week 8

WHEN I THINK OF RESEARCH

Looking back to the beginning of this course and how anxious I was about learning more about research; especially in the early childhood field. Now, there is a sigh of relief that a lot has change and those changes have been positive towards accomplishing my research goal

The major insights I have gained about research from taking this course is that research is important and necessary in order to bring about change or improvement in our role and services to children, families and the early childhood field

-research should be based on our areas of interest and be based on our utmost commitment

 -availability of resources and limitations should always look into before embarking on any research project

-conducting thorough readings on previous or similar research  gives insights to how to present and address our research

-planning on how, when, who and what would be used to collect and analyze data should be should be outlined in order to serve as a guide towards the research process.

-issue of ethics and equity are vital in any research; consent must be given and participants must be recognized, respected and represented appropriately

-methods of data collection should be clearly decided and defined

-validity in research is important, if research is to serve its purpose and there are several approaches to ensure it. Example through triangulation

-The goal of research should be the one that is of great benefit

Initially I had fears with the thought of research, but with the approach adopted in learning about research, I feel more confidence towards embarking on my research project.

-understanding the concepts and expressing them in my own words as made me have a clearer picture of the key factors in research

- Step-by step process we took in designing the research simulation really made me understand the processes involved in conducting a research study.

now I know that,it requires commitment,understanding of key components as well as step-by-step planning.

The lesson about planning, designing and conducting research in the early childhood field is:

-That one need to consider an area of interest, resources and duration of time, and acquire knowledge and training essential to research

-That in Designing a research, one needs to have a well laid plan that would not be deviated from, which would act as guideline, information on the whole process of the research should be carefully arranged which might take some time if one hope to achieve success (areas such as research interest, researchable questions or hypothesis, research design(qualitative, quantitative or mixed method)data collection methods, participants and their characteristics, analysis of data, validity and reliability of data.)

-That ethical concerns and equity issues are essential to any successful research in the early childhood field

The major Challenges I encountered as to do with designing my population sample; which I still need to look into. My participants are majorly preschool students but my concern is indirectly I would be forced to separate male from female, Saudi Arabia‘s educational structure does not permit boys and girls together in school., I guess I might have to see classification as part of the extraneous variables and try as much to focus mainly on my research issue.

My perception of an early childhood professional has being modified to see how early childhood professionals can also contribute meaningfully to knowledge and improvement in providing quality services through conducting research

And that research in early childhood considers ethics and equity as an important early childhood professionals are not just capable of contributing effectively through research but it is done with the utmost concern for the welfare of its participants as well as providing truthful outcomes. Therefore, as early childhood professionals dealing with children we need to put ethical and equity issues at the initial stage or conceptualization, and applying throughout the process as well as in the findings and conclusions

In conclusion, this course has really made a significant impact on me as regards preparing and conducting a research. It has been insightful and educative. I know, there is still more to learn, but I am ready to challenge myself further.

WEEK 5

Research around the World

For this week research around the world, I decide to follow the link to early childhood Australia. Early childhood Australia advocates for quality, equity and social l justice in education and care of young children (birth-8 years).While exploring through their website, and searching through their journal archive, I found so many research topics that address different issues affecting children, their education and care, families and the early childhood field across the world. I selected some research related to my research topic and some other insightful journals and listed below is a brief explanation

 -The transition to school of children with developmental disabilities: Views of parents and teachers

The research addresses early intervention programs through an inclusive school setting for children with disabilities to help them transition to school effectively. Data was collected from opinions of parents and teachers, through questionnaires regarding 62 children participating in the transition to school program. Opinions was to determine the success of the program, although there were reports from parents about lack of preparation  for their child’s developmental needs by the teachers and the teachers noted limited resources as their challenge. Findings from the program can bring about effective transition-to- school programs in the early school years with children with disabilities

Australasian Journal of Early Childhood – Volume 37 No 3 September 2012

-Young school-aged children’s behavior and their participation in extra-curricular activities

Extra-curricular activities afford children opportunities for development and can also influence their behavior. Children’s behavior is an important predictor of their future successes or failures. This study investigated the relationship between behavior and participation in extra-curricular activities in children aged between five and eight years.. Participation, number of activities, and duration of activities were all associated with children’s behavior. Children who participated in extra-curricular activities had lower behavior scores than those who did not. The results suggest that children benefit from participating in two or more activities for 80–90 minutes per week(ECA,2012).This research serve to benefit every child ,because it has been found to influence behavior positively which is necessary for success in and out of school

Australasian Journal of Early Childhood – Volume 37 No 3 September 2012

Developing the understanding of the role of interpersonal interaction in early literacy development: A case study of a Thai public preschool

The study focuses on the role of interpersonal interaction in early literacy development in one public preschool school in Bangkok, Thailand. Specifically, it explores and analyses the nature of interpersonal interaction and collaborative activities the teachers employ in teaching literacy to children. The paper concludes that raising professional knowledge of the significance of interpersonal interaction, and focused professional development which builds and maintains teacher awareness of their teaching of literacy, would enhance children’s literacy development in Thailand.(ECA,2012)

Australasian Journal of Early Childhood – Volume 37 No 3 September 2012

 Children’s strategies for making friends when starting school

This research topic explores matters of friendship when young children are starting school, and how they initiate friendships. In audio-recorded conversations with researchers, the children proposed a number of strategies, including making requests, initiating clubs and teams, and peer intervention to support a friend. Their accounts drew on social knowledge and relational understandings, and showed that having someone, a friend, to play with was important for starting school. Children gave serious attention to developing strategies to initiate friendships.(ECA,2012)

Australasian Journal of Early Childhood – Volume 37 No 2 June 2012

 The insights or ideas gained from exploring research issues from the website are that there are continuous effort through research work to ensure that all children benefits from quality education and care, and that all children are given equal opportunities. The first research issues I wrote gave me an insight on the impact of early intervention for disable children through inclusive programs, which I believe it, is a good transition strategy, giving resources are available and teachers and caregivers are well equipped for the task. Another insight is on the importance of extracurricular activities on behavior, and how interpersonal relationship with parents can help a child early literacy as well as the importance of peer friendship in coping with school

The information I found relevant has to with the reconciliation plan of the early childhood Australia. A reconciliation with the aboriginal and Torres trait islanders, I believe every effort should be made top ensue e each child benefits from the early education field but this can only be possible if we are united for the same cause. Reconciliation is therefore a step in the right direction