Research Around The World

"Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for future." JFK

Since the beginning of my journey in this Masters program I have tried to keep my focus in an area internationally that in some way is related my life or those within it. From the beginning I have been studying different areas in Africa, specially in the Ghana surrounding areas. 

A few of the research topics that caught my attention were:
       "The development of an integrated Early Childhood Development Urban Model Training Program for Informal Minders and Community Volunteers in Ghana"
      " The Status of Coordination and Supervision of Early Childhood Education in Ghana"
      "Parents' and Caregivers' Perception of Early Childhood Development Needs and Quality: A Study of the PLAN- Assisted Programmes in Bawjiase, Ghana"

Something I have learned within this education field is no matter what part of the world you are in their is always someone else reaching out to resources in your nation to make theirs better. The ECDVU in SAA "is committed to improving the quality of life for children and their families in Africa. This program seeks to accomplish this through working, on a sustained basis, with ECD leaders from across the continent."

While looking through this website I found multiple journals I would like to look deeper into and possible apply them to my professional life. 

Uplifting Stories

Children are our world and our future and if I had to choose any topic to research on it would be:

"Would the health and happiness of a child if parents were more involved?"

Even though there are plenty of researches on this topic I believe that I would conduct this and try to accomplish a better outcome. I know that I would conduct my research for an extensive period of time to where I would be able to see the beginning middle and ending results to the research. Some researches are done with a short time span on them and the results they may be seeking are possible but were not even enough time to see through.

Every parent wants to be the best parent they can. They want their children to love and care for them and know they love and will do anything within their power for them. I just believe some parents do not know how to "be a parent". I believe with this research it will bring parents and children closer together and the outcomes of the research will be positive. 

My Personal Research Journey

The topic I decided to venture on for this course was equity and excellence in care and education of children, families, and EC professionals. During my last course this was a topic that I feel I applied more towards my personal and professional life more than others. I have so many visions for my life and I believe with more in dept research and knowledge on this topic it will be a great stepping stone. 

When I first started learning and reading on this topic I was aware of the dynamics in a way but I did not know how much it can actually be applied to the early childhood field. I am very big on learning new ways and ideas to implement programs and activities to children. I have realized with doing so the children are more likely to express with the families their experiences and the families will want to be more involved.    

I have learned throughout the process of this course and research charts that research it self can be overwhelming if you do not know how to evaluate the information. Even with the helpful hints that we have on how to read an article and what information to absorb I personally am glad that we have the opportunity to be able to learn as a group because I still sometimes become lost and use the help of my colleagues experiences to help guide me.  

As we continue on this journey is there anyone who has found an alternative way to research and know figure out a better way to go through all of the information that can be provided that is not use to their study? 

3 Consequences

As we have been studying these last 7 weeks I have used the UNICEF.org website on multiple occasions. On Friday March 1 they did a special on Good Morning Texas. Even though I know this segment informed those who watched the segment but watching this just made me feel amazing to know that this organization is getting out and informing those right here in Texas. I wish I would of had the opportunity to go to the location and watch this live. 

Consequences 

My first consequence of learning internationally is that no matter where you go and the information you receive, educators and those who work closely with children only want what is best for them. Most of our hopes and dreams for ourselves fall into the success of the children we come encounter with. 

My next learning area was the different web sites that I researched and used to incorporate a better program in my school. I plan to continue to refer to these programs and hopefully  be able to take some time and volunteer for one of their internships during my grad school career. 

My final learning area is to start to apply what I am learning in my courses to improve in my current position. I choose my field of study based on what I wanted to pursue in the future and with the help of this course I have discovered the most important factors in running a high quality program. 

Getting to Know Your International Contacts- Part 3

During my podcast research this week I decided to follow Barbara Jones (BJ).






Barbara Jones (BJ) founded the Pine Grove School in Falmouth, Maine in 1985 and celebrates the school 25th anniversary this year. The school is a charming, wood-shingled building nested in a grove of pine trees and was used as a school house as far back as 1917.

The Pine Grove School was featured in a Program Showcase section of the July/August 2012 issue of Exchange magazine. 

During BJ's podcast she explained how she came into the education field. She also explained her transition from California to Maine. BJ also spent some of her time with the YMCA and this is where she realized that this was the area that she wanted to focus in. BJ found an old abandoned building and decided that she was going to turn this building into her very own Montessori school.  


This week while studying the UNESCO website I decided to focus on the Investment and Financing section. Through out all of my research I have come across the same major issue each time for programs not being able to run as they should and that is the lack of resources. This website explains that this issue is especially an issue for developing countries where early education is overshadowed for priorities that are pressing at the time. The only other option for children in these areas is to be enrolled into a private sector. The issue with this is that not all families can afford the cost of private education and rely on the support of government
 funding to programs. 

Resources:
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/

Sharing Web Resources

This week while researching through the National Forum On Early Childhood Policy and Programs I decided to look further into the "About" tab. When looking at different programs I realized that I usually never take the time to look into the mission behind the program. This programs mission is to compare different research information that they have researched and bring them all together into one data base. I am looking forward to learning more information on how students can become more involved within this research, 

Getting to Know Your International Contacts-Part 2

This week I decided to choose Susan Lyon. Listening to her podcast this week reminded me why I enjoy working with this age group of children. Early childhood through maybe about third grade a child is still learning how to adapt to the world and how to allow what is happening to affect their life. Something that Susan explained was when she was trying to help the child with the word but didn't  want to tell him what it was at first even with the frustration that she seen progressing she stood her ground until the right moment. I am going to start to implement this into my own educating because even though I know child like assistance they may not always need it but instead a push to help them in the right direction of figure things out themselves. 










While looking over the "Global Children's Initiative" website I came across a paper discussing how "Maternal Depression Can Undermine the Development of Young Children". Working within the Early Childhood field I have learned that we as educators over look the reasoning of why a child is reacting or not reacting in a particular manor. This paper shows some of the view points that educators need to start considering. 

I have always found an interest on figuring out the "Why's" of a child's actions. This website was able to give a stronger idea of why children react the way they do, and this has to do with the science make up in their brains due to abuse, trauma or neglect. 

I have contacted a recreation center that I grew up going to as a child and asked them if they were willing to try and start a new program offering children an alternative outreach to those who are seeking more in their education but just have not been able to find a place to go. I was told that they would get back to me with some additional information on how they would be able to provide this help. Even though this may require me to have to move back to my home town for a little while, I am looking forward to giving back to the community of those who gave back to me.