as learning how one would like to be treated.

I do find myself communicating differently with a woman at work who is from England. I feel we are very culturally different although there are no defining differences such as race, religion, political affiliation etc. I feel I tend to avoid communicating with her because she is quit negative and judgmental. I’ve tried to be the cheerleader and modeling positive non-bias actions and words, directly talking to her although she laughs and says I miss understand her. I feel like I’m crazy and not doing my job of listening, so I definitely need some strategies!

The three strategies I will use are attempting to think and feel what she is thinking and feeling as well as trying to understand how she would like to be treated. I will ask questions to make sure I am clear and fully understand what she is communicating both verbally and nonverbally. Lastly I will avoid negative judgment, something I am accusing her of and am doing myself. I am very open to suggestions if anyone has any.

Non-verbal Cues

This was a fun exercise even with my self-proclaimed observation skills I totally missed the boat on my interpretation of the non-verbal cues, in the show Parks and Rec.

With the sound off I had the relationship of the main character as a boss and her employees who were disgusted with her, they rolled their eyes, folded their arms, sighed and looked down. With sound on I discovered the employees were disappointed.

I assumed the main character was angry and a domineering boss, she did not smile much and her body posture was stiff. I thought she had a crush on a male coworker and was flirting with him, using a big smile and tilting her head when she talked.

With the sound on I realized this character was not domineering but she followed rules and is a bit nerdy. What I assumed was flirting with the male coworker turned out to be her wanting to be accepted by a male dominated work force. My assumptions were all wrong which changed the whole plot.

If I did this exercise already knowing the characteristics I would have seen a whole different picture. This really shows me that although I consider myself to be observant I cannot go on what I see and make assumptions. This is exactly what I have been doing with a coworker that I discussed in my discussion this week. Ooooo!

Communication Behavors

My brother is a director at Proctor & Gamble, his job has moved from a designer to a director that helps teams address relationship obstacles, eliminating each persons ability and how they can benefit the team. This is truly fascinating to watch in action in an everyday circumstance. As he calls it being transparent, this is so effective with his teenage daughter, a larger heated mediation or getting updated on the latest news of someone he hasn’t seen for a while. He is very present with his vision and body language and he never points fingers. With his teenager he will say I’m feeling you are upset as his daughter screams she is not, staying calm he asks what is she feeling and she is able to tell him. He listens intently and reiterates what she has said in hope he understood completely. The transparence come from no assumptions, for example rather than telling his daughter you are making me feel frustrated, he words it that he is feeling she is upset therefore there is not blame it is a clarification. 

This is particularly affective when dealing with conflict and I would like to model my communication as well as the calm demeanor he uses. Another behavior is being fully present whether it is with a child, an adult or a large group. If he lived closer to me I would just follow him around and observe, it is amazing to watch.

Professional Hopes And Goals

To take a step back and observe the colors, the depth and the texture of the diverse human condition is like seeing a mountain for the first time. It is humbling yet inspiring and the desire to get a closer look is infectious.

My professional and personal goal when working with children and families from divers backgrounds is to learn, to discover and to connect. My respect for nature is something that is a part of me, but I have discovered many mountains I can't wait to climb with respect to the human connection. Mountains are never easy to get to know and there are many trips and bumps on the way but the effort and energy spent has its own rewards.

My hope for the early childhood profession is to put anti-bias practices into every piece of the day and every interaction. Children are taught to be bias, social justice has such an impact when the connection occurs from the beginning. Children will be taught to notice differences and see them as positive diversity.

This has been quit the journey of self reflection, understanding and discovery as well as respect. Thank you all for your thoughts and experiences which makes my climb up this mountain such a rich experience. I wish you all best in creating justice in our social world.

(Photo of me and my son in awe climbing Wayna Picchu in Peru 6/2/13)

Welcoming Families from Mongolia

I am welcoming a new family from Mongolia to my childcare center. My goal is to make the family and child to my center feel as welcome as possible.

First- I will prepare the classroom with photos, some dress up materials such as brightly colored scarves. The photos would not be all costumes and surface culture materials, but also pictures of homes, people and environments found in Mongolia.

Second- I will check out books from the library, both children’s books and informational books about everyday life in Mongolia. So the child can point to pictures for a better understanding.

Third- Through my investigation on the Internet I discovered there are several languages spoken in Mongolia; Mongolian, Russia, Chinese and Turkish. I would learn the word welcome in these languages and articulating to the best of my abilities.

Fourth- I will search my community and organizations for any people, stores, restaurants where they may be people from Mongolia. I will learn as much as possible about the social workings of the culture and how people interact in a school setting.

Fifth- As in step 4, I will search the community for any Mongolian groups, places of worship, or Mongolian food items to direct the family to. When I meet the family I will pay very close attention to how they interact with their child, and pay special attention to names and repeat them to assure I am correct in my pronunciation.

When meeting this family I would hope to create a trusting relationship so I can eventually do a home visit and learn much more about the deep culture. I would hope that the classroom was inviting and that the child and family would feel they have a voice and presence. By finding a community of other's from Mongolia I would benefit in learning about the social culture and some of the language. Hopefully this would create some piece of home for the family and along with the childcare center would create a support system for them.

