When I Think of Research...

I have learned an abundance of information in this course due to the resources and research simulations.  Putting together a research study requires many steps, and certain portions should be completed before others.  This course has caused me to take a close look at ethical situations and the effect research can have on the participants involved. 

Before starting this course, I had no idea how professional and intricate the process of research is.  I have participating in professional research, but never conducted or planned any research on my own.  I knew research was a lot of work, but I had no idea how many different concepts went into the planning, and how many factors you must consider when doing this planning.    

I have learned that when planning research, it is essential to plan one part at a time, while keeping the whole research project in consideration.  It is also essential to revisit previously developed sections to determine if changes need to be made. 

Some of my challenges involved participant selection and ethical issues.  Choosing participants is a struggle because the participants have to meet specific requirements.  They must be parents who are currently anticipating enrollment or changes in childcare or early childhood education programs.  One challenge may be if the participant makes the change prior to the completion of the data collection.  If this happens, the family will not be able to participate in the study.  My goal is to obtain more volunteers than necessary due specific participant requirements.   

I often find myself looking at behaviors, relationships, and certain topics as possible research studies.  I can now look at specific situations/topics and determine how more information regarding them could be very beneficial to the early childhood field.  Knowing how to plan, design, and conduct research is a powerful tool to have as an early childhood educator, and I now feel confident in my ability to do this. 

I have greatly enjoyed exploring topics and having in-depth discussion with all of you over the course of this class.  I especially want to thank Dr. Davis for providing many thought provoking questions and very usable feedback with my work.  I hope to see many familiar faces in our next course!

Research Around the World

I chose to take a closer look at Early Childhood in Australia.  From an article I located on the Early Childhood Australia website, titled “Implementing children’s rights in early education”, written by Sarah Te One of University of Wellington, student rights seems to be a current topic researched.  In this article, the author discusses research done using individual and group interviews, observations, notes, and photographs as a means of data collection.  This research focused on under two-year olds.  It concluded that the physical environment (setting, rules, and routine) can have a direct effect on the children’s rights. 
Some of the other current international research topics include:

·         Inclusion

·         Play-based Learning

·         Social Development

·         Transitions

As I explored the current news releases, it was very exciting to see some of their newest celebrations for Australia’s early childhood field.  A few things I learned when looking through these news releases were:

1. New quality reforms are taking place in 2012. 

2. Childcare refunds to families are now going to be given every 2 weeks instead of the previous quarterly refunds.  This will allow parents to be able to better pay for childcare.

3.  A new law was passed that mandates one staff member to every 4 children (under 24 months) in daycares. 
Overall, I was very intrigued to see that many of the current issues and research topics are very similar to those that we are currently facing in The U.S. 

Resources

Te One, Sarah (2009).  Implementing children’s rights in early education.  Retrieved from: http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/australian_journal_of_early_childhood/ajec_index_abstracts/implementing_childrens_rights_in_early_education.html

http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/