Insight Into Research-Week 8

The field of Early Childhood research is new to me. The code of ethics and ethical considerations that must be in place do not vary all that much from different fields of study, but there are slight differences. For example, one of the biggest considerations is gaining informed consent from parents but also assent from child participants. Prior to this class I was unaware that there is a difference. I believe designing a study and focusing on how it will be carried out makes the process more realistic. This process has allowed me to think realistically and with a level of compassion towards potential participants, as opposed to thinking abstractly about a study and participants. This process has allowed me to personalize a study and become committed to following through with the study. The biggest challenge for me was getting my research question to a specific and consice thesis that could be tested. I knew what I wanted to test, but eliminating external factors and insignificant factors was a challenge for me. Defining one word, going from social -emotional development to the word anxiety took weeks for me, but when it finally came to me I knew it was the one testable variable I wanted to use. As I began to see the work of my colleauges throughout the course and the research studies they were designing as well, I began to realize how large the early childhood field is. The amount of research and different avenues are immense. This truly is a field that is expanding and I am excited that we all get to be a part in the process.

International Research

In the journal article, Incorporating Indigenous Stories of Basotho in an ECCD Programme at Leseli Community Centre, the use of Indigenous stories in early childhood education programs is studied to determine the positive effects the stories may have on the development of young people. It is stated that these stories assist in language development as well as social and moral skills that are specific to the Basotho belief system. As traditional means of passing on culture have been replaced due to modern demands of living young children were lacking the transmission of these social norms, so they were incorporated into early childhood education programs (Ntsonyane, 2004).
This website was a wealth of knowledge broken down by thesis' of graduate students pertaining to issues from the African country they are from. I can see this as a way to learn more about the neighboring communities and to compare and contrast issues and trends that one another may be experiencing. It would be interesting to do something similar in the United States broken down by state issues and trends. I also found it interesting that both in the United States and in Lesotho we are trying to incorporate culture into our early childhood programs. While in Lesotho they are trying to preserve their culture we are trying to be diverse and accept all cultures.



Ntsonyane, P. (2004). Incorporating indigenous stories of Basotho in an ECCD programme at Leseli community centre. Retrieved from http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/major_reports.php

Children and Research

As I began thinking about research and children I couldn't help but to think back to my previous job and how research guided the inception of psychosocial rehabilitation for children and adults. As I began to research this I stumbled on the article, "Conducting Psychosocial Research With Children and Adolescents: A Developmental Perspective". This article demonstrates how children have benefited from research over time. As the article mentions, children previously were not considered as individuals or where regarded as little adults, without taking into account the specific nature and unique characteristics of each child. Over time research has shown how children grow, learn, develop, and how each child is different with regard to these topics. Something as simple as the child centered approach is a great example of how research such as the study presented in this article benefits children. With this in mind the profession of Psychosocial Rehabilitation as succeeding in intervening for children to assist them with social and emotional development, and produced coping strategies that over time have proven to be beneficial for many children as well.

Murray, J.S. (2000). Conducting psychosocial research with children and adolescents: A developmental perspective.Applied Nursing Research 13(3), 151-156. Retrieved from: www.appliednursingresearch.org/article/S0897-1897(00)81258-6

Research, Where Do We Begin?

I have decided to focus on the subtopic, is there a difference in the social -emotional development of children from another country once they immigrate?  The vast amount of children that have immigrated from other countries to the United States and the variety of countries of origin make this an interesting topic for me. I have previously worked with children that have suffered severe traumatic experiences and seen the cognitive and psychosocial effects trauma has inflicted upon them. I am curious to know if this can be translated into a different type of traumatic experience such as immigration. Based on my research thus far there is an achievement gap for many children that are immigrants or minorities, I am curious to know if moving from one culture to a completely different one, leaving friends, family, and familiar surroundings can inflict severe trauma and be accounted for when considering the achievement gap. We have discussed how professional development and awareness for issues related to diversity can impact the achievement gap, but what if there is a different root cause that also contributes to this and is being neglected? I am glad that we have dissected our topic as we have. When I first began this I was thinking heavily about how different theories and approaches may affect children from different countries of origin. Thinking about this from a few different perspectives led me to a topic I actually feel very interested in and motivated to learn more about.

International Challenges

Wow, I am not sure what to say about the international challenges. I was very disappointed to not have a contact outside of the United States to share information and resources with. I think it is a fantastic idea and a great way to collaborate with other professionals. I was very interested to read about situations that children have experienced such as natural disasters and how this affects development. At times the scope of thinking about things becomes very narrow. For example, I never considered how the tsunami of the Indian Ocean affected young children's development in terms of early childhood education. I, of course recognized the trauma this would inflict, but not how different age groups had to respond to the tragedy and what the implications for that may have been. I think there are cultural challenges that exist too. As I said maintaining open mindedness and not viewing things so narrowly also comes in terms of ethnocentrism as well. Poverty, religion, culture, norms, mores are all unique to individual societies and interpreting those things in context, as opposed to within the limitations our own culture allows can be challenging. Lastly, at this stage of our professional journey we can make contacts, increase our knowledge base, but ultimately how do we contribute? I suppose I feel a little of my disappointment in not having a contact can be tied to this thought. I know I want to reach out. I want to learn more, I want to contribute to Early Childhood Education regionally, nationally, and internationally. Mentor-ship from established professionals is one way in which this can be accomplished. I feel breaking into that atmosphere can be challenging.