Bias, Prejudice and Oppression

The example that comes to mind is a conversation I had with one of my brother-in-laws. We were having a nice family dinner, my daughter (an adult) was there. One sister mentioned a friend she had who was a Lesbian, the topic was when my sister lived in Mexico, it was nothing about sexual orientation. My daughters first boyfriend in high school came out in college and he is my daughters best friend to this day.

My brother-in-law said it doesn't really matter because all gays are going to hell and shouldn't have the same rights as the rest of us. As the calm adult I told him how wonderful this boy Zack is, I call all the kids that go through my school, my kids and I didn't agree with him. My daughter, a recent graduate in Environmental Studies explained many same sex relationships in primates and many other animals in the natural world. The conversation escalated into shouting, swearing and tears.

The person experience the prejudice was not even present, but we got a taste of what he goes through on a daily basis. Zack said he does not get the prejudice remarks in our community because people knew him from a little boy and his sexual orientation a non issue. But he can not be captive in the safety of his home community.

I felt like someone was hitting my own child in front of me, it hurt and I got defensive and angry. In my brother-in-laws eyes Zack was not allowed to live as a free human, love who he wants and have a family. The final question is who or what would have to change in order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity? My first thought was if it was one of my brother-in-laws kids he might think about his child but it might mean a greater rejection. All I can do is control my actions, perhaps if I could stay calm, respect his beliefs and try to convey my heartfelt respect for Zack and his rights. Because this is such a personal and cultural subject all we can ask for is respect for one another, which includes respecting others beliefs.

I would love any suggestions to the final question.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

Fellow colleagues, by the time you read this I will be in Peru visiting my son and daughter in law, and will be very remote at times so I don't know if I will be able to respond. As soon as I get home I will read you posts, as I look forward to learning from all of your experiences. My apologies.

I think the most microaggression I have experienced is in the early childhood field. I feel I am always getting defensive and having to justify it as a viable career and an important part time of a child's and families life. I have heard parents refer a person when we are looking to fill a teaching position; they say "she is a great babysitter, I think she would be perfect for the job." Sometimes I just let it go, other times I try to explain that there is much more that goes into the job than babysitting. Wages for early childhood professionals are very low in comparison to Kindergarten teachers, so when the word "just" is put infront of early childhood the feelings of inadequacy pop up. Because I have been racialized only a few times I can only imagine the oppression felt by ongoing assaults, as Dr. Sue explained it is the accumulative effects that are so damaging.

This causes me to have a sharp ear as well as be impecable with my own words, and speak up so the shift to equality can take place!

Prospective on Diversity and Culture

What is culture and what is diversity?

Two of the answers I received were very similar, both from men, one a young white American, the other an Italian immigrant.
Culture=was defined as the collective personality of a set of people.
Diversity= was defined as different, or group of mixture of different people or beliefs.
I would say if I were asked these questions before this class this is how I would have responded. Through this course I have learned there is much more than collective beliefs or a group of people. These definitions are what I would consider surface cultures, but each person has their own culture due to experiences, privilege or disadvantage, environment, birth order etc. There is so much that makes us different that not even the differences are the same. The third answer I got was from a teacher who immigrated with her parents in the 70's from England. She said Culture and diversity are similar, it is the daily routine at home, a way of interacting socially. When she moved they felt like they were coming to cowboy country in Colorado, she knew they were cowboys because they had guns hanging in the back window of their truck, she had never seen a gun. Back in England the're whole village only grocery shopped on Friday or Saturday. Sunday after church people take a walk and picnic on the country side, then they go to the pub and have a Guinness or lemonade and sit outside talking for hours. Because the little town in Colorado was mostly ranch land there were no social shopping or gathering places. She never became accustom to this life style, she married a man from her home town in England and stayed in the area raising their children as American's.

This gave me such insight to a person I have been working with for years and never asked her about her culture. As I was writing the reflection this week I was speaking of a way my culture was misinterpreted and still felt anger towards this person, this experience took place in the early 70's. As I wrote it I realized there was no way this person could see the misinterpretation because it wasn't part of her reality. Suddenly I felt no more anger. I will really enjoy people much more asking questions to learn more about their deeper culture. 

My Family Culture

 The picture above is a little ceremony pouch, it contains a sage stick picked from my yard (the smell of it brings so many comfort feelings of home),  the shell is used in smudging / cleansing along with the sage stick. My family as a child was filled with religious ceremony, it has evolved through the years. And lastly the compass my father used in WWII, and a painted metal bead of my mothers. I would describe my parents who have passed and the memories and gifts that shaped who I am.

I would have to choose one picture out of many of my families favorite mountains, or backpacking trip. When describing this I would recount adventures and feeling the outdoor space gives me.

Last I would bring a wildlife book, not only would I love looking through it at pictures of familiar companions and describe to another the special features and strength each one holds, but also I would begin introducing myself with my new surroundings and its wildlife and learn from my new host country.

Being told I could only choose one item I would choose the pouch pictured above, this would be a scary feeling of being detached from the things I feel comfort and safety from.

My grandparents were in this situation, although it was their choice. Non the less I completely understand how food, traditions and language can be such an important piece of the comfort someone feels in a new place. I have always understood how important family is, but this gives new meaning to a family unit. I would want to go where ever my children lived, I would want to go to see the school my grand daughter would be in. All of the things we are told to make sure we accommodate extended family, that would be me. What a great perspective I have never put myself in.

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.