Research Reflection

When this course began just 7 short weeks ago, I can say undoubtedly, that I was full of anxiety and uncertainty as to how I would manage the course. I was not a fan of research; however, I have become quite interested in the practical considerations as well as the various methods of research and data collection. Over the past few weeks, I have even utilized and applied what I have learned into my daily work. I am currently researching and conducting an E-learning pilot project with child care center-based staff. Our Cincinnati office staff conducted this project in their service delivery area with family child care providers a couple of months ago. When I suggested testing the study with program staff I stressed the importance of using the same course, same structure, and same time frame so that we were studying a consistent measure. I feel strongly that this study will provide us with a variation of feedback to assist us as we prepare to design and implement E-learning professional development opportunities for our combined region.

This being said, I certainly met some challenges throughout this course. Though I was very familiar with conducting a literature review, I struggled to find solid literature to support my research simulation topic. A positive challenge that occurred for me as well was learning some of the technical terms in which to keep me on the journey of refining my topic and research study questions. Things really seemed to gel for me in week 5. 

Thank you to all my colleagues and peers on this research journey. You have all provided me with great support and wonderful ideas to challenge my thinking over the past 8 weeks. I’m sure we will meet again in future courses.

Research Around the World

In exploring international topics researched by reputable organizations. I found the European Early Childhood Education Research Associations (EECERA) to be interesting.  This international early childhood organization publishes a well-respected journal at least two times a year. Some of the current topics being researched are factors around diversity, children using the natural environment in learning, and numerous angles on children’s play.

Some of the most cited pieces from this website include Listening to young citizens: the struggle to make real a participatory paradigm in research with young children (2009), Make-believe play versus academic skills: A Vygotskian approach to today’s dilemma of early childhood education (2008), and Let is disagree (2009), an article in the Special Issue: Children’s and Parents’ Perspectives on Diversity in Early Childhood Education. It appears as though this organization stays abreast of the hot topics and current trends in early childhood education and publishes special issue journals to address these themes. I have seen many organizations publish journals on a monthly basis, and yet somehow miss some of the current trends and topics. EECERA Special Issue journal themes include; Outdoor Play and Learning, Leadership and Management, and Children’s and Parents’ Perspectives on Early Childhood Education.

I found it interesting that the actual topic of research and children wasn’t addressed in many past journal issues. It wasn’t until 2009 that I found articles on research and young children. One piece posted in a March 2012 issue, Building a method for researching attribution of meaning by children aged 5 to 6 in school, reported on the first phase of a research project in which they looked for the voices of young children. The researchers of this project interviewed children to gain their perspective on the meaning of school.

References:

European Early Childhood Education Research Association. (2012). http://www.eecera.org/.

Mac Naughton, G., Rolfe, S. A. & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2009). Doing Early Childhood Research: International perspectives on theory and practice (2^nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw- Hill.