Research Around the World

For this week's blog assignment, I chose to explore following website: http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/.

Current international research topics included or linked to this site include:

-Advocating for children as a part of being an EC professional
-Incorporating and using technology as an educational tool and as a collaborative practice between EC professionals
-Researching different Kindergarteners' experiences from around the world
-Researching how much has changed regarding children's involvement in research over the past 7 years.

Three surprising facts/insights/new ideas regarding early childhood on this site include:

-The "Start Early" program, which is a program put in place for the purpose of preventing domestic violence. Start Early is a source of professional development for educators in the EC field and consists of 3 free online learning modules. These modules focus on shaping behaviors and attitudes in young children early in the hopes that they will be able to have healthy relationships in adulthood.

-The parent resources available which included information about health and wellness. There was specific emphasis on establishing healthy diet and exercise patterns in children through adult modeling as a way of preventing childhood obesity. This demonstrated to me that childhood obesity is an issue worldwide, not just here in the United States.

- In an effort to supply support for EC educators there are professional development packages available through a project called "Early Years Connect", which include workshops, online modules, webinars, blogging with experts and information sheets. The purpose of the project is to help improve EC practices for the inclusion of children with disabilities as well as increase the quality outcomes for all children.

Other noteworthy information include:

I reviewed one of the articles linked to this site published in Every Child (which is a journal that this site supports). In the article, an EC professional reflected on the code of ethics published by Early Childhood Australia. The references made in this article reflect similarity to the code of ethics published by NAEYC. By identifying some of the highlights of this code, the author appeared to be supporting the professionalizing of the EC field in Australia, similar to the efforts which are being put forth here in the United States.

Research that Benefits Children and Families

If I could implement an imaginary study that could potentially make a major positive contribution to the well-being of children and their families within the early childhood field I would focus on providing universal high quality preschool programs for all 3-5 year old children. There have been many studies done which have proven the effectiveness of quality early childhood care and education, yet it continues to be something that has a serious lack of funding in many states (including here in Pennsylvania). I would focus my study on making a comparison between the positive outcomes of children who attended universal high quality preschool compared to children who had no or low quality childcare/education prior to starting kindergarten. My hypothesis would be that children who had the opportunity to attend a universal high quality preschool will perform better in all areas of development including cognitive and social/emotional when compared to children who received little to no or low quality childcare/education at the end of their Kindergarten year. My hope would be that the study would help to fund the initiative for the implementation of universal high quality preschool for all children ages 3-5.

My Personal Research Journey-Week 2

I have chosen to study the topic of early intervention effectiveness in relation to the coaching/collaborative service delivery model regarding serving preschool children with special needs in early childhood environments. Specifically, I would like to find out what factors improve the effectiveness of this model and what factors decrease or impede the effectiveness of this model of intervention. With the limited and/or lack of funding available in early intervention right now the organization I work for has had to find creative ways to help children demonstrating delays. One way we are doing that is by implementing a coaching and collaboration service delivery model to help improve inclusive practices, provide training to early childhood educators and implement children's IEP's in "typical" early childhood environments.

I have found the simulation process to be very intimidating and I have really struggled narrowing down a sub-topic of interest. I feel as though constructing the research chart has already begun to help clarify terminology that I did not have a clear understanding of before, however, I know that I still have a long way to go in understanding how to design and implement a quality research project.

If anyone has any experience working with early intervention staff through a coaching/collaborative approach I would be more than happy to hear your experiences, good or bad. Also, if anyone has any suggestions as to how to improve inclusive practices and/or communication between early intervention providers, I'm all ears.