Wow! I can't believe we've made it through. At the beginning of this course, I was overwhelmed at the thought of creating a research simulation. Just the word "research" made me want to yawn and skip it because it's overally complicated terminology, statistics, and so much more. But now that I'm in the final week of our course and reflecting on all that I've learned about research, I feel proud and confident in my abilities to craft a research simulation as well as to read research. I understand the basics of research and learned some time saving techniques when it comes to reading others research so I can get to the good stuff that will be useful to me as an early childhood teacher. I've learned quite a few new vocabulary words to add to my bank of knowledge as I know understand the difference between qualitative and quantitative and even how to mix them up. But even with this growing bank of knowledge, I sometimes struggled to understand our text chapters. Sometimes they were wordy and difficult to understand but through our discussion posts and responses, all of you helped me to understand the content. So I want to say THANK YOU for being so helpful. There are times when it takes just simple ordinary conversation for understanding to occur that a text book can't explain or explore.
As a side note, I also wanted to share that I have successfully completed my very fist trimester of pregnancy during this course. My husband and I are very excited as we begin our journey as new parents. Also, I wanted to say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you! It has been truly a blessing to work with all of you during this course and hope to see some of you in future courses to come. THANK YOU!!
Friday, December 23, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Research Around the World.
European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA): This international early childhood organization publishes a well respected journal. All back issues are accessible from this site and are fully searchable without charge.
http://www.eecera.org/
• What are some of the current international research topics?
Play seems to be one of the top current international research topics with research being done on outside play, nature-based play experiences, make believe play vs. academic skills, and how the context of play affects adult views of risk-taking behavior during outside play are just a few to name.
Early childhood policy is another current topic ranging from methodologies to pedagogy to curriculum to ethical concerns.
• What surprising facts/insights/new ideas about early childhood did you gain from exploring this international early childhood website?
There was an article about make believe play versus academic skills that explored Vygotskys’ idea that children can learn academic skills prior to school through make-believe play that is structured by adults. The article grabbed my attention because my research simulation has been focused on similar idea that play-based curriculums yield the same academic achievement as teacher-directed approaches to learning. I find it interesting that European nations are also debating the effects of teaching academic skills formerly at a younger age is not the best approach. I’m wondering if Europe and the United States are the only countries concerned with this issue or if this is a global debate.
I like that this international early childhood website allows you to search back issues although not all of them are free.
Another issue dealing with play that caught my attention was the number of research articles that dealt with outdoor or natural environments for play. Nature-based play curriculums are interesting to me because I grew up and live in a rural area. Much of my childhood was spent outdoors playing in the dirt with the rocks and sticks or playing in the barn and building forts with the hay bales. Building upon nature-based learning, I think may develop more scientific thinking if adults can help scaffold the learning that takes place.
• What other noteworthy information did you find on this website?
They provided links to other organizations that have the same goals and missions. The one link provided was to the Korean Institute of Child Care and Education. While exploring the link to Korean research, I found it interesting that there were very few research articles from 2010-2011. Most articles listed were from 2008-2009 and focused on the developing of early childhood programs, practices, and policies.
http://www.eecera.org/
• What are some of the current international research topics?
Play seems to be one of the top current international research topics with research being done on outside play, nature-based play experiences, make believe play vs. academic skills, and how the context of play affects adult views of risk-taking behavior during outside play are just a few to name.
Early childhood policy is another current topic ranging from methodologies to pedagogy to curriculum to ethical concerns.
• What surprising facts/insights/new ideas about early childhood did you gain from exploring this international early childhood website?
There was an article about make believe play versus academic skills that explored Vygotskys’ idea that children can learn academic skills prior to school through make-believe play that is structured by adults. The article grabbed my attention because my research simulation has been focused on similar idea that play-based curriculums yield the same academic achievement as teacher-directed approaches to learning. I find it interesting that European nations are also debating the effects of teaching academic skills formerly at a younger age is not the best approach. I’m wondering if Europe and the United States are the only countries concerned with this issue or if this is a global debate.
I like that this international early childhood website allows you to search back issues although not all of them are free.
Another issue dealing with play that caught my attention was the number of research articles that dealt with outdoor or natural environments for play. Nature-based play curriculums are interesting to me because I grew up and live in a rural area. Much of my childhood was spent outdoors playing in the dirt with the rocks and sticks or playing in the barn and building forts with the hay bales. Building upon nature-based learning, I think may develop more scientific thinking if adults can help scaffold the learning that takes place.
• What other noteworthy information did you find on this website?
They provided links to other organizations that have the same goals and missions. The one link provided was to the Korean Institute of Child Care and Education. While exploring the link to Korean research, I found it interesting that there were very few research articles from 2010-2011. Most articles listed were from 2008-2009 and focused on the developing of early childhood programs, practices, and policies.
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