So with regard to the challenges faced and my drive and passion to contribute, my international goal would be to eventually form a type of sister city program linking a program I am working with in combination with a program internationally. I am very interested in The Congo, Angola, or Pakistan for this international resource. There is so much to be learned and even in life when consulting a third party opinion things seem clearer to that other party. I believe having a supportive program to collaborate with, as well as work to enhance young lives strengthens us as professionals. Also, this increases the exposure to cultural diversity for our young children we serve, and hopefully leads to a spirit of altruism later in life.  

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization is an organization with members and affiliates worldwide. This organization is reaching children and families from Africa to the Philippines and striving to overcome challenges such as accessibility, health, and poverty issues. One such way is through Millennium Development goals, which addresses and tries to overcome extreme poverty in communities worldwide by linking individuals to educational services. Another way that UNESCO works is by teaching respect for cultural and indigenous values. This encompasses language, tradition, religion, and aspects that contribute to the identity of individuals with respect to their region and background. Lastly, UNESCO encourages and promotes equality for all genders worldwide in educational settings. UNESCO works to bridge the gap culturally so that girls as well as boys are kept in educational settings in order to preserve their culture, yet have opportunities as well. This initiative works to encourage both genders to stay in school, have equal access to school, and promote a love of learning.

I was very surprised to read of all of the programs UNESCO supports. It is encourage and uplifting to learn about this program. My interest is definitely peaked and I will continue to browse this sight in order to stay current on issues and trends worldwide.

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (2012). Early childhood care and education. Retrieved from: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/

Military Families

Zero to Three newsletter described a project that was launched by Zero to Three in combination with other organizations such as The Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles in order to find grant funds to help military families with special needs children. Research discovered there was a lack of available services to military families that have children requiring special needs, therefore the funds were raised and secured in order to assist families. The program is called Coming Together Around Veteran Families. Below is a link to the information. In addition a google search of Coming Together Around Veteran Families returns a PDF of a training hosted in April and topics that were discussed. Children of Veterans and military families have unique experiences and it is wonderful that an organization is recognizing this, in addition to taking steps to provide awareness and accessibility to these families.



http://www.zerotothree.org/about-us/funded-projects/military-families/expandingouroutreach.html

Excellence & Equity

As I did not have luck reaching out to international resources I chose to listen to a podcast on World Forum radio by Barnabas Otaala that was similar in information provided by Harvard University's article, The Zambian Early Childhood Development Project. Otaala (2005) mentions the impact that having HIV/AIDS has on young children as they not only suffer from the illness and developmental effects, but also the psychosocial effects from being stigmatized. As the children do not feel a sense of equality combined with physical illness they suffer in all domains of development creating a bleak outlook for future educational success. Fink, Matafwali, Moucheraud, & Zuilkowski (2012) contribute to this idea presented by Otaala by studying the effects of malaria on young children in Zambia. Zambi is also a country ravaged by HIV/AIDS in addition to malaria. A study that has factors that began over 30 years ago, examined the changes to the development of young children after a Malaria Prevention and Treatment program was established in portions of Zambia. Essentially the study wanted to discover if the reduction of malaria in young children due to the treatment program also increased positive growth and development for young children in Zambia. The study focused on "fine motor skills, language (expressive and receptive), non-verbal reasoning,
information processing, executive functioning, socio-emotional development and task
orientation" (Fink, Matafwali, Moucheraud, & Zuilkowski, 2012). The results of this study were difficult to assess as regionally some children had received early childhood education, yet many others had not. Children also experienced trauma, loss of a parent, and/or other childhood illness or disease. The combination of factors that could alter the results made coming to a definitive determination impossible. This study and the lack of substantial results highlights the struggles young children face in Zambia. Capturing the data was the first step in a long road to reform and equalize the early childhood education programs in Zambia, and hopefully raise awareness to the needs of this country's young children.  Below is an illustrated map of the six provinces data was collected from, 76% of children in these provinces combined suffered from malaria at some point before the age of 5 (2012).




Reference:
Fink, G.. Matafwali, B., Moucheraud C., & Zuilkowski, S.S. (2012, February). The Zambian early childhood development project. Harvard University. Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/activities/global_initiative/zambian_project/

Otaala, B. (2005).  HIV/AIDS and the young child. [Podcast] World Forum Radio.