Research that Benefits Children and Families

If I could conduct a research study without restrictions, I would choose to research parenting styles and the  affect each style observed has on the child's behavior.  I am a believer that parents are the child's first and most influential teacher.  Seeing the correlation between parenting style and behavior would be very interesting to me.  As I gain more experience as a teacher (17 years so far), I see how many parents are very lax in their parenting responsibilities.  Children, then, come to school with expectations of getting their way or not having to follow directions.  It is a tough battle, at times.  I would hope through a study on this topic, parents would be able to see that children need parameters to feel safe and free to explore their environments and that for society to operate efficiently and fairly, all citizens need to adhere to the same rules.  Parents can begin to instill these concepts in their children before they ever begin school. 

My Personal Research Journey

My chosen topic for our research simulation during this course will be the benefits and challenges of a universal approach to early childhood education in our country as a way of improving programs and offering quality to all children.  The articles we read in the courses "Effective Programs and Practices" and "Current Trends and Issues in Early Childhood" got me thinking about the current way we approach early childhood programming, recent efforts to raise the bar of quality, and how going to a universal system may or may not be the answer.  I previously gave my opinion that a universal system would be a good idea, but I want to research it further to see what has been written to determine if I could fully support such an effort. 

So far in our research simulation project, I found the first step of narrowing my question down to three sub-topics to be thought provoking and somewhat difficult.  There is so much to consider with the topic of universality.  It took me quite a while to zero in on what I really wanted to know more about.  My other sub-topics were to research the effects state quality rating systems and NAEYC accreditation has had on program quality and how a universal system could be merged into what is currently being done for quality enhancement.  I felt the effects of becoming accredited through a state effort or NAEYC has already been documented and well-known and because a universal system isn't in place yet, there might not be enough information about how to merge it with current efforts.  Although, I would like to know about these things, I will leave them for future research. 

The resources so far in this class has been very beneficial to me.  Reading research has always been like reading another language for me, with the exception of the beginning and ending information.  I felt relieved to know that the middle part wasn't crucial to read for novices.  Putting the information into the chart helped me gain better understanding of how to look at an article and get the most important, and relevant, information from it. 

I hope as this course progresses, we will all be better at reading and understanding the articles of research that will help us become better educators.  I would be interested to know what others' processes were in choosing their sub-topics and if has led to any clarity about your chosen topic.

Final Assignment

The first way learning about the early childhood field around the world has impacted my personal and professional life is by getting a clearer picture of how other governments approach educating their young people. Learning about the Pastoral del Nino project in Paraguay or the efforts of UNESCO in other countries makes it feel as though I am working toward a common goal with people I have never met.  Another way I have grown is by becoming aware of useful websites like Harvard's Center for the Developing Child, UNESCO, and UNICEF and reading about their work globally.  I will make it a point to go to these websites and read about projects these organizations are involved in.  The last way is that I have grown personally by reading articles and watching videos of children around the world and their eagerness to learn despite their often poor circumstances.  I don't often stop and think about the conditions in other countries but by reading our assignments or visiting websites, I have had the opportunity to do so and get a sense of the challenges many children and families have in the world.

I have appreciated reading and learning from my classmates during this class.  The summaries of what they have read has given me more information about early childhood education globally.  A goal I have for myself is to continue to read about international efforts for children and monetarily support an organization in their work.  I may not be able to personally visit and teach in another country but by donating to those who do I can help them continue their work.  

UNESCO's Website

On the UNESCO website, the education tab holds my insights for this week.  The Global Action Week slogan for 2013 is "Every Child Needs a Teacher."  The article I read discusses the importance of teachers in the lives of children.  It talked of UNESCO's support to teachers around the world in their efforts to reach every child.  One of my goals is to educate future teachers to take on this same challenge.  Current and future teachers will help mold the future of all countries.  I hope to be part of many teacher candidate's preparation. 

 The second thing I learned about was UNESCO's Teacher Strategy.  The priorities for this program are "bridging the teacher gap through activities that strengthen national capacities, reinforcing teacher training institutions and teacher educators, and supporting policy formulation, monitoring and implementation, improving teacher quality by developing standards for teachers and recommendations for use in policy development, and informing the global debate, generating research and knowledge about effective teaching through exchanges between UNESCO practitioner networks, including the UNESCO Chairs , UNITWIN networks and the UNESCO Associated Schools Networks (ASPnet)" (UNESCO, 2012). 

The last thing new to me was the "Education for All" and "Millennium Development Goal" projects.  UNESCO held a meeting of global education experts in Paris on October 3-4, 2012 which was to "serve as the basis for building a global indicator development agenda and facilitate broader coordination related to cross-national indicators on teachers and teaching. Also, it would provide the opportunity to propose how practical results from new measurement initiatives could be used by UNESCO to take forward its phased regional and global measurement efforts" (UNESCO, 2012).  I was unaware these efforts existed and would like to find out what was discussed and decided on and what impact the decisions would have on education in the United States. 

