International Research Topics

I chose to review the Early Childhood Australia site located at http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/. In looking over the research topics listed under "Research in Practice Series", I found links to articles involving play and high quality child care attributes. Another area was linked to abstracts from the Australasian Journal of Early Childhood (AJEC) which surprisingly is the world's longest running journal for our field of early childhood education. Under this resource, the articles appear to be more scholarly than those under the "Research in Practices Series", but still need to be purchased.

The majority of the links provided additional information on the EYLF (Early Years Learning Framework). While this is an initiative solely in Australia, many of the supporting documents tie into what we find as issues and trends in the U.S.I would have liked the option to be able to read the articles, but each of them had a cost associated with downloading.

One of the items that stood out to me what their Code of Ethics. In reviewing the context behind why the Code was written, I found that Australia's Code and NAEYC's Code are very similar and based on the same pretexts. Both believe that a code of the ethics brings a level of professionalism and is supported by the values of the field.

Another interesting tidbit was a link for a toolkit on how to include technology in your ECE business. The site will continue to provide updates and information and appears to help those with all knowledge levels of conducting digital business.

My dream research project...

If I could choose any topic to research and had the means to do so, I would research the effects of what an open ended educational system would be to our society. I have chosen this topic because I believe in the benefits of play and open ended learning. I then see children are expected to transition into a structured Kindergarten setting that lacks learning centers but includes enough worksheets to save a rainforest. The reports I have received from many of our families who have made this transition have explained that their child has had a difficult transition because they have been accustomed to free choice. By the 2nd quarter, these children are farther ahead than their peers, but often receive notes home about self control and needing reminders of rules.

I feel passionate about the foundation of future learning is being set in Pre-K, but often the love of learning is diminished within a structured Kindergarten setting and the children lose their excitement to learn more and explore. I think back to visiting my son's Kindergarten and watching the teacher tell the children they were going to color Indian corn. She instructed them to bring out only their purple and brown crayons then proceeded to show them which sections were which colors. I was floored! What if they wanted red in their picture or wanted to draw something else? Where does the 5 year old who loved to explore become a 5 year old who has little to no opportunity to do so?

I would find it interesting to see where this research would lead our field and the education system. I believe our failures as a nation have a direct root cause to not being able to think outside the box. What if  the entire educational system was like that of Pre-k? I believe this research would help to improve the educational system and reverse the effects of No Child Left Behind.

The more the toy does, the less the child learns....

Beginning my journey in research...

After completing my course on early childhood issues and trends, an article stood out for me that discussed the inequalities in teacher education. For my entire career I have been told that teachers who possess college degrees in early learning will provide better childhood outcomes than those who lack formal education. One of the articles I had read in that course also shed light on the differences in programmatic approaches to learning. Essentially, colleges turn out numerous graduates in early childhood education across the United States yet each graduate brings a different skill set and beliefs to our field. I have also observed teachers, who were parents, conduct the most meaningful activities with the children which has made me ponder if the degree is truly more important than experience with children.

All things considered, my subtopic will be to determine if teacher education is more important than experience with children. I have spent many hours researching the library and looking for articles on this topic and realize that I need to learn how to effectively search for the right criteria. I have entered several variations of the subtopic into the search bar and have come back with results from all fields of study including surgery and technology through higher education. If anyone has any tricks on how to effectively search for articles, I would greatly appreciate it!  I feel it has been difficult to locate specific articles that focus on early learning teacher quality. I have had the most success in searching the ProQuest database and creating a "My Research" account that has saved my chosen articles to reference later.

I have found the construction of the research chart to be a meaningful experience as it has helped me to truly focus on the material presented. I see myself inductively researching this topic especially since I have come across other articles that tie into my subtopic but are not specific to the topic. I located one that went on to compare a two year education with that of a four year education. This was something I had not considered prior to researching.