Sharing Web Resources

I have been learning about the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators (NAECTE).  On the website, I learned through the link entitled "Annual Conferences" that the organization meets during the fall and spring NAEYC conferences and that there is no registration fee for the NAECTE meeting because it is included in the NAEYC registration fee.  On the "Affiliates" link, 13 states are listed as having affiliation with the organization and 11 of them list contact emails for the state's representative.  The site provides a "ResearchNet" link where teacher educators can form relationships with other professionals and work together to perform research at their respective universities.  The "Awards and Funding" tab details the names of recent recipients of the various awards NAECTE gives.  Other tabs have book titles members have published, information for members, and a link where members can submit journal entries for publication.  

The tab for the position statement, by-laws, and policies states the organizations' emphasis on qualified early childhood educators being knowledgeable about development and learning in the early years.  The position statement re-states the impact of high-quality early education on a child's life.  It also highlights the importance of public schools making it a priority to hire staff that has an early childhood endorsement for positions in the lower grades to help close the achievement gap and meet the needs of lower income and ESLchildren. 

There is no new information from the e-newsletter.  It is published quarterly and the last installment was February 2013.

After reading the position statement, I have learned that the organization supports high-quality programs and highly educated early childhood staff.  The statement included the importance of all children receiving a positive education from a teacher who knows how young children learn best and what is age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate material.  It also addressed the importance of social/emotional development in young children and stated that caring relationships with teachers will help children develop the way they need to. 

Because the information on the website is informational and the newsletter is published quarterly, there wasn't any new insights I received this week.

I am going to the NAEYC spring conference in June.  I hope to stop by the NAECTE meeting while I am there and talk to some of the representatives.

The Developing Child website

Harvard University's Global Children's Initiative website states how new scientific research continually emphasizes the importance of early childhood.  In high-income countries around the world, the information has led to better prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of childhood diseases and has initiated a concentration on learning and development in the early years.  In middle-to-low income countries, the information has resulted in a reduction of childhood malnutrition and child mortality.  Poverty still exists but the knowledge can promote new approaches to reduce or prevent problems for children.  Poorer countries can use the new information to help integrate services for children to give them the best possible chance for success.  In Zambia, a new assessment called ZamCAT was developed and completed in 2010.  It is used to analyze and evaluate anti-malaria efforts on preschool children's physical/socio-emotional/cognitive development.  In Brazil, a new project, Nucleo Ciencia Pela Infancia, aims to create a supportive early childhood base of scholars and scientists, work to change social policy with new scientific knowledge, develop early childhood leadership that can effectively make policies benefiting children, and traslate The Center's wealth of early childhood information for Brazilians. 

Sharing Web Resources

I have chosen to look into the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators (NAECTE).  In their Winter 2013 newsletter, much of the discussion was about gathering proposals for the spring conference in San Francisco in June.  The theme of the conference is "Fostering Resiliency, Agency, and Advocacy in Early Childhood Teacher Candidates".  As a hopeful future teacher educator, this theme excites me. I have spent some time imagining what role I am going to play in the education of teacher prospects and how I can do my best to foster important skills and attributes in my students.  Advocacy is one area I don't remember being a part of my undergraduate studies so I am definitely interested in ways to build this into other areas teacher candidates needs to know.  NAECTE has an advocacy committee and has recently developed an advocacy award.  As I finish my studies at Walden, I will join NAECTE and learn more about what they do to enhance advocacy.

I didn't see anything on the website or in the newsletter that made me consider another viewpoint.  The site is more informational as is the newsletter.

I could find no information on the website or in the latest newsletter concerning economists', neuroscientists', or politicians' support of the early childhood field.

 I copied the following from the Winter 2013 newsletter.  It states the focus of the organization in the coming months.

"In our meeting in November in Atlanta, NAECTE members interested in participating in ad-

vocacy activities identified four areas for our work:

Revision and distribution of the Position Statement on Early Childhood Certification

for Teachers of Children 8 Years Old and Younger in Public School Settings

This emerged as our highest priority. Updating the message, identifying target audi-

ences and exploring the most effective ways to disseminate the revised statement

were among the tasks we identified for this working group.

Conduct and/or support others in research on the impact of teachers with specialized

training and licensure in ECE on children and families

This initiative focuses on the need for high quality research to support our claims that

every young child deserves a teacher with specialized training and licensure in ECE.

Proposed tasks for this working group included seeking research funding and es-

tablishing research teams.

Establish NAECTE as source of expert knowledge on Early Childhood Teacher Education

Building on members’ connections with the National Governor’s Association and the

National Association of State Representatives, proposed tasks for this working

group included initial tasks included individual meetings with members of these

organizations, presenting sessions and/or distributing materials at their meetings

and/or producing co-authored for publication in their journals. Linking with pro-

fessional organizations for educational leaders such as those served by CAYL Insti-

tute is also being considered.

Highlighting Highly Effective Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Programs

Discussion of this initiative focused on how NAECTE might call attention exemplary ECE

teacher education programs .One possible direction considered was developing

descriptions high quality early childhood teacher education practices to accompa-

ny NAEYC Standards for Early Childhood Professional Preparation. An annual

award for an exemplary EC teacher preparation program was also considered."(NAECTE, 2013).